San Gabriel River 2026

I am Ignacio. Today we're going back to East Fork, San Gabriel River. Coming from Los Angeles, take freeway 210 East and exit on Azusa Avenue. Make a left turn when you exit the freeway and then you're gonna go underneath the freeway. After that, on the right hand side there's an ARCO station. I recommend that you stop here to get some snacks, maybe go to the restrooms and also buy a parking permit. The parking permit is called National Forest Adventure Pass. It is $5 for one day or $30 for the whole year. I recommend the year one if you hike a lot. Continue driving on Azusa Avenue that eventually will become Highway 39 for 11.7 miles. It is a beautiful drive. I made the video for my other YouTube channel that is called On My Way To Adventure. Click on the link to watch the complete scenic drive from my other channel. Thank you so much for your support. At 11.7 miles there's an intersection. We're gonna make a right turn to East Fork Road. If you keep going straight it will take you to the area of Crystal Lake, which is actually very beautiful. Click on the link to watch a video about that. But in this case we are going to the right. After we make the right turn from this point we're gonna drive 2.5 miles to the first of two spots that I'm gonna show you today. I've done a couple of videos about this place but many people keep on asking me if I know what's the situation of the river because this is the river that you have to cross to get to bridge to nowhere so they want to know. When you see these trash containers and if it's a weekend you will see lots of cars then you made it to the first spot. Park your car, display your permit and then from here it will take you about five minutes to reach the creek. There's a few trails you will find them. There's one behind the restroom and here's one too. They're a bit steep but nothing too crazy, you can do it. Up there is where we left the car. It will take you five minutes literally to get to the creek. Last year the river was on this side and all of this was full with water but the water wasn't the color that it usually is. It was more like brown color because of the ashes from the bridge fire. This year the color of the water changed back to its original. It is very beautiful. I'll show you. Remember I always tell you that the rivers are always changing. Last year all of this was full with water but now the river is on the other side. We're gonna walk to it. It is very very beautiful. That's why it's very important that when you subscribe to my channel you activate that little bell that way you get notified when I upload a new video. Thank you so much for your support. It might not look like but the water is very strong. It was all the way to my knees but I think it's okay to go to bridge to nowhere as long as you cross the creek where it's wide. Do not do it where it's narrow because the water is actually very strong still. By the way if you want to watch the video how to get there click on the link that appears on the screen. Thank you so much for your support. Last time I was here I went to the right so today I'm gonna go to the left to see what I can find. The good news is that the river came back to its original color. The bad news is that people are still leaving a lot of trash behind. It is very sad. Such a beautiful place with a lot of trash. Now what are we going to do about it? There are two things that you can do. One and the most important is if you visit this place do not leave any trash behind. Take it with you. Two if you can help out. Clean up when you have a chance. Those are the only two solutions. Nothing else will work. Pointing fingers, getting political or even racist about it that's not going to fix the problem. I know some of you say oh it's social media. It is not. It's the people. I was born in the 70s, grew up in the 80s and ever since the problem with trash has been forever before social media. So no it's not social media. One thing we can do is also live with example and if you come and visit and you take a video and you post it on social media make sure you mention the problem. Let's all work together and try to fix it. Thank you. I actually made a playlist of videos when I'm cleaning the places. Those for some reason don't have much views. I wonder why. Do me a favor. Watch them and share them with your friends. That way we can at least try to fix the big problem. Click on the link that appears on the screen to watch them. Thank you. Didn't I tell you I was going to show you the river? Sorry I just got caught up with a trash situation and got carried away. My apologies. Let's get to the beauty of this place. Alright from this point we're gonna keep driving for exactly 2.2 miles to our next stop. One more thing that is very important. Please do not come here during the winter or during the rainy season. Early in the spring the water levels could be too dangerous. Actually last month someone died here. This person was trying to cross to get to the bridge to nowhere and the water took her away. So do not risk it. Please be extra careful. Usually the best time to visit here is late spring and summer. And this is it. We made it. When you see this sign on the right hand side that says Oaks picnic area this is where you can park if you find a spot. If not you can park across the street. Display your parking permit and go explore and have fun. This area has picnic tables and also has restrooms. They're not the best ones but at least they do the job. From here you park, cross the road and it will take you another five minutes to get to the creek. It's so easy. Last time I was here I explored to the right so in this case I'm going to the left with the current of the water. You can explore in any direction you like. Go to the right, go to the left, swim, chill, anything you want. It's beautiful. Enjoy it. But please, please, please do not leave any trash behind. This rock pool was about four or five feet deep but the current in the middle was very strong. Probably in two or three weeks would be perfect. By the way this video was filmed on April 17th of 2026. Let's take a closer look. Is this your first time watching my channel? Welcome aboard. As you can see I will explain to you in detail with all the information needed to go to beautiful places like this. Waterfalls, lakes, mountains, hot springs, wildflowers, everything. Please subscribe and activate the little bell. That way you will not miss any of my adventures. Thank you so much for your support. Today's temperature was about 65 degrees. It wasn't that hot and I wanted to try the water. It's actually freezing cold. Be warned. This water is from the melting snow from the mountains. I guess it will be perfect for a very hot day. After here I drove about a quarter of a mile to this bridge from where we were and underneath the bridge to the right hand side there's a really nice rock pool. I will probably come back on a hotter day to take a splash in it. On the description of this video I'm going to leave a link to google maps to get you to this spot and also lots of information including how you can buy me a coffee. You can also buy some merch and other stuff. Thank you so much for your support. Do you love nature? Are you new into hiking? I made a playlist with videos that are perfect for beginners. Click on the link that is going to appear on the screen to watch them. Thank you so very much for your support and for watching. Until next time.