Recreation in the Arroyo Seco

The Arroyo Seco offers a plethora of outdoors and recreational opportunities to the urban population of Los Angeles County. Significant portions of the Arroyo Seco watershed are protected open space, ranging from the National Forest to golf courses to passive nature parks. There is almost a continuous stretch of open space in the Arroyo Seco from the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains to its confluence with the Los Angeles River.

Current types of recreation in the Arroyo Seco Watershed are many and varied. A partial list of the types of activities available includes:

Fishing	Architectural interest sites	Hiking
Archery	Fly Casting	Golf
Sports Fields	Horseback Riding	Disc Golf
Bicycling	Gardens - Ornamental & Botanic	Rollerblading
Bird Watching	Historical sites & neighborhoods	Walking
Swimming	Dog Walking	Nature Appreciation

Parks and Recreational Facilities
Angeles National Forest		USFS
Angeles Crest Station		USFS
Annandale Golf Course / Country Club
Arroyo Seco Golf Course		South Pasadena
Arroyo Seco Park		City of LA
Bear Canyon Picnic Area
Brookside Golf Course		Pasadena
Brookside Park		Pasadena
Camp Chiquita
Camp Sierra
Charles White Park		Los Angeles County
Cleland Avenue Bicentennial Park		City of Los Angeles
Defenders Park (portion)
Descanso Gardens		Los Angeles County
Ernest E. Debs Park		City of Los Angeles
Garvanza Park		City of Los Angeles
General Farnsworth Park		Los Angeles County
Gould Mesa Picnic Area
Greayers Oak Park		City of Los Angeles
Hahamonga Watershed Park		Pasadena
Heritage Square
Highland Park		City of Los Angeles
Highland Park Recreation Center		City of Los Angeles
Highland Park Senior Center		City of Los Angeles
Jackie Robinson Park (portion)		Pasadena
La Ca�ada Flintridge Golf Course / Country Club
La Pintoresca Park		Pasadena
Loma Alta Park		Los Angeles County
Los Angeles River Center		City of Los Angeles
Lower Arroyo Park		Pasadena
Lower Switzer Campground		USFS
Lummis Park
Millard Picnic Area
Mount Lowe Campground
Mountain View Cemetery
Nino Picnic Area
Oak Grove Park		Pasadena
Oak Grove Ranger Station
Paul Little Picnic Area
Rose Bowl		Pasadena
Rose Bowl Aquatic Center		Rose Bowl Aquatic Center
San Pascual Park		City of Los Angeles
San Rafael Park		Pasadena
Shelby Park
Sunset Ridge Station
Switzer Camp		USFS
Switzer Station		USFS
Switzer Visitor Information Station		USFS
Sycamore Grove Park		City of Los Angeles
Upper Upper Switzer Campground		USFS

The Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study

The Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study in 2002 developed a recreational and open space plan for the Arroyo Seco Watershed.

This plan seeks to improve recreational opportunities by improving public access, providing new and improved recreational opportunities, and creating a balance between recreation and other conflicting uses.

The plan has four objectives to improve recreational opportunities. They are:

Improve public access from the Angeles National Forest to the coastal shore by building trails, stairways and bikeways;
Provide opportunities for a range of recreational activities;
Provide opportunities for public use of the watershed�s rivers and streams; and
Provide opportunities to mediate the conflict between recreation and conservation

Ideally, trails and open space in the watershed would connect to and between adjacent natural and recreational areas, including the Rim of the Valley Trail, the Los Angeles River Greenway, Elysian Park, the San Rafael Hills, the Ascot Hills, the Monterey Hills, the Montecito Hills, Cultural Attractions throughout the watershed, Elyria Canyon, Rainbow Canyon, and Occidental College in Eagle Rock. A connection to the Los Angeles River Greenway would improve coastal access from the watershed. Pedestrian and bicycle routes would ideally be planned to connect to Gold Line stations.

Arroyo River Parks

In recent years, the Arroyo Seco Foundations has proposed a plan to integrate the many parks and open spaces into a continuous stream and habitat corridor. Arroyo River Parks is proposed as a template for integrating the multiple benefits and purposes of the Arroyo Seco into a renewed vibrant corridor.