[2] Benjamin Eaton was hired by Don Benito Wilson to bring water to the Fair Oaks Ranch, building a house on the property in 1865.

[6] In August 1877, naturalist John Muir set out from Pasadena for an expedition into the San Gabriels.

He writes: "On the first day of my excursion I went only as far as the mouth of Eaton Canyon, because the heat was oppressive, and a pair of new shoes were chafing my feet to such an extent that walking began to be painful.

"[7][8][9] In October 1993, the Kinneloa Fire, begun accidentally on the slopes above Eaton Canyon, burned much of the area as well as more than a hundred homes in neighboring Altadena and Kinneloa Mesa as part of a rash of late October wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds in Southern California.

[10][11] After briefly serving as the incident command post for the fire, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center was destroyed.

[2] Within the park sits the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, a facility that features information displays, exhibits, and collections about the local flora and fauna in the valley.

[16][17] The falls are where the Eaton Creek has a fifty-foot drop and are located north of the bridge in the part of the canyon administered by the US Forest Service.

[19] John Muir once described the waterfall as "a charming little thing, with a low, sweet voice, singing like a bird, as it pours from a notch in a short ledge, some thirty or forty feet into a round mirror-pool.

[24][25] On June 27, 2014, the US Forest Service announced plans to close the trail to the upper falls.

[26][27][21] The Eaton Canyon Golf Course is a regulation 9-hole course featuring narrow fairways and rolling terrain.

It was accessible from Pasadena via Santa Anita Avenue which drove right to the front porch of the toll house.

Mount Wilson had always been active with human passage starting from the days of the local Indians.

Eaton Wash is one of the two major streams that channels storm water in Pasadena; the other is the Arroyo Seco on the western side of the city.

[30] On its way to the Rio Hondo, the Eaton Wash is joined by the combined drainages from Pasadena Glen and Hastings Canyons.