Mount Lowe is a mountain on the southern fold of the
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...
. Originally named Oak Mountain, it was renamed for
Professor Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, who is credited for being the first person to set foot on and plant the American flag at its peak, and who built the
Mount Lowe Railway
The Mount Lowe Railway was the third in a series of scenic mountain railroads in the United States created as a tourist attraction on Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe, north of Los Angeles, California. The railway, originally incorporated by Thadd ...
to its foot in 1896. The record of the naming was made official by
Andrew McNally
Andrew McNally (1836–1904) was an American publisher and co-founder of the company Rand McNally.
Early life
On March 4, 1836, McNally was born in Armagh, Ireland.
Career
A printer by trade, he moved to Chicago in 1858 and got a job in a ...
, the famous Chicago map printer and summertime resident of Altadena, who promised to print "Mount Lowe" on all his maps. Mt. Lowe was established as an alternate route for the Mount Lowe Railway when attempts to procure rights of way to the more prominent
Mount Wilson had failed.
A number of trails stem from it due to the Mount Lowe Tavern which was built at Crystal Springs below the summit and operated from 1895 to 1936. One of the historic trails was the "Mount Lowe Eight" which was a mule ride attraction of the hotel that made a figure eight shaped route starting at the Tavern, ascending the summit of Mt. Lowe, returning to the Tavern, and crisscrossing to a trail that headed down Castle Canyon. From there the trail passed down to the
Echo Mountain
Echo Mountain is a mountain promontory of the San Gabriel Mountains, in the Angeles National Forest above Altadena, in Los Angeles County, California.
Geography
Echo Mountain was shaped from an alluvial fan between Rubio and Las Flores canyo ...
resort and ascended on the return to the Tavern.
Mount Lowe was the upper terminus of the Alpine Division of the
Mount Lowe Railway
The Mount Lowe Railway was the third in a series of scenic mountain railroads in the United States created as a tourist attraction on Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe, north of Los Angeles, California. The railway, originally incorporated by Thadd ...
originally incorporated by Professor Lowe as the Pasadena and Mt. Wilson Railroad Co.
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Mt. Lowe is approachable from Echo Mountain or Chaney trail via a fire road which was graded over the old railway right-of-way.
See also
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Mount Lowe Railway
The Mount Lowe Railway was the third in a series of scenic mountain railroads in the United States created as a tourist attraction on Echo Mountain and Mount Lowe, north of Los Angeles, California. The railway, originally incorporated by Thadd ...
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Thaddeus S. C. Lowe
Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (August 20, 1832 – January 16, 1913), also known as Professor T. S. C. Lowe, was an American Civil War aeronaut, scientist and inventor, mostly self-educated in the fields of chemistry, meteorology, and ...
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Echo Mountain
Echo Mountain is a mountain promontory of the San Gabriel Mountains, in the Angeles National Forest above Altadena, in Los Angeles County, California.
Geography
Echo Mountain was shaped from an alluvial fan between Rubio and Las Flores canyo ...
References
External links
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Altadena, California
San Gabriel Mountains
Mountains of Los Angeles County, California
Mountains of Southern California
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