The Angeles Crest Highway largely follows a watershed from one side of the San Gabriel Mountains to the other. Along the way it crosses a number of watercourses fed by springs located higher up on the slope and sometimes close to the highway. This gallery page looks at areas around three of these springs.
Buckhorn campground is deservedly popular with campers, a delightful shady location in a canyon with spring-fed creeks that result in tall trees and an understory of ferns. Just opposite the junction of the campground exit road and the highway is the remains of an abandoned forest road that leads up to and beyond Buckhorn Springs. The photographs below in Part A are all associated with a CNPS field trip along this road in July 2009. In a good year the springs have pools of running water, but 2009 was a dry year.
The second part of this gallery page deals with two springs that are adjacent to the highway, Winston Spring and Cortelyou Spring. Both have running water all year round, and have rock and concrete structures to concentrate the water. This results in an abundance of plants that love wet or damp ground.
Click on the thumbnails to see higher-resolution images.
[Note: Thumbnails arranged vertically as your browser does not support the “flexbox” feature.]
Thanks to Jane Strong for assistance in identification of plants and flowers.