Eaton Canyon | |
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![]() Eaton Canyon with toll road bridge in background | |
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Nearest city | Pasadena, California |
Coordinates | 34°12′18″N118°05′17″W / 34.205°N 118.088°W |
Eaton Canyon is a major canyon beginning at the Eaton Saddle near Mount Markham and San Gabriel Peak in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest, United States. Its drainage flows into the Rio Hondo river and then into the Los Angeles River. [1] It is named after Judge Benjamin S. Eaton, who lived in the Fair Oaks Ranch House in 1865 not far from Eaton Creek. [2]
The most well-known portion of the canyon is the Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena, California. The trailhead of the Mount Wilson Toll Road is in the canyon. [3] [4]
The canyon has been part of the homelands of the Tongva for thousands of years. The village of Puntitavjatngna relied on the freshwater of the canyon to thrive, housing about 500 to 1,500 dwellings. [5]
Spanish settlers arrived in the area in the late eighteenth century and referred to the canyon as "El Precipicio" because of its steep gorges, the canyon falls under several governmental jurisdictions. [2]
Benjamin Eaton was hired by Don Benito Wilson to bring water to the Fair Oaks Ranch, building a house on the property in 1865. [6]
In August 1877, naturalist John Muir set out from Pasadena for an expedition into the San Gabriels. He writes: "On the first day of my excursion I went only as far as the mouth of Eaton Canyon, because the heat was oppressive, and a pair of new shoes were chafing my feet to such an extent that walking began to be painful." [7] [8] [9]
In October 1993, the Kinneloa Fire, begun accidentally on the slopes above Eaton Canyon, burned much of the area as well as more than a hundred homes in neighboring Altadena and Kinneloa Mesa as part of a rash of late October wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds in Southern California. One man died of complications from smoke inhalation and dozens were injured. [10] [11] After briefly serving as the incident command post for the fire, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center was destroyed. [12] [13] [14] It was rebuilt in 1998.
In 2022, a 1 acre (0.40 ha) property overlooking the canyon was returned to the Tongva tribe via the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, which marked the first time the tribe had land in Los Angeles County in nearly 200 years. [15]
The Eaton Canyon Natural Area Park is located where the mountain stream debouches into the foothill wash at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The park is administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The county administers the lower two-thirds of the area below the toll road bridge. Most of the 190 acres (0.8 km2) that comprises the natural area lie on the northern boundaries of the old Rancho San Pascual and Rancho Santa Anita on land designated for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Once the railroad gave up the land, it was opened for homesteading. [2] The nature center is unique in the area because it houses exhibits that educate on the flora and fauna local to the San Gabriel Valley Southern California. The center was rebuilt in 1998 after the 1993 fire destroyed the previous facility. [16] [17]
Pasadena and parts of Altadena receive about 40% of their water from local sources. [2] The upper third is controlled by the Water Department of the City of Pasadena. [16] [17]
The falls are where the Eaton Creek has a fifty-foot drop and are located north of the bridge in the part of the canyon administered by the US Forest Service. [18] John Muir once described the waterfall as "a charming little thing, with a low, sweet voice, singing like a bird, as it pours from a notch in a short ledge, some thirty or forty feet into a round mirror-pool." [19]
Several waterfalls also exist above Eaton Fall, which are more secluded. Until 1979, there was a tunnel which allowed access, but this has been dynamited and filled in. While the upper falls were accessible decades ago, there are no longer any maintained trails. People have been injured and killed trying to make these climbs via unofficial trails. [20] [21] [22]
In 2011, a man fell to his death on the hike to the falls. Another man fell to his death one week later. In 2013, two hikers attempted to climb to the second waterfall, but decided against it mid-climb. As they were coming down, they both lost their footing and fell. One hiker fell to her death, and the other was airlifted to a hospital. [23] [24]
On June 27, 2014, the US Forest Service announced plans to close the trail to the upper falls. The trail to the upper falls was closed off on August 1, 2014. Violators caught trespassing the off-limits area will face a fine of up to $5,000 or six months in jail. Members of the Coalition of American Canyoneers would like access to the area that is closed. [25] [26] [20]
The Eaton Canyon Golf Course is a regulation 9-hole course featuring narrow fairways and rolling terrain. It is administered by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation [27] and has been open since 1962. [28]
It was originally planned as an eighteen-hole facility and was designed by famed golf course architect, William Francis Bell (known as Billy Bell Jr., son of famed golf course designer, William Park Bell). Opening day ceremonies included a golf outing with dignitaries and local golf professionals, including 1961 PGA Champion, Jerry Barber. [28]
The Mount Wilson Toll Road (1891–1936) is a historic roadway which ascended Mount Wilson via a vehicular passable road from the base of the foothills in Altadena. It was accessible from Pasadena via Santa Anita Avenue which drove right to the front porch of the toll house. The road is still accessible from Pinecrest Drive, just off Altadena Drive in Altadena. Access was blocked after a 2005 landslide destroyed 50 yards of the road, but the road has since been rebuilt and reopened.
