If you’ve ever wanted to tell a fellow Pasadenan to “go take a hike,” now’s your chance. Pasadena has a lot to offer and the
Pasadena Chapter of the Sierra Club is making it easy to explore and enjoy our unique local habitat.
“Human beings evolved to walk. It is what we are made to do,” said Keith Martin, one of the leaders. He and his wife, Beth, co-lead Evenings in the Arroyo Hikes. They joined the Sierra Club to find a group of responsible adults who enjoyed visiting and protecting wild space and met on a Sierra Club outing.
The roughly 3-mile hike started at San Pasqual Stables and gets close to the iconic Colorado Street Bridge. The Arroyo Seco, or the Arroyo, is one of Pasadena’s natural resources and home to La Casita del Arroyo – the roughly 100 year-old home of the Pasadena Garden Club.
The area in and around the Arroyo holds some of Pasadena’s greatest cultural attractions like the Tournament of Roses, the Rose Bowl, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and California Institute of Technology. The Arroyo also features a casting pond, to practice fishing and an archery range.
The Colorado Street Bridge is the literal high point of the Arroyo. It was built in 1913, to Pasadena with Eagle Rock. This Beaux Arts style bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
But, perhaps the most impressive part of the Arroyo is its proximity to the heart of urban Pasadena. Keith explains that Pasadena is a unique landscape because it is a developed urban area directly adjacent to mountain wilderness and that it’s possible to feel very secluded in nature.
The Arroyo isn’t the only place to go for a walk in the woods. Beth and Keith point out that there are many hiking spots nearby like Eaton Canyon, the Echo Mountain Trail, Millard Canyon and the San Gabriel Mountain.
So grab your favorite Pasadenan and “take a hike” — just don’t “get lost.”
