East Fork San Gabriel River | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | San Gabriel Mountains |
• location | Angeles National Forest |
• coordinates | 34°20′35″N117°43′30″W / 34.34306°N 117.72500°W [1] |
• elevation | 4,483 ft (1,366 m) |
Mouth | San Gabriel River |
• location | San Gabriel Reservoir |
• coordinates | 34°14′23″N117°51′24″W / 34.23972°N 117.85667°W [2] |
• elevation | 1,473 ft (449 m) |
Length | 17 mi (27 km) [3] |
Discharge | |
• location | Near Camp Bonita [4] |
• average | 72.3 cu ft/s (2.05 m3/s) [4] |
• minimum | 2.28 cu ft/s (0.065 m3/s) |
• maximum | 46,000 cu ft/s (1,300 m3/s) |
The East Fork is the largest headwater of the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It originates at the crest of the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest, at the confluence of the Prairie Fork and Vincent Gulch near Mount Baden-Powell. It then flows south and west for 17 miles (27 km) [3] to San Gabriel Reservoir, where it joins with the West Fork San Gabriel River. Although the East Fork is colloquially considered a separate river (to distinguish it from the West Fork), the U.S. Geological Survey officially lists the East Fork as the upper part of the main stem San Gabriel River, [1] a fact is shown by topographical maps of the area.
The major tributaries of the East Fork, from upstream to downstream, are the Prairie Fork, the Fish Fork (which rises near Mount San Antonio/Mount Baldy, the highest summit in the range), the Iron Fork and Cattle Canyon. The "Narrows" of the San Gabriel River is the deepest river gorge in the San Gabriel Mountains, flowing as much as 6,000 feet (1,800 m) below the nearby peak of Iron Mountain. Much of the upper half of the river is within the Sheep Mountain Wilderness.
A major point of interest on the East Fork is the Bridge to Nowhere, a 120-foot (37 m) high concrete arch bridge that was once part of the East Fork Road before the rest of the road was destroyed by flooding in 1938. [5] The East Fork Road was originally intended to connect the Los Angeles Basin to the Angeles Crest Highway, but was never completed due to the high cost of cutting and tunneling through the rugged East Fork Canyon. A later attempt to build a road through the East Fork via Shoemaker Canyon, in the 1950s, was also aborted due to lack of funds.
Today the East Fork Road provides access to the Heaton Flats trailhead, a popular jumping-off points for visitors to the San Gabriel Mountains. [6] [7] The stretch of the river along and above East Fork Road is one of the most heavily used parts of the Angeles National Forest, and is visited by hikers, campers and recreational gold miners alike – as many as 15,000 per day in the summer, which has had considerable environmental impacts on the East Fork. [8]
The Kings River, historically called Wimmel-che by the Yokuts, is a 132.9-mile (213.9 km) river draining the Sierra Nevada mountain range in central California in the United States. Its headwaters originate along the Sierra Crest in and around Kings Canyon National Park and form the eponymous Kings Canyon, one of the deepest river gorges in North America. The river is impounded in Pine Flat Lake before flowing into the San Joaquin Valley southeast of Fresno. With its upper and middle course in Fresno County, the Kings River diverges into multiple branches in Kings County, with some water flowing south to the old Tulare Lake bed and the rest flowing north to the San Joaquin River. However, most of the water is consumed for irrigation well upstream of either point.
The San Gabriel Mountains are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east. The range lies in, and is surrounded by, the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests, with the San Andreas Fault as its northern border.
East Fork Road, located in the San Gabriel Mountains above the city of Azusa, California, is a road that gives access from State Route 39 into East Fork and other small townships, including Camp Williams, and Julius Klein Conservation Fire Camp 19, a minor offender prisoner housing complex where "LACO fire personnel provide training, which prepares inmates to safely conduct wild land firefighting operations."
The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
The San Gabriel River is a mostly urban waterway flowing 58 miles (93 km) southward through Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California in the United States. It is the central of three major rivers draining the Greater Los Angeles Area, the others being the Los Angeles River and Santa Ana River. The river's watershed stretches from the rugged San Gabriel Mountains to the heavily developed San Gabriel Valley and a significant part of the Los Angeles coastal plain, emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach.
Mount San Antonio, commonly referred to as Mount Baldy or Old Baldy, is a 10,064 ft (3,068 m) summit in the San Gabriel Mountains on the border of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties of California. Lying within the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Angeles National Forest, it is the high point of the range, the County of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The Arroyo Seco, meaning "dry stream" in Spanish, is a 24.9-mile-long (40.1 km) seasonal river, canyon, watershed, and cultural area in Los Angeles County, California. The area was explored by Gaspar de Portolà who named the stream Arroyo Seco as this canyon had the least water of any he had seen. During this exploration he met the Chief Hahamog-na (Hahamonga) of the Tongva Indians.
Piru Creek is a major stream, about 71 miles (114 km) long, in northern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River, the largest stream system in Southern California that is still relatively natural.
The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February-March 1938 and generated almost one year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. Between 113–115 people were killed by the flooding. The Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers burst their banks, inundating much of the coastal plain, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and the Inland Empire. Flood control structures spared parts of Los Angeles County from destruction, while Orange and Riverside Counties experienced more damage.
The Bridge to Nowhere is an arch bridge that was built in 1936 north of Azusa, California, United States in the San Gabriel Mountains. It spans the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and was meant to be part of a road connecting the San Gabriel Valley with Wrightwood, California.
McKnight Mountain is the highest peak in the Black Range of southwestern New Mexico, in the southwestern United States. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Silver City, in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness of the Gila National Forest.
The South Fork Kern River is a tributary of the Kern River in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. It is one of the southernmost rivers on the western slope of the mountains, and drains a high, relatively dry plateau country of 982 square miles (2,540 km2) along the Sierra Crest. The upper South Fork flows through a series of rugged canyons, but it also drains a flat, marshy valley before joining the Kern River at Lake Isabella.
Islip Saddle is a saddle and mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies just west of Mount Islip in the San Gabriel Mountains at the intersection of State Route 2 and the northern terminus of State Route 39. It is the second highest mountain pass on the highway after nearby Dawson Saddle.
Coyote Creek is a principal tributary of the San Gabriel River in northwest Orange County, southeast Los Angeles County, and southwest Riverside County, California. It drains a land area of roughly 41.3 square miles (107 km2) covering eight major cities, including Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, Hawaiian Gardens, La Habra, Lakewood, La Palma, and Long Beach. Some major tributaries of the creek in the highly urbanized watershed include Brea Creek, Fullerton Creek, and Carbon Creek. The mostly flat creek basin is separated by a series of low mountains, and is bounded by several small mountain ranges, including the Chino Hills, Puente Hills, and West Coyote Hills.
Santa Anita Creek is a 10.4-mile (16.7 km) long stream in Los Angeles County, California. It flows southwards from its headwaters in the south ridge of the San Gabriel Mountains, to form the beginnings of the Rio Hondo near Irwindale.
The South Fork Kings River is a 44.1-mile (71.0 km) tributary of the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada of Fresno County, California. The river forms part of Kings Canyon, the namesake of Kings Canyon National Park and one of the deepest canyons in North America with a maximum relief of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) from rim to river.
The San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders (SGMTBs) is a 501(c)3 non-profit volunteer organization which performs hiking and nature trail building and maintenance within the Los Angeles Gateway District of the United States Forest Service which maintains the Angeles National Forest within the San Gabriel Mountains.
The West Fork is one of two major streams, the other being the East Fork, that combine to form the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California. The West Fork flows for 19 miles (31 km) in an easterly direction from its origins at Red Box Gap, in the San Gabriel Mountains, eventually reaching San Gabriel Reservoir where it is bridged by SR 39 just above its mouth.
The North Fork San Gabriel River is a tributary, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long, of the West Fork San Gabriel River in the Angeles National Forest of Los Angeles County, California. The river originates at the confluence of Soldier Creek and Coldbrook Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains below the village of Falling Springs and flows down a steep canyon in a southerly direction to join the West Fork near San Gabriel Reservoir. The North Fork Canyon provides the route for SR 39, one of the main access roads to the Angeles Forest.
Alder Creek is an approximately 4.25-mile (6.84 km) long tributary of Big Tujunga Creek in Los Angeles County, California and the Angeles National Forest. It is formed by the confluence of the West Fork and North Fork Alder Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains a short distance south of Pacifico Mountain. It then flows south, picking up the Middle Fork, East Fork and Mule Fork before emptying into Big Tujunga Creek 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Hidden Springs. Near its mouth the creek flows under a bridge carrying Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road.