West San Gabriel River Parkway Nature Trail

I run here regularly. It’s nice to have a little piece of nature in the middle of Lakewood. Plus, you can experience the changing seasons with the changing foliage throughout the year.

Lovely little trail with beautiful scenery. Dogs are allowed. Make sure to bring them their own water bottle because there are no fountains.

This trail is an awesome free thing to do in the city of Lakewood.
Unless you park in the Monte Verde lot, access is either off Carson St or Del Amo Blvd near the riverbed, and there is no parking at either of these entrances. Quite the walk with or against busy traffic along either street to get to.
The nicest part of the trail enters off Del Amo (the landscape and trees are way nicer along this stretch) and ends where the city yard starts, which diverts you to a riverbed path along the back of the city yard and enters again at Monte Verde. It’s like they sorta ran out of money for the stretch that continues from Monte Verde park south to Carson St. Not as nice. Never really crowded but, occasionally peoples dogs are running without leashes or people are riding bikes, which both are posted prohibited, and an annoyance.
Seen a few people walk this trail and smoke ciggys, contrary to the «rumors of pot smoking» review lol. I’ve never smelled pot. The wafts of cig smoke kinda take something away from the healthy aspect of the trail, at least for me.

I live very close to this nature trail and run through it regularly. It’s never too crowded and can be very relaxing. I love the smell of local plants and the sounds of the birds. If you go early enough (sunrise) you might even see some wildlife. I’ve seen a coyote and a heron on two separate occasions.

Lovely and beautiful. My kids enjoy coming through here. It’s just long enough that they are tired, but not sooo long that I have to carry them out or prod them to keep going. We generally see cool birds, spiders and their webs, lizards, and some times some neat plants that we haven’t noticed before.
It’s also an awesome spot to do pictures — it’s just different than a regular park with all the trees and the wild grasses and the little trail running through it all… and it’s close.
You can either enter from the city park, from Del Amo, or from Carson St. Overall, its very clean and considering it’s near the river, it’s surprising to me that we never see any homeless people hanging out here.
We do however usually run into a group of teenagers — smoking or drinking — but not causing any other problems that we have seen.
You can also do the bike trail on the other side of the river or walk just on the other side of the fence along the nature trail section.
Either way, its a beautiful way to spend an early morning or a late afternoon just communing with nature.
Overall: I love nature walking right in my city. I’ll be back for sure!

This is a short trail running parrallel with the San Gabriel riverbed. The trail runs one mile in length between Carson and Del Amo and is a great place to see some birds and flowers in a quiet setting.
Although small this is a place I enjoy walking when short on time and looking to get in some exercise. A great trail to walk a dog as well. Be on the lookout after sun down as this is a teenage hangout spot near the bridge and I have heard rumors of pot smoking. The parking is a small lot near Del Amo in a housing track or park at Rynerson and walk the riverbed to get over and loop back around.

Nice serene trail, a great place to take your dog! There are a lot of grassy/​nature areas where your dog can roam around but be sure to stay on the trail. It is really quiet and relaxing to take a walk here!

This park has a sentimental value I hold dear to my heart. Its where my six month old puppy first did his business in the public. Its special because my puppy would always hold everything and unload when we got home. Not today my friends, he said. I’m taking a poo here.
Overall, its a decent dog friendly park along the long stretch parallel to the San Gabriel River. I would avoid during dark hours.

What was formerly a disgusting stretch of overgrown grass and abandoned machinery is now an equally overgrown expanse of California native plants. In the city of Lakewood, we call this a huge success. Sure there are still kids riding bikes or skateboards and getting high in the neighboring flood control, but this suburbia, some things will never change…
Back to the positive… This is an amazing place to exercise, walk the dog, or take the kids. There are a wide variety of wild flowers and other plants generally growing wild. Just try and be out by the time the sun goes down if you are at all skittish about the roving youth.

I’m really surprised there aren’t any reviews for this yet. I mean this wasn’t built yesterday.
There are 3 entrances to this nature trail. Enter at Carson Street, enter at Del Amo Blvd or Park at Monte Verde Park and follow signs for the trail.
It’s a nice paved trail with trees, flowers, and birds. I saw egrets, finches, a blue jay! and a few ravens. Oh and something rustled in the bushes it could have been a rabbit or mouse. I’m not sure.
Great place to bring kids or you can walk your dog (must have a leash). This is a nice alternative to just walking around the block. Its 2 miles (in and back).
The trail bends around Monte Verde park, so click the link for the map: