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May 02, 2024 — Eaton Canyon is an easily accessible oasis just outside Los Angeles' metro limits within the San Gabriel Mountains. The Eaton Canyon Trail is a short and popular hike leading to the base of the last waterfall before the canyon opens up and drains south, while the upper miles of Eaton Canyon provide a locals' favorite technical canyoneering outing because of its many waterslides, seasonal flowing water, and gorgeous narrows. Additionally, a trail leads all the way to its head, so unlike many of the canyons in the San Gabriels, bushwhacking and poison oak are less of a pain. The canyon's length and wet conditions can pose challenges for groups lacking experience and preparation. During high-flow conditions, Eaton Canyon can become a challenging Class C adventure.
After a wet winter, we figured the water levels would be high enough to be lots of fun, but not too dangerous. Chris was driving through Las Vegas, his presence pulling me out of work mode and prompting an impromptu trip that Tyler quickly jumped on board with. We got a hotel near Eaton Canyon to avoid morning LA traffic, which felt like the right choice. Rather than park at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center and hike the additional miles of trail, we started from a neighborhood and used a public access gate off Pinecrest Drive. We dropped down from the suburbs and crossed over Eaton Creek, briefly observing the water flowing over the dam and finding it was moderate/high flow.
We hiked along the dirt Mount Wilson Toll Road up to Henninger Flats Campground, took a shortcut that navigated various trails and dirt roads through the campground, and then continued ascending above the marine layer on the dirt road. We crested a ridge and started descending west away from Mount Wilson Toll Road for about a quarter mile before the unmarked and unmaintained Telephone Trail popped in on the right.
The Telephone Trail was overgrown and had occasional encroaching poison oak, descending gradually before crossing a flowing creek, and then contouring along an old carved powerline track that heads north. This stretch of hiking has excellent views down into Eaton Canyon from above a significant cliff. The old powerline road ended, and we descended along singletrack that skirted a steep slope. The final few hundred feet into the Eaton Canyon drainage descends loose terrain eroded by poor trail planning, complete with a fixed handline in place to assist.
We put on our wetsuits and gear and started down Eaton Canyon, but I'll allow the photos below to give a better representation of the nine rappels and many fun obstacles and slides within the canyon. We encountered the first rappel just after entering the watercourse, but the rest of the rope-required obstacles are spread throughout, many separated by significant stretches of creek walking.
The final rappel dumped us at a crowd of hikers who came up the Eaton Canyon Trail, and we took the trail back to where the Mount Wilson Toll Road crossed a bridge over Eaton Creek. Here, a social trail took us off the trail and up to the bridge, where we could ascend back to our cars.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
