Eaton Canyon - Misplaced Pages

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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. Its drainage flows into the Rio Hondo river and then into the Los Angeles River. It is named after Judge Benjamin Eaton, who built the first Fair Oaks Ranch House in 1865 not far from Eaton Creek.

The most well-known portion of the canyon is the Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Altadena, California. The trailhead of the Mount Wilson Toll Road is in the canyon.

History

The canyon is one of the east-west canyons that separate the steep southern ridge and the taller northern ridge of the San Gabriel Mountains. The canyons run along the San Gabriel Fault, once a main part of the San Andreas Fault.

Eaton Canyon is in the foothills of these mountains. Originally called "El Precipicio" by the Spanish settlers because of its steep gorges, the canyon falls under several governmental jurisdictions.

Benjamin Eaton was hired by Don Benito Wilson to bring water to the Fair Oaks Ranch. 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."

On October 27, 1993, the floor of Eaton Canyon, along with surrounding 118 homes, was devastated by a wildfire.

Landmarks

Eaton Canyon Natural Area Park

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 Parks and Recreation. The county administers the lower two-thirds of the area below the toll road bridge. Most of the 190 acres 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. 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.

Pasadena and parts of Altadena receive about 40% of their water from local sources. The upper third is controlled by the Water Department of the City of Pasadena.

34°11′31″N 118°03′22″W / 34.19189°N 118.056°W / 34.19189; -118.056 - Eaton Canyon Park

Eaton Canyon Falls

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. 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."