mount lowe railway trail

Went hoping to see lots of Spring wildflowers but either the drought got in the way or our timing was off as there weren't that many. Great trail.

I have hiked this trail numerous times since the mid 70's. So easy to get to - at the end of Lake Blvd. Very well maintained trail. After an hour or so you are visiting the past. A tram used to go up to this "mountain resort" which is now in shambles but a great place to eat lunch in the shade and with a view of the city below. Bring water - it can be hot on a warm summer day.

Overall this is a great spot for a hike, and pic's of the city below. I have heard of groups coming up there during Halloween for Séance. Walking up there at night is also fun, Just don't get caught and take a flashlight!

I have hiked this several times in the past 25 years. Love the history, which is lacking in California. Best hiked in the late fall, winter or spring when it is cool as most of the trails are south and west facing. Terrain varies but 10 miles is predominantly up or downhill. Nice tables at the halfway point. Used to be able to find shards of the lenses from the observatory or pieces of dinnerware and china from the hotel. Views are amazing. I have not hiked this since the Station Fire which pretty much decimated everything but will hike it again this winter.

It is a winding hike on the one side of the mountain until you get to the top...after reaching the top it gets more scenic..

We favor hiking in spring to enjoy wildflowers in full bloom. Check out my photographic evidence.We start out as soon as the sun rise to avoid crowds and mountain bikers. This is a very popular trail because of easy access. We prefer to take the Chaney trail loop since it has more shade and fewer hikers.

Nice workout If you run up then down...Awesome scenery takes only 45 minutes to reach the top! Several trails to reach the top.

I'd say this is very rigorous, strenuous, but good hike for me. We started kinda late around 1030, so the sun is way up. It wasn't really a hard hike, but it was just too hot (90+ degrees). I'm glad I brought 64oz water and another 64oz of gatorade. If you can bring more than that, you'd be happier. As far as the location, I can't really say that it's a nice or rewarding hike at the end because like it says, it's the ruin do basically whatever's left of it. There are some picnic tables you can relax, enough shades of trees, but there's no bathroom for girls, so if you have to take a leak you will have to find a thick bush unlike for us guys we have no shame.It would be nice if there was a waterfalls at the end, but all you will see is downtown la.

I've never hiked anything more than 3 or 4 miles but I was up for the challenge.Started the hike at 7:30 with temp around 65 degrees. The hike to Echo mountain's old hotel grounds from the entrance gate is 2.7 miles. If you want to go to inspiration point, it's another 2 miles. Having to hike uphill throughout the whole trip was my biggest challenge. Being plenty of water! I highly recommend hiking to Inspiration point. The view is amazing and I felt SO accomplished! I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone who wants to get away from the city chaos.

Few people who visit let alone who live in Los Angeles know how many utterly wild trails crisscross this autopolis. There are many places to go to escape urban chaos and this is a trail both therapeutic and rewarding.This is not for the faint of heart -- there's a long uphill climb without shade and if you are doing the full circuit you will need six hours (however, you can also go about half-way and back in three hours and still get wonderful views).Mount Lowe was the destination for one of Henry Huntington's most famous railways. Huntington, in case you don't know, was very much the spirit behind the form of today's Los Angeles. He laid down the lines for his famous "Red Cars" to make suburbia accessible and promote real estate development, and it was the railway lines, not highways, that established LA's dispersed format. The Mt. Lowe Railway was built as a premier leisure line, and going up the mountain for the views and fresh air was a great excursion well before the likes of Universal existed.Today you can relive the historical rail journey on foot and there are many informative placards posted along the way. Old machinery lies mournfully next to the great viewpoint half way up: looking out over the immense field of sunlit urban sprawl, you can imagine the midwesterners transplanted to LA seeking delight in their low-density plot of land connected to work, shops and leisure by the umbilical of rail.A great destination for educational field trips (I took my students up there when I taught at UCLA), this is a great place to take in the history and reality of this great if crazed world city.Just remember to take water -- lots of it!

I love this trail. It goes through chapparel as you do the first 3 miles to echo mountain, then begins to turn into forest as you follow the old train route to mount Lowe and the ruins to the old alpine tavern. Keep going to the ramada for excellent views, alll the way to Catalina island on a clear day. There is about 3000 feet of elevation gain so plan accordingly

Starts from Lake Dr in Altadena at the base of the foothills. The climb is reasonable hard going if your not used to going uphill all the way, and extra hard if its a hot day. There is no shade. The old Hotel sight (it was burned in a scrub fire) and abandoned machinery is very interesting, and the view from up there is amazing looking across LA city, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.It is a very popular trail and can get very busy with bikers and hikers, so we had to move over quite frequently to let people past.

well i liked the sounds up there and i will love to go up ther one day