Eaton Canyon is located in Pasadena at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. The nature center is not large but it is packed with so much that it is easy to spend an hour or so there.
There are live animals and stuffed animals (both real and toy versions). There is a craft table, a book corner, and even touch drawers. We even enjoyed just sitting at the steps at the exhibits and sketching the animals.
Once you visit the center, you will be incredibly prepared for the stroller friendly Jr. Nature Trail around the center. A great informative/activity map is available too.
If your kiddos are up for a longer hike, or you are looking for a ‘big-kid hike’, there is a four mile hike through the canyon that leads to a waterfall. The amazing thing about these falls is not just the beauty, but also the fact John Muir writes about his visit to these falls over one hundred years ago. Please note: it is illegal to climb up onto the falls and incredibly dangerous. The view from the bottom is absolutely gorgeous and well worth sometime to sit and enjoy.
Directions to Eaton Canyon can be found here.
“It is a charming little thing, with a voice sweet as a songbird’s, leaping some thirty-five or forty feet into a round, mirror pool. The cliff back of it and on both sides is completely covered with thick, furry mosses, and the white fall shines against the green like a silver instrument in a velvet case. “
—Eaton Falls, as admired by John Muir in 1877, from “The Mountains of California”
