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Tad Williams Trail

4.4 (7 reviews)

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Hazel C.

Found this trail when I was walking along the Lower Arroyo Seco. There are great views of the beautiful Colorado Street Bridge and The Arroyo Seco Bridge or SR-134. You will find The Tad William Trail plaque directly under the SR-134 bridge. There is some water on the river on that part of the trail, but the Arroyo Seco is mostly dry. There is some shade on the trail, but it's mostly exposed. I walked around 10:30 am in mid-July and it was already in the high 80s. I live in the part of theBay Area where it's in the low to mid-70s, so I am definitely not used to this heat. Make sure you have water with you as I did. Park by the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, walk along the Arroyo Seco (heading to the bridge) and you'll run across the start of the trail.

Ani B.

Beautiful hike a bit hidden. Just go towards the bridges and you will see a a path down. You can park your car at the parking spot in the park close by.

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6 years ago

Helpful 5
Thanks 1
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Oh no 0

2 years ago

It's an ok trail, good view of the bridges but smells bad has some sewer issue going on. Enjoyed the park next to it though.

Helpful 1
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Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 7
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 1
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9 years ago

Helpful 26
Thanks 1
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5 years ago

Helpful 0
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6 years ago

Helpful 2
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8 years ago

Helpful 2
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Lower Arroyo Seco - Scarlet monkeyflower

Lower Arroyo Seco

(17 reviews)

This place is the jackpot if you like birding and bridges!! Bare with me bc I'm about to share a…read morebutt load of pics! I think this hike may have been the most pics I've ever taken in one sitting (well over 350 - but I'm not sharing that many ok lol)!! This is a very easy hike - it can be as long or as short as you want it to be. We did about 6 miles. And it's almost completely flat - AllTrails says 160 feet but my AllTrails recording logged 230 feet - either way it's minimal. There are some optional stairs that have neat views as well. A lot of the trail is rocky and bumpy, and there was a ton of mud bc of all the rain - but still easy. And there's a little trail construction going on but it's easy to maneuver around. It's also a very busy trail. We arrived right before 8am and there was a moderate crowd - not too bad. But by 9am it was pretty packed. Luckily the trail is very wide so it's easy to keep your distance and not feel like you have someone on your heels constantly. There are some really great features on this hike - all sorts of surprises in all sorts of nooks and crannies! There's a huge archery range - who knew?? It's well marked so it easy to stay out of the way and safe. There weren't any archers when we started but tons had assembled when we were leaving! I'll be coming back to watch them next time bc it's such a neat range! There's a "casting pond" which was so totally random and I'd never seen or heard of anything like it before!! It's a huge, shallow "pond" of sorts, with these rings scattered around - I'm guessing it's for people to practice their casting techniques for fishing. The water was super clean too! And the birding - omg don't get me started on the birding wow!! I'm an avid birder and this place was heaven for me! I even managed to catch one of my life-list birds here!! Huge day for me (my fellow birders will understand lol)!! A female Red Shafted Northern Flicker!! Not to mention the Yellow Rumped Warbler, California Scrub Jays, tons of Lesser Goldfinches, Mallards, and House Finches, and even an Oak Titmouse!! It was a smorgasbord of birdies!! Totally unexpected for such an "urban" hike. And then there's the bridges...soooo many bridges concentrated in one area - like 5-6 bridges!! And they're all beautiful - especially with the mountainous backdrops! You can even walk under most of them. The most famous is the Colorado Street Bridge - aka "Suicide Bridge" - kinda cryptic but everyone seems to call it that so you desensitize. You can also walk on this one, which I highly recommend bc it's a true beauty, from above and below. There are numerous trail options along this huge route - looks like it links up to the rose bowl loop too. It's easy to find and has a dirt parking lot - it definitely filled up fast (was full by 10am) but again, it was a Saturday morning. I'll definitely be back anytime I'm needing to do some serious birding!

I've been on a little running kick in 2021 and on a search for more interesting routes near my…read morehouse, I discovered the Lower Arroyo Seco. I've always preferred running on a trail versus cement, so I was so happy to find a soft trail to run on that's not too far from home. I've been twice now and it appears that the trail is an out and back, although there are some river crossings (I think that's what you would consider them) so perhaps you can veer off and make things a little more interesting. I love looking up at the Colorado Street Bridge and getting a change of scenery--Pasadena really is a special place. While you're definitely out in nature, you're also spending a lot of time looking at a wire link fence and the cement river bed. Still, I like that this place is flat (running in the mountain trails near Pasadena seems, well, challenging) and I actually like that there are a fair number of people around since I've grown increasingly fearful of snakes and wildlife as I've gotten older. I've only come on weekdays so it's really not too busy, but do be sure to bring and wear your mask as you will see other people there. There's a parking lot onsite but also a few entries from the street (Arroyo) if you're on foot. I've always run here from my house so I haven't tried the parking situation, but this is a pretty quiet neighborhood and it seems like you could park on the street and walk down if the parking lot was full (although, you might just want to opt for some other sort of excursion if it's that packed during COVID times).

Tad Williams Trail - hiking - Updated May 2026

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