Volunteers Sought to Help Tend the Arroyo Seco Trail This Saturday

The same trail that hikers, dog-walkers, and equestrians use most mornings becomes something else this Saturday: a volunteer worksite.

The City of Pasadena and the One Arroyo Foundation are hosting a free clean-up on the Arroyo Seco Trail from 9:30 to 11 a.m., timed to National Trails Day the 34th annual event organized by the American Hiking Society as a nationwide call to trail stewardship.

Volunteers will haul trash, pull invasive plants, and clear debris from a corridor that spans nearly 1,000 acres of urban forest and 22 miles of potential continuous trail through Pasadena. The event is the latest in a series of community stewardship days run by the same organizations now executing a larger, multi-year restoration of 3.5 miles of deteriorated Arroyo trails.

The clean-up will take place near San Pascual Stables, in the Lower Arroyo section of the trail. The gathering point is accessible from street parking along San Pascual Avenue or Stoney Drive the San Pascual Stables lot is reserved for stable users. Tools and gloves will be provided; closed-toed shoes and long pants are required. No experience is needed, and all ages are welcome.

“The Arroyo Seco is Pasadena’s greatest environmental and recreational treasure, and it belongs to all of us,” Daniel Rossman, executive director of the One Arroyo Foundation, said in a statement last fall when the foundation and city co-hosted a similar clean-up for National Public Lands Day.

Koko Panossian, director of Pasadena Parks, Recreation and Community Services, offered the city’s framing at the same event. “With One Arroyo as a dedicated partner in preservation, we’re working together to protect this vital resource for generations to come,” Panossian said.

Saturday’s volunteer day is part of a broader stewardship effort. The One Arroyo Foundation and the city broke ground in July 2024 on the One Arroyo Trail Critical Linkages Project, a $500,000 initiative funded through a California State Parks grant designed to reconnect the Hahamongna, Central Arroyo, and Lower Arroyo sections of the trail system, which heavy use, erosion, and deferred maintenance had made partially inaccessible.

According to the One Arroyo Foundation’s Eventbrite listing, the event is free and open to all ages. The foundation recommends volunteers also bring a hat, sunscreen, and a water bottle.