Mount Wilson had always been active with human passage starting from the days of the local Indians. It was Benjamin Davis Wilson who established a proper trail to the summit of Mt. Wilson from Sierra Madre through the Santa Anita Canyon. The Mt. Wilson Toll Road to Henninger Flats is controlled by the Forester and Fire Warden of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Emerging from the foothills and flowing south, the Eaton Creek becomes the Eaton Wash, whose drainage flows into the Rio Hondo river and then into the Los Angeles River. The wash is one of the Altadena streams that helps to feed to Raymond Basin. Rubio, Las Flores and others all flow to the east eventually to join the Rio Hondo. Millard Canyon on the west flows to the Arroyo Seco. Eaton Wash is one of the two major streams that channels storm water in Pasadena; the other is the Arroyo Seco on the western side of the city. [29]
On its way to the Rio Hondo, the Eaton Wash is joined by the combined drainages from Pasadena Glen and Hastings Canyons. These channels have all been modified by flood control dams near the base of the mountains, and both have been confined to manmade channels or storm drains in their lower reaches. Typically the Eaton Wash and Arroyo Seco carry very little water. Peak discharges are typically less than 1,000 ft3/s (30 m3/s) for Arroyo Seco and less than 500 ft3/s (15 m3/s) for Eaton Wash.
Eaton Wash Reservoir and the Eaton Wash Dam were built in 1937 and are controlled by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. The dam is a rock fill, 63 feet (19 m) in height, and is 1,545 ft (471 m) in length. Normal storage for the reservoir is 721 acre-feet (889,000 m3). It has a surface area of 54 acres (22 ha) and drains an area of 9.47 square miles (24.5 km2). Its primary usage is for flood control and debris storage. [30] [31]
Altadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from downtown Los Angeles, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California. The population was 42,777 at the 2010 census, up from 42,610 at the 2000 census.
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.
Lake Avenue is a major north–south feeder road for the Pasadena and Altadena communities in Los Angeles County, California. The road was developed in the mid 19th century and takes its name from a lake which was located at its southernmost end known variously as Mission Lake, Kewen Lake, and Wilson Lake reflecting different owners of the land. The lake bed still exists as a municipal park in the City of San Marino just south of the Raymond Dike, but it holds no water. It has been surrounded by residences who are served by a crisscross set of roads that dip into the edges of impression and back out the other side. Lake Avenue is approximately 5.06 miles (8.14 km) in length.
Located in Los Angeles County, California's San Gabriel Valley, the Boy Scouts of America's San Gabriel Valley Council (#40) was one of five councils serving Los Angeles County. It was headquartered in Pasadena.
The Verdugo Mountains, also known as the Verdugo Hills or simply The Verdugos, are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system in Los Angeles County, California. Located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains region incorporates the cities of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and La Cañada Flintridge; the unincorporated communities of Altadena and La Crescenta-Montrose; as well as the City of Los Angeles neighborhood of Sunland-Tujunga.
The Arroyo Seco Bicycle Path is an approximately 2-mile (3.2 km) long Class I bicycle path along the Arroyo Seco river channel and canyon in the Northeast Los Angeles region of Los Angeles County, California. It parallels the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which is also a part of the canyon.
The Hahamog'na, commonly anglicized to Hahamongna and spelled Xaxaamonga in their native language, are a tribe of the Tongva people of California. Their language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family.
Foothill Boulevard is a major road in the city and county of Los Angeles, as well as an arterial road in the city and county of San Bernardino, stretching well over 60 miles (97 km) in length, with some notable breaks along the route. Like its name implies, Foothill Boulevard runs across the foothills of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains.
