Arroyo Pescadero Park, Whittier, CA

Arroyo Pescadero Park and Deer Loop Trail

This trail located off of Colima Rd. just a bit north of Marvista Rd, started off with a paved fire road as the trail. About half a mile in the trail finally turns into dirt. We went along the trail heading south which loops around and then heads north and south again finally ending up at the deer loop trail (which is in the lower left half of the map below). Throughout the trip to the deer loop trail houses from the neighborhood to the south were visible. So this is literally right in some peoples back yard. The trail was wide and seemed easy to travel on for the kids. Once onto the Deer Loop Trail we came across a way to wonder off the path and take some pictures of some strange old debris piles and a 10 foot canyon filled with concrete debris. 

This area is just a bit to the east of the Turnbull Canyon hiking area. After researching the area further online I discovered that the land was gifted by an oil company to either the city or the county, and is now under scrutiny because further drilling is being requested and we did come across a section that was prohibited to enter by the public, there were oil rigs and miscellaneous equipment beyond that barrier.

This is the Deer loop trail looking south, off to the left was a field of dried grass and a ravine, and to the right a ton of brush. We spotted a few rabbits in this area and heard a lot of noise in the brush near the ravine to the right, it could have been anything but it sounded pretty large. We love to listen to our surroundings when we go hiking, always hoping for a deer or something special to cross our path in our beautful Whittier Hills.

And here is a picture looking north on the trail to where we came in from. We had walked through the dry grass on the right side of this photo below and they got prickly stuff in their shoes and had to take a break to de-prickle their socks!

Here is that ditch / small canyon filled with debris I mentioned earlier. Its off the trail so not really an eye sore if you plan to stay on the trail itself.

 Another angle of the debris filled ditch.

And another.

 One last one.

 There is a house across the way in the background there. Just included it for the heck of it :-)

There were additional trails further west on the deer loop trail that we did not explore yet, we seen many people coming from that direction all in workout clothes and running shoes. So from visual assumptions it appears to be a good area to jog. And once again watch for poo (or scat as my 11 year old calls it). Get out there and enjoy...

Murphy Ranch Park. Whittier, CA

Murphy Ranch Park Trail

Located just a few blocks east of La Serna High School at 16200 Las Cumbres Drive. Whittier, CA. Just a bit east of the Turnbull Canyon hiking area. The kids and I enjoyed this park, right from the start there are plenty of benches to picnic before your hike. And for some reason they are housing a whole flock of goats as shown in the photo below. Dogs and horses are welcome as well.

The kids got a kick out of the goats even though the goats did not share in the same amusement with my children, in fact the goats looked like they could not care less we were there. LOL

OK so moving on to the hike. We took the center wide trail which just looped around up into the hills at the end to the right and came back down to the beginning. The loop is an incline and has a slight zip-zag to it to reduce the rough incline. According to the trail map there are a few other trails off to the left from the beginning, that may be a better choice for a view of any sort? Not sure yet. 

We did venture off the main trail at one point to the left down into the dried up stream bed. The stream bed got narrower as we went along and we had to jump from side to side of the stream as it drops off at certain points with no where to walk. It was a bit difficult to find a way back up out of the stream, so unless you are ready to climb or turn back around I would just avoid the stream bed, its deep with high canyon walls on both sides for the most part. 

It appears that if you choose the other trail to the left (of the main trail) from the beginning, you may have a view of the stream bed from above. Ill check that one out next time. This may be especially nice to see during the winter after rain fall.

Overall this trail is great for a quick exercise through the park, but be careful people love to walk there dogs here and conveniently forget to pick up their poo! Besides that it was mostly gentle enough that I even seen some women with babies in strollers, so get out there and enjoy.

Trail Map:

I recommend you take a picture of this map on your phone at the entrance. I could not find a printable one online yet, if I do I will be sure to upload it. As always get out there and have fun. And please if you have any places you would like to know more about let me know so I can keep them in mind for future hikes. And I would love your feedback, please leave comments at the bottom of this post.