Monrovia Canyon Park
Monrovia Waterfall and Ben Overturff Trails

This is an "Un-Official" Monrovia Canyon Park Website.

Monrovia Canyon Park (MCP) is a natural park, run by the City of Monrovia's Community Services Department. This approximately 80 acre park, located in the foothills above Monrovia at the confluence of Monrovia and Sawpit Canyons, has been in operation since June of 1911 and provides its visitors the experience of the beautiful San Gabriel Mountain wilderness within minutes of urban sprawl.

The park is open to vehicles every day, except Tuesday, from 8 AM to 5 PM weekdays / 7 AM to 5 PM weekends. In addition to the two hiking trails (see map below), the park has 3 parking lots with appoximately 70 parking spots ($5 vehicle fee, Note: the National Forest Adventure Pass not honored) , two large picnic areas, a Nature Center and a rentable Cabin/Conference Center.

For a printable version of the trail map below, click here. (Best printed in "Landscape" mode)
For a printable version of a TOPO © generated trail map that goes all the way to Monrovia Peak, click here.
Move your cursor over the red dots on the trail map below for additional information.

Above trail map courtesy Monrovia Canyon Park - Monrovia Community Services Dept.©

Primary Trailhead parking is located next to the entrance station building with additional parking at our middle and upper parking lots.
For a Google Maps © satellite view of the park's Entrance Station Kiosk (Green Arrow), click here.

Announcements

Frequent visitors - Support your park by purchasing a $55 MCP Annual Pass (Cash, Check or Debit/Credit Card), available at the Entrance Ranger Station Office.

To our intrepid leader for 11 years, Susan Immer. Happy Trails!
Enjoy your retirement

Thank you Susan for all that you did.

Upcoming Park Events (1 of 1)

This class is strictly a voluntary, private event and neither Monrovia Canyon Park, the City of Monrovia nor their employees
or volunteers, are responsible for its content.

The following YouTube video describes the hike to Monrovia Canyon Falls via the Bill Cull and Monrovia Falls trails.

The following YouTube video by MCP Volunteer and musician Tod Barry ©2012, provides a very soothing look
at some of the many scenic areas of the park.

Bill Cull Trail

This hike is rated as "moderately easy", as far as difficulty and is named in honor of the late Bill Cull, a long time park volunteer, that for years, maintained this trail. From the trailhead, just beyond the Entrance Ranger Station Kiosk, it takes about 20 minutes to reach the junction of the Waterfall Trail. Half way up the Bill Cull Trail, you will come to the junction of the newly created Overlook Trail, which is a .6 mile side trail through stands of Chaparral Whitethorn (Ceanothous leucodermis) to a small bench at a 1,500ft summit lookout.

Waterfall Trail

This hike is rated as "easy", as far as difficulty. From the Entrance Station parking lot, hike up the road, past the Trask Scout Reservation Sign and The Cabin to the middle parking lot trailhead. From here, the hike to the falls is approximately 1 mile and takes around 40 minutes at an easy pace. From the upper parking lot, at the Mal Packer Picnic Area trailhead behind the Nature Center, it is approximately 3/4 mile to the falls and takes about 25 minutes.

Ben Overturff (BO) Trail (<-- Click for More Trail Info)

I rate the difficulty of this hike as "moderate." Many hikers opt to hike up to Twin Springs or Deer Park via the Sawpit Canyon Fire Road/Truck Trail (see trail map) and then return via the BO trail. If you choose this option, plan for 2 and 1/2 hours up to Deer Park and around 2 hours back.

The BO trail has three trailheads off the Sawpit Fire Road:

The first is located just above the Trask Scout Reservation, run by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and is 1 � miles from the BSA Bridge.
The second is at Twin Springs, 3 � miles from the BSA Bridge.
The third at Deer Park, 3 � miles from the BSA Bridge.

The approximate time for the full approximately 7 mile roundtrip hike from the Boy Scout Bridge to the Deer Park Ruins and back is around 5 - 6 hours at an easy pace with a net elevation gain of approximately 1,720 feet.

Note: Caution should be paid to cars driving on the paved "Private BSA Road" that are picking up or dropping off Scouts at the Trask Scout Reservation.

Early or Late starters - please be aware that the park entrance gate, located about 1/4 mile below the park's entrance station, is only open from 8:00 AM until 5:00PM (weekdays) and 7:00AM until 5:00PM (weekends). The park is closed to vehicles on Tuesdays.

If you are planning to hike to Deer Park before 8:00 AM or after 12 noon, you can park your car on Canyon Ave or Ridgeside Dr and walk North to the park entrance. You will see a concrete sign that points the way to the park. It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the park entrance from this point.

Mountain Bike and Equestrian Use

Past the Sawpit Canyon Road Junction, mountain bikes and horses are allowed only on the Sawpit Fire Road leading to the Twin Springs or Deer Park Trailheads of the Ben Overturff trail. Bikes may go the � mile trail into Deer Park itself. Beyond Deer Park, the Sawpit Fire Road continues on up to White Saddle, and from there one can continue north about 3 miles to the Rincon Red Box Road. From there you can head west to reach Monrovia, Rankin and Clamshell Peaks or head east to Cogswell Dam and the West Fork of the San Gabriel River.

Ticks and Lyme Disease

There is only one species of tick that carries the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. It is the Western Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes pacificus) formerly called the Deer Tick. The disease is caused by a spirochete (a spiral-shapedbacterium) that can cause mild flu-like illness or, if untreated, can lead to severe chronic health problems. The natural history of this disease is not completely understood and the illness it produces takes many forms. Because of varied symptoms, diagnosis can occasionally be difficult. However, to transmit the disease, a tick has to be attached for at least 24 hours, so if removed quickly, the chance of contracting Lyme Disease are remote. Click here for a Santa Cruz County Public Health Department's Tick and Lyme Disease information website.

The best protection against ticks is to wear long pants/long-sleeved shirt, staying on the trails and doing a "tick-check" at the end of your hike. Again, if a tick has been attached less than 24 hours, the likelyhood of it transmitting the Lyme Disease bacteria is very unlikely.

Below are photos of the four life cycle stages of this tick (about 3X magnification) and an extreme closeup of an adult female on a matchstick for an idea of their size. As you can see, the adult female is easily identifiable by its reddish-orange abdomen.

Life Cycle of the Western Blacklegged Tick

Western Blacklegged Tick Life Cycle

Adult Female Western Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes pacificus)

URL for this page: http://hikertechnologies.com/mcp_trails.htm
This page developed by Bob Dollins © 2002-2015 - All Rights Reserved
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Version (02.30): March 19, 2014

Monrovia Canyon ParkMonrovia Waterfall and Ben Overturff Trails

Announcements

Upcoming Park Events (1 of 1)

Monrovia Canyon Park
Monrovia Waterfall and Ben Overturff Trails