The Sam Merrill Trail is a major hiking trail in the Las Flores Canyon of the San Gabriel Mountain Range north of Altadena, California, which leads to the top of Echo Mountain. It was built by Charles Warner and the Forest Conservation Club of Pasadena during the 1930s. After the deluge of 1938 most of the trails that accessed the mountain sides around Echo Mountain and the Mount Lowe Railway had been all but washed away. Sam Merrill found it important to maintain public hiking access to the railway ruins and other portions of the treacherous foothill. During the 1940s he overhauled and maintained the trail.
The Mount Wilson Toll Road (1891–1936) is a historic roadway which ascended Mount Wilson via a vehicular passable road from the base of the foothills in Altadena. It was accessible from Pasadena via Santa Anita Avenue which drove right to the front porch of the toll house. The road is still accessible to non-motorized traffic by way of Eaton Canyon. Segments of it have been closed at various times due to landslides. A 2005 landslide destroyed 50 yards of the road, but it has since been rebuilt and reopened.
California's 28th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California, in Los Angeles County. The district is regarded as a Democratic stronghold and has been held by the Democratic Party since 2003 and is currently represented by Democrat Judy Chu.
The Gabrielino Trail is a United States National Recreation Trail that runs through the Angeles National Forest. Its western trailhead is at Windsor Avenue in Altadena, California, and it runs generally east/west, with its eastern end at Chantry Flat, just north of Arcadia, California. It passes through three major watersheds and has an elevation gain/loss of 3,500 ft (1,100 m).
Red Box is the name of the junction of the Angeles Crest Highway, the Mt. Wilson-Red Box Road, and the Rincon-Red Box Road. It is located at the 1,422-meter (4,665 ft) saddle between Mount Lawlor and San Gabriel Peak. The saddle separates the upper Arroyo Seco drainage from the West Fork of the San Gabriel River.
Henninger Flats is a small hanging basin 2,600 feet (792.5 m) above sea level in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest. It was part of the Mount Wilson Toll Road. The trailhead to reach the flats is at the top end of Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, California.
Rancho San Pascual, also known as Rancho el Rincón de San Pascual, was a 14,403-acre (58.29 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given to Juan Marine in 1834 by Mexican Governor José Figueroa. The former Rancho San Pascual land includes present-day cities of Pasadena, South Pasadena, and portions of San Marino, and the unincorporated communities of Altadena and San Pasqual.
Lamanda Park is a neighborhood in Pasadena, California. It is bordered roughly by Foothill Boulevard to the north, Del Mar Boulevard to the south, the Eaton Wash to the east, and Allen Avenue to the west, with a panhandle extending south along the western bank of the Eaton Wash. Like Annandale, it was originally a small township that was gradually enveloped by Pasadena. It was annexed in 1920. Even today, many commercial enterprises and newspapers still identify the area as a separate community.
Lower Arroyo is a neighborhood in Pasadena, California, centered on the Arroyo Seco south of Brookside Park. It is bordered by Holly Street to the north, Columbia Street to the south, San Rafael Avenue to the west, and Orange Grove Boulevard to the east.
Hahamongna and Hahamog-na are two historic Tongva village sites. They are located in the Verdugo Mountains of Southern California and bear the name of the local band of indiginous Tongva, "Hahamog'na." The sites are located in present-day Pasadena and Glendale in Los Angeles County, California. Hahamongna was one of the largest Tongva villages in the greater San Fernando Valley area, along with Cahuenga, Tujunga, and Siutcanga.
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Founded in 1874 and incorporated in 1886, the city is famous for its colorful history and for the hosting of both the Tournament of Roses Parade and the annual Rose Bowl game football game. It is also the home of the world-renowned California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
The Kinneloa Fire was a destructive wildfire in October 1993 in Los Angeles County, California. The fire burned 196 structures in the San Gabriel Mountains foothill communities of Altadena, Kinneloa Mesa, and Sierra Madre. At the time, it was the 12th most destructive wildfire in recorded California history, and though it has since fallen well out of the top 20 statewide, it remains one of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles County. The fire resulted in one fatality and a multitude of minor injuries: one person died of pneumonia complicated by smoke inhalation, and two indirect deaths resulted from debris flows in the burn area more than four months later.
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ignored (help)(includes map of entire canyon)