About Monrovia Canyon Falls
Monrovia Canyon Falls was a pleasant two-tiered 30ft waterfall in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near the suburb of Monrovia.
Presenting another little getaway for Angelinos like us, we were pleasantly surprised that it was flowing as well as it did late in the Summer (I think around August 2001) when we first visited the falls.
It even flowed fairly well on a visit in April 2014 when we were in the midst of a third straight year of drought, further attesting to its resiliency.
In fact, the creek responsible for this waterfall manages to avoid the evaporative Southern California heat by flowing underneath the surface to emerge as a spring unseen further upstream deep in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Therefore, this waterfall was actually said to flow year round, and in this instance, we believe it!
Indeed, this attribute was something that was quite rare for Southern California waterfalls given its relative lack of rainfall and hot, sunny days for most of the year.
We think this fact alone made this short waterfall well worth visiting.
Hiking to Monrovia Canyon Falls
The trail to Monrovia Canyon Falls was a pleasantly shady, gently uphill hike for 3/4 miles (or 1.5 miles round trip).
Along the way, we passed by a handful of manmade dams and some narrow, minor cliff-hugging spots.
Over the years, we definitely had to pay a bit more attention to the narrowness of the trail as well as the dropoffs as we made visits with our little daughter.
But for the most part, this was one of the easiest hikes to do.
After all, we witnessed plenty of seniors, other toddlers, as well as locals walking their dogs while doing this trail.
To further illustrate how much confidence we had in doing this trail, Julie and I took our daughter to this waterfall when she was four months old.
We then did it with her when she was 15 months old, and once again when she was 3 years old.
On the visit when our daughter was three, she managed (actually insisted) that she do the hike all by herself!
She even refused to hold our hands around some of the narrower parts of the trail.
Probably the hardest thing to do regarding an excursion here would be to find parking, which can be an issue if you’re not an early bird.
We knew that the hard way on a couple of our visits.
It wasn’t surprising to see people marauding the narrow upper lot waiting for people to leave so they could snatch those hard-to-get spots.
That said, it was also possible as a last resort to park at one of the lower lots (even near the payment kiosk).
You could even go as far as the residential areas further down the hill to perhaps avoid paying the park fee to enter.
The only drawback for those last options was that the hike would be prolonged depending on how far away from the trailhead the parking would be.
In any case, each time we made it to the main parking lot and trailhead area at the top of the road, we never forgot to check out the view of the Los Angeles basin from the lookout there.
Authorities
Monrovia Canyon Falls resides in the Monrovia Canyon Park in Monrovia in Los Angeles County, California. It is administered by the City of Monrovia. For information or inquiries about the park as well as current conditions, visit the Monrovia City Council website or their Facebook page.
For a little orientation, Monrovia Canyon Falls sat in the city of Monrovia, which itself was directly east of Pasadena along the 210 Freeway or generally northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
We accessed the falls in a couple of ways – the Mountain Ave exit or the Myrtle Ave exit.
Accessing Monrovia Canyon Park via the Mountain Avenue exit
Recently, we found that the most straightforward route was to take the Mountain Ave exit shortly west of the I-210/I-605 junction in Duarte along the I-210.
We then turned right onto Mountain Ave and followed this road past a few traffic lights up to Foothill Blvd.
Turning left onto Foothill Blvd, we then drove west towards the light at Canyon Ave.
Turning right onto Canyon Ave, we then drove up the hill through the residential area before veering right as Canyon Ave continued onto a winding mountain road leading up to Monrovia Canyon Park.
On a recent visit, we noticed signs saying Fountain to the Falls from downtown Monrovia to the Monrovia Canyon Park, but I suspect that was a special event).
Anyways, the road eventually led to a manned kiosk where we paid $5 (as of 2014; Forest Service Adventure Passes weren’t honored here) to park in any of the lots starting from the kiosk area all the way up to the top of the road.
In all of our visits, we tended to park at the very top of the road though it wasn’t always easy as the parking situation can be stressful given how popular this place was and how many limited parking spaces were available.
The trailhead was at the parking lot at the very end of the road though there was also a separate trail linking the lower parking areas and cabins with the trail to the falls just below the trail from the main picnic area.
Accessing Monrovia Canyon Park via the Myrtle Avenue exit
Alternatively in the past, we often accessed Monrovia Canyon Falls by taking the I-210 to the Myrtle Avenue exit (west of Mountain Ave exit).
Going in this manner, from the Myrtle Ave exit, we went north through downtown Monrovia and then into a residential area where the road eventually curved into Scenic Drive.
At that point, there were Monrovia Canyon Park signs at each turn guiding us onto the correct road eventually heading into Monrovia Canyon Park.
Find A Place To Stay
Checking out the falls together
Top down sweep of the falls with Mum and Daughter looking on
Fixated on the upper sections of the falls from directly in front of the falls
Related Trip Reports
Related Top 10 Lists
No Posts Found
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
Visitor Comments:
Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...No users have replied to the content on this page
Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall
Nearest Waterfalls
