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Altadena Trails
Information about Hiking, Mountain Bike and Equestrian Trails in the Altadena Foothills.
Altadena, CA is at the foot of the San Gabriel range, 15 miles north of Los Angeles.
- Before setting out, read up-to-date FIRE
incidents across the country. -
2005 Reports...
QUIK Links to the Most Recent Reports (in reverse chronological order) -
May 29 Gabrielino Trail/Upper Arroyo/Paul Little.
Apr 17 Lake / Sam Merrill / Echo Mountain / Castle Canyon / Inspiration Point.
Mar 15 El Prieto Trail Cleared of an Oak Fallen across two Places.
Mar 12 Lower Sam Merrill has been Cleared.
Mar 06 Millard Falls is Fantastic.
Feb 26 Mt Wilson Toll Road Closed.
Feb 25 Mt. Lowe from Millard Campground open to hikers.
Reports are listed geographically from West to East -
Gabrielino Trail/Upper Arroyo/Paul Little (May 29, Bev and Terry H.) - We made it! Following Michele's good advice (see below), we got to the Paul Little Picnic Area and back in 4 hours, with a couple breaks to sit and enjoy the scenery, and ring out our socks. At one wide, but shallow crossing on flat concrete, we went barefoot with pant-legs rolled up. Several hops still involve slippery rocks and tricky stretches. A couple slips dropped us knee-high into chilly water, but it was worth the effort for the fantastic wild-flowers, rushing streambed, and forest isolation. Even though this was a holiday weekend, few folks strayed much beyond Gould Mesa, in part because it rained a little in the morning. There are a few mosquitoes and gnats, so bring your bug spray (read insect repellents ratings). At Paul Little Picnic Area, the tables and benches are in good shape, but the outhouses are closed. There are plenty of nice tie-off bars for horses, though I don't know if horses can make it through the water crossings just yet. A couple mountain bikers told us they had come down from Strawberry Peak.
Gabrielino Trail (Feb 12, Marc W.) - After some continued rains the day and night before, about a 1/2 mile before the first stream crossing, we found that part of the east trail bank came down on the trail. See first 2 photos (One from the south, the other from the north). Further up and about 1/4 mile before the same first stream crossing, the trail was wiped out by a small tributary that missed its corrugated pipe. Two nice trailgoers (equipped with appropriate tools) proceeded to make the break passable. See last 2 photos.
Upper Arroyo toward Paul Little (Jan 30, Michele Z.) - Lots and lots of lovely water, and some of this trail has been completely cut through. The first tricky-slippy crossing on logs is the worst. A hiking stick recommended. As you go further, instead of taking the next usual crossing, veer off to the left, staying on the west side of the water. There is a narrow trail and you will save yourself a couple difficult crossings by following it as far as you can to where it is easy to cross again. We did not get as far as Paul Little Campground, the usual destination, because there was another wide crossing you can not do without getting your feet really wet, and it was cold. But this is a nice alternative to the mountain trails even if you don't have vertigo.
West End of Altadena Dr to JPL (Jan 15, Terry H.) -
- Dropping downward and northward, this trail is in good shape. It appears to have been repaired to some extent. Equestrians and hikers are using this trail to access the Arroyo.
El Prieto Trail
(Mar 15, Ray B.) - photos
The trail has been cleared, as of March 15, of an oak tree that had fallen across two segments of a switchback. It took about 16 hours of elbow grease, supplied by four volunteers, to clear the lower portion of the trail and cut a new grade to bypass the stump and roots blocking the upper portion. The attached photo tells the story. It is a composite of four shots, depicting before (top) and after (bottom) of the upper segment (left) and lower segment (right).
(Jan 25, Shari A.) - photos
- There are about 5 or 6 mud slides on El Prieto trail. Some obliterated the trail completely, but hikers and bikers are resourceful and manage to get around them though it could be dangerous. These areas very much need repair work. I have attached a photo of one of the more minor slides (the only slide photo I took last week) and two cool water shots.
Sunset Ridge Trail (Jan 16, Bev, Terry, Marietta)
- Large amounts of granite from the hillside on the southeastern side of the La Vina
plateau is falling onto the trail that provides access to Sunset Ridge Trail from
the ACT signed trailhead on the east side of Sunset Ridge Rd (just south of the key gate).
SPS - Impassable (Jan 15, Bev, Terry, Marietta) - Walking north from the SPS Equestrian Staging Area, at least two sections are completely washed out (after the blacktopped road and before Sunset Ridge Trail connection).
