Angeles National Forest spans the San Gabriel and Sierra Pelona mountains north of Los Angeles, protecting more than 700,000 acres and most of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Its significance reaches from ancient Native occupation, documented by some of the oldest archaeological dates in the central Transverse Ranges, through Spanish-era disruption, nineteenth-century timbering, grazing, mining, and California’s first authenticated gold discovery in Placerita Canyon in 1842. Recreation and science later reshaped the mountains through hiking, Mount Wilson astronomy, and the Mount Lowe Railway. Created in 1908 from earlier federal reserves, it became California’s first national forest and remains a vital wild refuge despite destructive fires.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain