Sam Merrill Trail

Sam Merrill found it important to maintain public hiking access to the railway ruins and other portions of the treacherous foothill.

The trail originated at the old railway's right of way 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.

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.

In 1996 the national USA Today newspaper published a list of "10 Great North American Hikes", which included the Sam Merrill Trail as one of them.