Chaney Trail to Sunset Ridge Road / La Vina (Jan 17, Nancy S.) -
- The trail is ok - no significant slides except one at the south side of La Vina (near Sunset Ridge Road) where a large mass of dirt and prickly pear in the trail makes it hard to pass. There is a narrow trail around the edge but be careful of the prickly pear spines in the dirt. West Ravine still has a lot of water in it and the yellow-flowered gooseberries are blooming.
Chaney Trail Region (Jan 16, Nancy S.) -
- From Alzada Road to Chaney Trail, the trail is heavily rutted but passable. I would not take a horse on it until the deeper ruts are fixed, though. There was a slide on the downhill side of the trail but it does not appear to have damaged the trail itself.
- From Chaney Trail north to the Chaney Trail crossing (paralleling the road), there is a large slide that flowed across the trail and into the ravine. The slide is crossable - we walked it and it seems stable for now - but will require a lot of work to make it safe. I would not take a horse across it.
- From Chaney Trail north to the Sunset Ridge Road the trail passable by hikers but deeply rutted in spots. There are two areas that might let loose in another rain.
Chaney Trail (Jan 25, Michele Z.) -
- Chaney trail is now open and from the fire road at the top (beyond the gate, where there is a turn down toward the campground) going uphill is one of the few places to walk these days. There is a big but passable wash-out about a mile up (before the water tank).
Millard Falls is accessible and flowing (Mar 6, George A.) - photo
- the Millard Canyon Falls are spectacular and can be reached with a moderate boulder hopping effort. Bringing a tall hiking pole helps.
Mt Lowe Campground from Millard Campground
(Feb 25, Ralph M.) - photos
- I hiked Millard Campground on the Mt. Lowe Road to the Mt. Lowe Campground today (RT 10 miles). Mt. Lowe Road is as I reported it a couple of weeks ago. It is open to hikers but not to vehicles. I have attached a highly compressed picture of the one rock and dirt slide that has damaged the road. It is about 2 miles up from Millard Campground. The beautiful biker is included in the picture to get perspective on the size of the slide. Several other slides on the road can be easily fixed with the right equipment. The attached picture of the stream was taken at the Millard Campground at 9:00 A.M. This may be the best of my 2005 pictures and it is only February. Look at the picture and you can hear the water rushing by.
(Feb 05, Ralph M.) -
- Yesterday, hiked Millard Campground Parking Lot up to Mt. Lowe Road and on to Mt. Lowe Campground. Millard Campground parking lot is now approximately 90 percent cleaned up and open for parking. Mt. Lowe Road to Mt. Lowe Campground is easily passable for hikers, but many large rock and mud slides mean it is not open to 4-wheel vehicles about 1 mile up the road. I will bring pictures to the next ACTRWG meeting.
(Jan 16, Lori P.) -
- There is a massive blow out of the trail that can be seen from Chaney Trail. It is on the ACT opposite the oak tree where Lonnie the campground host camped during the Forest closure (near the end of the straight grade up the hill.
Canon / Devonwood / Cobb (Jan 16, Bev, Terry, Marietta) - photos
- From the top of Canon Blvd, heading upward and eastward toward Devonwood, a deep crack several inches to a foot wide in places runs up the middle of the trail. At one of the major turns in the trail in a grassy section that slopes steeply upward, is evidence that a horse sunk in knee-high and lost balance. We just cleared a spot between there and the Green house that was intruding into the trail. After passing the Green properties including the new asphalt driveway and the top of Devonwood Dr, we cleared rocks and debris that had blocked the trail heading toward Cobb Estate. This section is now quite pleasant.
Lower Sam Merrill Trail
Sam Merrill - Echo Mtn - Idlehour - Henninger - Eaton Canyon (April 17, Michele Z.) -
A 14.5 mile loop beginning at the top of Lake at the Sam Merrill Trail, up to Echo Mountain, and then taking the Castle Canyon Trail up to Inspiration point. Trail open with no problems, and once you get past Echo you have it to yourself and it is incredibly beautiful this time of year. Leaving Inspiration north up the road a short way until the Idle Hour branches off to the right, we did see one very big rattlesnake. Inspiration goes behind the front range, traversing the shoulder on a downward sloping path about 3 miles until you hit the creek where there is so much wash out you lose the trail. Very beautiful and remote trail, you can not believe that just over the mountain is the city. Keep following the creek down, watching for the red tape markers someone has thoughtfully placed. Less than a half mile or so down, you will see where the trail crosses the creek, exiting on the left side. It then gently rises up to Idle Hour Campground. Great spot for a camp over. So far, you will have hiked about 9 miles. At this point, I would suggest turning back the way you came, instead of heading on to Henninger Flat and down to Eaton Canyon. Two huge washouts make that trail perrilous in a couple places, the worst being the big washout near Eaton Canyon, but there's another one not far from Henninger that does not seem safe and anyone with even a little vertigo will not like it one bit. Near the bottom (we could see our car parked waiting for us) we had to find an alternate way to get down into the canyon that wasn't too steep as the big washout is impossible to cross. There used to be another small trail down, but we could not find it and unless you know for sure that it, too, has not been washed out, I cannot recommend the trail blazing way we managed to find our way down. The grass is high, and we had to back off from th ominous sound of a rattle on two occasions! But the first part of the hike was so glorious I plan to do it again and stay over night at Idle Hour.
