The hook
A shaded creek canyon in the mountains above Pasadena drops through granite pools to a fifty-foot waterfall, past the ghost of a Victorian resort with a chapel over the falls.
01Why it's worth it
The Arroyo Seco cuts a genuinely lush canyon into the front of the San Gabriels, oaks and alders shading a stream that you cross and recross on the way down to Switzer Falls. In 1884 a Pasadena carpenter named Commodore Switzer built a trail camp here; John Muir visited and approved, and a later owner grew it into a full wilderness resort with a dance floor and, in 1926, an open-air chapel perched two hundred feet above the falls, its bell and organ carried up the canyon by hand. A fire took it all in 1959 and the Forest Service cleared the ruins, but you can still find traces, and the falls and the pools are as good as ever, a real slice of mountain in the middle of the city's back yard.
02How to experience it
The trailhead is off the Angeles Crest Highway above La Cañada, about six hours from the Bay; you'll need an Adventure Pass to park. It's a 3.6-mile round trip, gentle down and a climb back, best in spring when the creek is full. It gets busy on weekends, so go early.