The city of Duarte – along with consultants – have mapped out a rebuild and cleanup for the 2.5 mile Fish Canyon Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains’ foothills.
Fish Canyon Trail was closed nine years ago, after it was scorched by the San Gabriel Complex Fires. The trail itself lies over multiple jurisdictions - the trailhead on private property in Azusa, the trail itself in Duarte, then continuing up into state land. Duarte’s Director of Parks and Recreation Manuel Enriquez says it was recommended that the land be allowed to settle for at least five years before rehabilitation.
“Portions of the trail pathway were destroyed,” Enriquez tells SBLA. “Large, heavy boulders came down or fell and now impede the trail pathway. You had trees and debris. There was some damage to the railing of the bridge that connects you from the trail head [on land belonging to Vulcan Mining] into the actual trail, and then wayfinding signage that was burned and damaged as well.”
Enriquez also mentioned that the closure of Fish Canyon dealt a blow to the Transit to Parks and Trails program that the city of Duarte had invested in (with the non-profit Nature for All) to shuttle hikers from Metro’s L Line Station to the trailhead.
“It definitely was popular back when it was open,” Enriquez says. “It's a triple waterfall when you get to the falls itself. And so to have something so accessible here in the region, with such beautiful scenery, and just right here up against the hillside – it's a nice recreational amenity that residents and even non-residents still call to this day asking for status updates.”
The trail was briefly reopened in 2017.
Since beginning work for the city in 2019, Enriquez says he’s been working to secure funding for planning, redesigning, and eventually cleaning up Fish Canyon Trail.
Continuing to work with Nature for All, the city secured a three year planning grant for $117,162 from the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy in 2021. That has been used to map the damage and develop new concepts for the trail, its entry, and wayfinding signage.
For now, Fish Canyon’s reopening date is uncertain. Enriquez anticipates another two to three years for construction permitting, and then a question mark for the actual work and the funding needed. The estimated total price tag for repairing the trail, improving the parking lot and trailhead, environmental permitting, and incidentals is just shy of $1.4 million.
Streetsblog’s San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!