(Mar 12, George A.) -
USFS volunteers finished clearing the Lower Sam Merrill trail. All debries from the recent land slides have been moved off the trail. The trail is 3 ft wide, but the edge of the trail in many areas where the Sutter Wall is gone is vulnerable.
Sam Merrill Trail (Jan 30, Ralph M.) -
Today I hiked the 13.7 miles (GPS measurement) from (1) Top of Canon Blvd to Cobb Estate up (2) Lower Sam Merrill to Echo Mtn. up (3) Middle Sam Merrill to Inspiration Point down (4) Mt. Lowe Road to Cape of Good Hope over (5) switchback to Echo and home.
- Top of Canon Blvd to Cobb Estate - Trail OK for hikers, but 2-ft deep ruts make it difficult for horses.
- Lower Sam Merrill - The storm did the worst damage, by far, in the 20 years I have been hiking it. About a half dozen dirt and rock slides that require traversing tricky foot paths as much as 5 to 10 feet above the trail bed. All fixable as the trail itself has not taken major damage. Just a bit narrow in places.
- Middle Sam Merrill - Only one dirt and rock slide. Otherwise OK.
- Mt. Lowe Road from Inspiration Point to Cape of Good Hope - Road bed rutted and clogged with ruts and rocks. I estimate the weight of one rock on the road at six tons. You are not moving this one with a fork lift. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it.)
- Switchback from Cape of Good Hope (love that name) to Echo Mtn. - Couple of tricky spots with a narrowed trail from the rain.
Too many people (men, women, children, and dogs) on Lower Sam Merrill that did not understand the risk. Some wearing sneakers, and not lug-sole boots that can grip the loose dirt. Any fall will result in serious injury. It is a long way down.
(Jan 25, Michele Z.) -
I hiked Sam Merrill a couple of times since the deluge and was amazed they kept it open. It is washed out in many places, some with about a one-boot-width size trail and a 600-foot drop on the other side. On Sunday on the way back, we counseled a young couple with 3 children under the age of 5 that they SHOULD NOT take their kids on it.
Rubio Falls (Jan 25, Michele Z.) - photo
- The trail part is open, and the water in the canyon has subsided so it is not quite as exciting as when Bev, Sameer, Paul, and I did it just over a week ago. I did get some poison oak on a return trip a week ago. You can not see it, but it is there in the long gully going up to the right near the bottom of the big double falls (name anyone?) which is as far as most people go.
Eaton Canyon (2005 Feb 24, Mark G.) - photo
- Landslide in Eaton Canyon that happened around Feb 24.
East End and Eaton Canyon (Jan 20, Chip O.) -
- Eaton Canyon gate is closed. The East end of the ACT is accessible from some other points. Die hard cyclists have ridden it. Try going up Glen Alen or Zane Gray to access the trail. If you go, please report back on trail condition. And have fun - also watch the freshly washed and exposed rock strata you can usually easily identify slippages that suggest huge earthquakes in eons past. A horizontal strata continues along and then just jumps up a foot. There are some good ones at the top of the trail just before the water tank above Zane Gray.
Mt Wilson Toll road CLOSED (Feb 26, David H.) - photo.
- Bottom end of Mt Wilson Toll road closed by landslide. The gate on Pinecrest Drive is closed, so I headed in along Glen Allen. The trail was rutted with the occasional landslide, but nothing that I couldn't wheel my bicycle over. I came around one corner to (see photo above). It looks like the bottom end of the Mt Wilson Toll road will be closed for quite a while. I turned around and headed up the Chaney Trail.
(Jan 21, Ralph M.) -
- The Sierra Madre Trail to Mt. Wilson is washed out between First Water and Orchard Camp.
Please send first person accounts with details and photos of recent Altadena trail conditions to:
Conditions at Altadena Trails .org
Send comments regarding this site to support at Altadena Trails .org
Updated March 3, 2005.