San Gabriel River Trail
Trail Review
Cassie and I rode the northernmost part of the San Gabriel River Trail.
We parked at the San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Center, and while the volunteer there wasn’t sure if we could park there at first, he said if we parked for a couple of hours, it should be fine (unless the Azusa police were having a bad day). Next time, we’re not sure if we’d park here again, as it sounded like it might have been better for us to park in the neighborhood streets nearby. This place had bathrooms and a water fountain, so the facilities were nice.
The trail was fully paved and well marked. But because it was so well developed, it felt a bit removed from nature. Still, it was really nice and a place I’d love to bring the girls or other novice bikers.
This trail goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean, though that is 30 miles away. In the future, it’d be nice to do in a day.
There were lots of other bikers on the trail, and most were friendly. There was one guy on a gas-powered motorcycle, which was jarring to see.
The path follows the San Gabriel River, but the distance to the river varies, so sometimes all you hear is the river and sometimes just lots of quiet. When it passes near roads, though, the car noises can be deafening.
What I Learned
At the San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Center, we were talking to the volunteer about the feasibility of parking there and got to talking about camping and other nature stuff. When we asked him if they sold pins or patches at the center, he said that they did not, but he took off one of the pins he had of Smokey the Bear and gave it to Cassie, which was awfully nice.
What Happened?
9 miles, 54 mins, 331 ft of ascent
We had a few hours on Sunday morning where we could do something outdoors, so we decided on cycling, since it’s something that Cassie could do without pain in her leg.
I looked around for a bike trail nearby Temple City and found this gem of a trail that went from the San Gabriel Canyon all the way to the Pacific Ocean! Now, we didn’t have enough time to do the whole trail, but it’d be something that I’d love to do in the future (especially with all the good food that I could have on the way!).
We parked at the San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Center, then started our bike ride right after our delightful conversation with the volunteer that was working at the gateway center. We initially thought that we could bike to the Azusa Trail Rest Area then head south, but we found out that unlike what Apple Maps stated, we could not join the San Gabriel River Trail from there. So we turned around and headed north, past the intersection and into the canyon itself.
The trail was mighty beautiful with the river rushing by and the canyon walls closing in, but the trail went less than a mile and we were forced to turn around (we could have kept going up, but the cars on the canyon road were obnoxiously loud and we did not trust their driving skills).
We rode with the sun in our faces for about 4 or so miles before we turned around and headed back to the car. The southbound ride was nice, but a bit sterile as there was more concrete than nature, but the road was perfectly paved and with how my bike was riding, I had little to complain about.
The way back again had better views, but it was uphill. Cassie was trying hard not to put much pressure on her leg, so we went slow and steady and tried to enjoy our time in the sun as much as possible.
Sooner than we anticipated, we were back at the parking lot—we washed up in the bathroom, put our bikes away, and headed towards Temple City. At Temple City, we ran into a farmers market where we found the most delicious dried fruit and nuts. And of course, we got to catch up with one of Cassie’s oldest friends. It was a lovely day.