Nathan JJ Shankar
Google
went here mid-afternoon on a tuesday, there was almost no one on the trail. there are two ways up I believe, and I took the less popular route which begins at the mount lowe road trailhead. it took me about 80 minutes or so to reach the top of echo mountain. the signage is really clear, the trail is nice and wooded; winding on the side of a canyon, it steadily climbs uphill. you can hear water, too. what's especially cool is that the trail goes near some old cabins, an old mine, and generally follows the pathway of a defunct railway line.
all along, there are some really nice panoramas of altadena, pasadena, and greater los angeles. the trail terminates where the rail line does, and it was fun to explore the ruins of the resort town that they built at the top during the 1880s. one of my favorite LA-area spots -- really cool nature combined with some really cool history!