HISTORIC TRAILS OF LOS ANGELES - Click the green buttons below for hike details.
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The Echo Mountain Trail is actually a combination of two trails, the Lower Sam Merrill Trail and the Mount Lowe Railway Trail, winding 2.75 miles one-way along a system of switchbacks through the Las Flores Canyon. As you gain elevation, majestic views of the San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles begin to appear. The trail culminates at the ruins of The White City in the Sky, a grandiose Victorian resort once only accessible by a unique funicular incline railway. Ravaged by a succession of fires and floods, only a few foundations and some rusting rail equipment remain to tell the tale former mountain resort for the well-heeled, but the views are as grand as ever, reaching some 65 miles across Los Angeles to Catalina Island. Learn more about The White City on our blog by clicking here.
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White City Resort Ruins, Echo Mountain
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For a decidedly different view of Los Angeles, consider this 6.4 mile roundtrip hike to summit of the highest peak in the Santa Susanna Mountains. Along the way, you'll pass directly through the former LA-88 Nike Missile Base used for air defense of the city during the height of the cold war. You can read more about the LA-88 Base and the Nike Missile Program on the Hike-LosAngeles Blog here. As you near the summit you will also notice several oil wells on the surrounding hills, reminders of when this area was a primary source of the country's energy. Once on the summit there are grand and sweeping views across the whole San Fernando Valley to the tops of Cahuenga and Burbank Peaks. This is definitely a hike with a view!
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LA-88 Nike Missle Launch Pad Silo Doors, Oat Mountain
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Take a hike through cinematic history on this 2.5 mile loop trail at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, CA. In 1927, Paramount Pictures purchased 2700 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains to be used as a movie ranch for its spectacular scenery and long-range vistas. Over 150 films were shot here until Paramount broke the property up and sold it off in smaller parcels in the 1940s. Even with Paramount no longer on the scene, the unique visual attributes of the area kept filmmakers coming back, with the eventual establishment of a permanent 1880s western town, which has been featured on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, The X Files and HBO's Canivale.
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Old Western Town, Paramount Ranch
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Who doesn't like a waterfall? Well, this hike has not one but two different cascades, one of which is a two-tiered drop! And along the way, hikers are treated to some stunning vistas of the interior San Gabriel Mountains as they pass through a unique bit of Southern California history, the Switzer-land Resort Camp. Not much remains of the camp today, but you can still see the crushed arches of Christ's Chapel resting on the mountainside 200' above the Upper Falls. But best of all, this trek is mostly completed under a dense canopy of oak and alders on the banks of the Arryo Seco, providing plenty of shade from the blistering California sun on an easy grade over 1.7 miles one-way.
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Ruins of Christ's Church
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