#460


West Fork San Gabriel Beyond Coggswell Dam

Distance: up to 9 miles round trip (from the dam).
Elevation gain = 1200 ft.

PLEASE NOTE: The operative words here are "beyond Coggswell Dam." We have never scheduled this hike as a formal OTP hike. It is meant for the true adventurist, one willing to hike or bicycle to the dam site (8 miles one way), secure their gear, and proceed on foot beyond the dam, even to the point of swimming portions of the river to get upstream.

Directions to Trailhead: From the 210 Freeway go north on Route 39 about 11 1/2 miles above Azusa to mileage paddle 26.96. Park in the West Fork parking area on the left.

The hike: Proceed on the Coggswell Dam Access road 8 miles to the dam. If you have ridden a bicycle, secure it at the dam or somehow conceal it and continue on foot. If you have a mountain bike, you can continue riding for another 1.5 miles. Either way the rapidly deteriorating road at 1.5 miles will force you to scramble down about 80 feet to the wide sand and boulder filled floor of Devil's Canyon.

This barren, often bone-dry stretch bears no resemblance to what you will find only a mile up canyon. The first small pools where water sinks below the surface and percolates into the porous substratum will probably be found a short distance ahead. At 2.3 miles the canyon floor suddenly narrows and you must somehow get past a moat-like pool, about 10 feet deep, squeezed between nearly vertical rock walls. Beyond lies a veritable Shangri-La of crystalline pools and miniature cascades. There is a strong possibility that the only way past is to swim. Take along a waterproof plastic bag to package your clothes and other gear you can't afford to get wet.

The barest hint of an animal trail threads through the canyon ahead. Mostly you'll scramble, boulder hop and wade. This part of the canyon is much like upper Devil's Canyon, except the pools are grander. The best one (at 2.8 miles), about 10 feet deep and bounded by water polished granite and banded metamorphic rock, is a sensational swimming hole. There are lots of alder trees and some sycamores down along the stream; incense cedars and scattered poison oak a little higher above the stream; and hardy bigcone Douglas firs clinging to the slopes.

At about 3.5 miles the canyon floor widens considerably. High and dry campsites can be found in the next mile. At 4.5 miles the canyon narrows again, and just ahead of that, progress comes to a halt because of an unclimbable waterfall. Here the waters of Devil's Canyon funnel through a sheer-walled constriction and drop about 20 vertical feet into a pool about 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep.

Return to Index