09/09/14
Azuza, California
Built in 1936, the Bridge to Nowhere is a fascinating piece of history that shows just how strong Mother Nature can be. The concrete open spandrel arch bridge spans over the San Gabriel River and was originally suppose to connect the San Gabriel Valley with the quiet town of Wrightwood. Unfortunately, in 1938, a large flood washed out the East Fork Road, which was still under construction at the time. So the decision was made to abandon the project and to this day, the bridge leads only to nature’s best.
This hike is one of the easier trails that I have been on and is perfect for the ideal beginner looking for a challenge. It trains your stamina with 10 long miles of fairly flat trails and puts your trail-finding abilities to the test. Because parts of the trail are washed out, I found myself questioning my direction many times. If I didn’t know that the majority of the trail parallels the San Gabriel River, I would have turned around immediately and gone home without taking any risks. The hike seems to go back and forth with a forest and desert environment. It is filled with many river crossings, shading trees and rocks, cacti, and sharp yucca plants. The beginning of the hike has a glorious amount of shade but ends with a dry, desert-like trail. The temperature that day was between 90-95°F and was quite tolerable with the accompanying shade. I brought my trusty three liter CamelBak and was left with a few drops by the end of the trail. This trail requires a permit that you can acquire at a self-serve post 10 minutes into the hike.
Distance: ~10 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,158 ft.
Final Elevation: ~2,730 ft.
Directions to the start of the trail (East Fork Trail): Use the directions feature in Google Maps and enter the following coordinates exactly as shown. This will take you straight to the parking lot at the beginning of the trail. An Adventure Pass is required to park here.
34.236453, -117.765186
Azuza, California
Built in 1936, the Bridge to Nowhere is a fascinating piece of history that shows just how strong Mother Nature can be. The concrete open spandrel arch bridge spans over the San Gabriel River and was originally suppose to connect the San Gabriel Valley with the quiet town of Wrightwood. Unfortunately, in 1938, a large flood washed out the East Fork Road, which was still under construction at the time. So the decision was made to abandon the project and to this day, the bridge leads only to nature’s best.
This hike is one of the easier trails that I have been on and is perfect for the ideal beginner looking for a challenge. It trains your stamina with 10 long miles of fairly flat trails and puts your trail-finding abilities to the test. Because parts of the trail are washed out, I found myself questioning my direction many times. If I didn’t know that the majority of the trail parallels the San Gabriel River, I would have turned around immediately and gone home without taking any risks. The hike seems to go back and forth with a forest and desert environment. It is filled with many river crossings, shading trees and rocks, cacti, and sharp yucca plants. The beginning of the hike has a glorious amount of shade but ends with a dry, desert-like trail. The temperature that day was between 90-95°F and was quite tolerable with the accompanying shade. I brought my trusty three liter CamelBak and was left with a few drops by the end of the trail. This trail requires a permit that you can acquire at a self-serve post 10 minutes into the hike.
Distance: ~10 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,158 ft.
Final Elevation: ~2,730 ft.
Directions to the start of the trail (East Fork Trail): Use the directions feature in Google Maps and enter the following coordinates exactly as shown. This will take you straight to the parking lot at the beginning of the trail. An Adventure Pass is required to park here.
34.236453, -117.765186
The trail starts on the fire road at the end
of the parking lot to the right. The parking lot has several fire roads
so be careful not to take the wrong one.
The parking lot.
Beginning of the trail.
The trail is a nice dirt road down to a large map and self-serve permit post.
Not taking any of these today. Keep left on the trail.
Cool map of all the nearby peaks and destinations.
Awesome shade that I talked about earlier.
Trail completely disappears. I hiked alongside the river and eventually found my path.
Very rocky trail. Hope you have good shoes!
Very rocky trail. Hope you have good shoes!
Cool little tumbled down shack to look for to ensure that you're on the right path.
Moving on... Staying parallel to the river.
Boy was it tempting to jump in... I think I read a sign that advised us not to.
Came along a musky smelling pedestrian bridge. The smell reminds me of Knott's Berry Farm.
Hey! A couple of peeps having some fun along the trail.
Sun, you can stop sun-ing now. This is where the hike becomes a little bit of a challenge.
Looking to the right of the trail. Pretty cool view!
A "Private Property" sign telling us the do's and the don'ts of the bridge area. Smile, you're on camera?!
I can see it!
Made it. What a bridge!
View from the top of the bridge.
#5.
Holy smokes. Nature's wrath was 3 ft. away from me and I didn't even know until I scared it away on accident.
Holy smokes. Nature's wrath was 3 ft. away from me and I didn't even know until I scared it away on accident.
Ran into some goldpanners.
Another tempting pool to jump into.
Chris's Difficulty Scale - 4/10
Chris's Difficulty Scale - 4/10
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