Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-10-31
OCTOBER 81, 1909.
ARROYO sEco PARK

sioners by appointment of Mayor Alex
ander, is one of the most active park
commissioners this city ever had. His
special hobby is the requirement of
the Arroyo Seco from the city to the
mountains, 10 be maintained in it's
natural grandeur, free from the Vandal
"ornamentation" of man, as a play
ground for the millions who will live
here in the future. He asserts that if
the oft repeated boast that Southern
California is the playground of the
world is to be made good, some early
provisions should be made to justify
the claim.
Could the various attractions of the
proposed Arroyo Seco park be fully
known there would be little delay in
acquiring the property from Sycamore
grove to the mountains. In order to
fully appreciate its charms a trip on
horseback or on foot is necessary, and
those who have walked the whole dis
lance are not aware of WEAKNESS until
they have reached the end of their
journey.
The chasm or lower valley of the
Arroyo Seco which is particularly de-
sirable extends from Sycamore grove
to the end of the stage road in the
gorge beyond Devils Gate. The dis
lance is about ten miles, The little
hooks and meSaS abound in wild flow
ers, some of the most gorgeous speci-
mems to be found in the state of Cali
fornia. There are horseshoe bends,
amphitheaters, cataracts and mysteri-
GUS side canyons. Some places are
narrow and others widen into meadows
or savannas. The famed Busch gar
denS, where so much money has been
expended, show what can be done in
that line, but this is but a very small
portion of the Arroyo Seco and would
serve to emphasize the natural splen.
dor of the balance of it.
North of Pasadena the Arroyo Seco
takes it's rise in the Sierra Madre
mountains, which form a part of the
great San Gabriel Forest reserve. This
is a national park of 100000 acres, say
million acres, if The San Bernardino
reserve and others adjoining are con-
sidered.
Trout streams, fern embowered can
yons and waterfalls are found every
where, and there is a dense forest
Some of the individual pines and cot
tonwoOds are of huge size, and the
growth of vegetation is luXuriant. In
these wooded gorges and near the
sparkling springs may be found many
campers, and the government has
wisely permitted mountain resorts to
be established proper restrictions be-
ing maintained. Thus it will be seen
that the cities of Los Angeles and
Pasadena have one of the largest parks
IN the world right at hand, and main
tanned without local taxation. This is
one of the most potent arguments in
favor of securing the Arroyo Seco at
once to insure the connecting link The
Arroyo as an entrance would be es-
pecially appropriate and is the most
feasible route from an engineering
standpoint.
1t will be possible for an automobile
road of fifteen miles in length to be
constructed, with scarcely any heavy.
grades and no serious obstacles where
by anyone may be transported within
an hour from the busy marts into the
heart of the mOuntains-into the fast
nesses of the Arroyo Seco canyon,
where there is no sound save the
trickling waters" over fern bedecked
cliffs-another world, indeed, and so
different from struggling through the
rabble at the beach resorts. Few can
realize the immensely and extent of
these mountain Wilds, but there is
room for whole cities to be sequestered
in the sylvan hooks, and there is a
grandeur which gives rest and relaXa-
ton. 1t is the place to forget business
cares and political perpleXities.
When President Roosevelt visited
Pasadena some years ago he was TAX
en- in a carriage to the brink of the
Arroyo in the vicinity of Orange Grove
avenue, and he voluntarily suggested
that the city of Pasadena should own
it, He urged that it would be a mis-
A.l-l .l-IZ,