Distance: 5.4 miles (8.7 km)
Time: around 1.75 hours (1 hour up, 45 minutes down)
Elevation gain: around 1,400 feet (426 metres)
Difficulty: terrain-wise easy, navigation-wise easy, fitness-wise moderate
Drive: 10 minutes (6 miles) up Lake Ave from Pasadena old town to Cobb Estate trailhead
I managed to get here bright and early (well, by my standards) for a breakfast hike, arriving at the Cobb Estate trailhead around 8 on a beautiful mid-May morning. The route is a simple wiggling climb up the Sam Merrill trail, turning right at the T-junction with the Lowe Mountain Railway trail. It’s about 2.5 miles each way, and is a great way to gain elevation fast from right in the heart of Altadena.
A detail from the handy trailhead map, which extends north to the Mount Lowe camp for bigger adventures.
Everything is well signed from the outset.
Five minutes from the trailhead and the views already start to open out.
Another couple of minutes and downtown LA is in sight.
I always like a fetching stairway, especially one so sun-kissed.
Just under an hour in, I reached the junction with the Railway trail.
I ate my picnic on the concrete outcropping with the most dramatic LA views—with clearer air than at any other time during my stay so far.
Perfect for scribbling as well as eating, only partially disturbed by four loud Germans.
And with San Bernadino views as well.
Then before heading back down I had some fun exploring the remnants of the “White City” resort, a short-lived highlight of the railway, part of which burned down in 1900, only about 5 years after it was built.
I should have tried out the echophone—next time!
Plenty of other things for next time too…
I’m only writing this up in spring 2026, so sadly next time will be 2028 at the earliest, given the closure of this whole area for wildfire recovery. But in the meantime, it’s nice to remember the area how it was, in the short window of calm it enjoyed between the 2009 Station fire and the 2025 Eaton fire.
After my explorations, I got back to the Sam Merrill trail at around 10:10, and enjoyed the big southerly and westerly views on the way back down.
And 40 minutes later, the trusty steed awaited to take me back to some late-morning poolside laptop time—also the first day that trip where I could sit out in the shade without a trace of cold, and still with the San Gabriels in sight. LA does do a good line in outdoor living of the “health, pleasure, scenery” variety!
Emily T. Troscianko 