[1] The steep pass was made easier to cross with a deep slot-like road cut by Charles H. Brindley, Andrés Pico, and James R. Vineyard, to whom the State of California awarded a twenty-year contract to maintain the turnpike and collect tolls.

[2][3] Thus, the "San Fernando Mountain," the most daunting obstacle along the Fort Tejon Road, the main inland route from Los Angeles to the north, was cut through.

In March 1862 soldiers under the command of Major Theodore Coult of the Fifth California Volunteer Infantry, repaired the cut and road.

The soldiers repaired the cut as ammunition wagons could not get to Fort Yuma, California.

It suffered a partial collapse during the Northridge Earthquake, on January 17, 1994, and now is about 30 feet (9.1 m) deep.

Beale's Cut is difficult to find today because it is fenced off and not close enough to the Sierra Highway to be easily seen.

In 1910 the 435 ft (133 m) Newhall Auto Tunnel was built a quarter-mile northwest of Beale's Cut.