# Sam Merrill Trail > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sam_Merrill_Trail > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sam_Merrill_Trail.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Merrill_Trail > Source revision: 1321179395 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Hiking trail in the San Gabriel Mountain Range, California Not to be confused with [Sam Merrill](/source/Sam_Merrill), the NBA player. This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sam Merrill Trail" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Sam Merrill Trail Length 2.55 mi (4.10 km) Location Angeles National Forest, near Altadena, California, US Trailheads Top of Lake Avenue in Altadena Echo Mountain Use Hiking, Biking Highest point Echo Mountain Promontory, 3,050 ft (930 m) Difficulty Easy to moderately strenuous The **Sam Merrill Trail** is a major hiking trail in the Las Flores Canyon of the [San Gabriel Mountain Range](/source/San_Gabriel_Mountains) north of [Altadena, California](/source/Altadena%2C_California), which leads to the top of [Echo Mountain](/source/Echo_Mountain). It was built by Charles Warner and the Forest Conservation Club of Pasadena during the 1930s. After the deluge of 1938 most of the trails that accessed the mountain sides around Echo Mountain and the [Mount Lowe Railway](/source/Mount_Lowe_Railway) had been all but washed away. Sam Merrill found it important to maintain public hiking access to the railway ruins and other portions of the treacherous foothill. During the 1940s he overhauled and maintained the trail. Switchbacks near the old Cobb Estate at the start of the trail. Merrill Works On His Trail As a young man Merrill had lived with [John Muir](/source/John_Muir) for a summer, which inspired a lifetime commitment to the outdoors and the [Sierra Club](/source/Sierra_Club). Merrill, who served as Clerk of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, was an active volunteer in the Sierra Club, leading outings for almost twenty years, serving on the Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter from 1926 to 1935 and on the National Board of Directors of the Sierra Club from 1936 to 1937. When Sam Merrill died in 1948 the Sierra Club named the Echo Mountain Trail after him. The trail originated at the old railway's [right of way](/source/Right-of-way_(railroad)) just above a point called Hygeia Station and climbed by switchback up the steep face of the Echo promontory. In the late 1960s a housing development was established over the trail, and the trailhead was moved to an access alongside the Cobb Estate gateway at the top of [Lake Avenue](/source/Lake_Avenue_(Pasadena)). The portion of the trail which was maintained by Merrill leads an approximate 21⁄2-mile trip directly to Echo Mountain and the ruins of the White City of the Mount Lowe Railway. It is also sometimes referred to as Lower Sam Merrill Trail because a section of the Mount Lowe 8, an old mule trail from the days of the Mount Lowe Tavern, was reopened, giving a continued hike into Grand Canyon and the site of the Tavern, and is referred to as Upper Sam Merrill Trail. In 1996 the national *[USA Today](/source/USA_Today)* newspaper published a list of "10 Great North American Hikes", which included the Sam Merrill Trail as one of them. The list had originally appeared in the October 1996 issue of [Men's Fitness](/source/Men's_Fitness) magazine. Trail monument on the Sam Merrill Trail ## Deaths This is a partial list of deaths on this trail. - June 2016 Margaret Cihocki collapsed and died.[1] - January 2017 Lee Brian Tracy, co-organizer and hike leader of So Cal Happy Hour Backpacking, fell off the trail and died.[2] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Hiker who Died on Sam Merrill Trail ID'd"](https://patch.com/california/altadena/hiker-who-died-sam-merrill-trail-idd-0). *patch.com*. June 7, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Hiker Found Dead After Falling Off San Gabriel Mountain Trail in Altadena"](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/hiker-found-dead-after-falling-off-san-gabriel-mountain-trail-in-altadena/). *ktla.com*. January 12, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2020. - Robinson, John W. *Trails of the Angeles* (Wilderness Press, 1971) pp. 87–89. - McKinney, John (May 18, 2003). ["History and great views near Altadena"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-18-tr-hiking18-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. - "Scenic sites to hike" *USA Today,* October 18, 1996, p. 10D - Roster of Sierra Club Directors at [\[1\]](https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/history-directors.pdf) - Honor Roll of Great Leaders of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club at [\[2\]](https://angeles.sierraclub.org/about_us/chapter_history/great_leaders/leaders_l_r) v t e Hiking trails in California Interstate American Discovery Trail Great Western Loop Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail Pacific Crest Trail Tahoe Rim Trail Tahoe–Pyramid Trail Bay Area Alameda Creek Regional Trail Barbary Coast Trail Bay Area Ridge Trail Contra Costa Canal Coyote Creek Trail Guadalupe River Trail Iron Horse Regional Trail John W. Christian Greenbelt Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail Los Gatos Creek Trail Ohlone Greenway Philosopher's Way Richmond Greenway San Francisco Bay Trail Santa Cruz Trail Sawyer Camp Trail Spur Trail Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail Stevens Creek Trail Three Creeks Trail Sierra Nevada Four Mile Trail Hetch Hetchy to Lake Vernon Trail High Sierra Trail Independence Trail John Muir Trail Lower Sagehen Creek Hiking Trail Mist Trail Mount Whitney Trail Sierra High Route Silver Knapsack Trail Tahoe Rim Trail Tahoe–Yosemite Trail Theodore Solomons Trail Trail of 100 Giants Southern California Backbone Trail Cactus to Clouds Trail Gabrielino Trail Lost Palms Oasis Trail Mount Wilson Toll Road Sam Merrill Trail Bradshaw Trail Santa Clara River Trail Silver Moccasin Trail Trans-Catalina Trail Ventura River Parkway Trail Windy Gap Trail Other Bigfoot Trail Brad Freeman Trail California Coastal Trail Hammond Trail Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail Joe Rodota Trail Kortum Trail MacKerricher Coastal Trail Nobles Emigrant Trail Pine Ridge Trail Pinnacle and Shorttail Gulch Coastal Access Trails Prince Greenway [34°13′11″N 118°07′14″W / 34.21972°N 118.12056°W / 34.21972; -118.12056](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Sam_Merrill_Trail¶ms=34_13_11_N_118_07_14_W_) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sam Merrill Trail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Merrill_Trail) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Merrill_Trail?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.