Mount Lowe sits at the head of the front range of the San Gabriel's looking over Pasadena and the rest of the city mess below. Lowe is an easy hike with a trail going all the way to the top, and is surrounded by a few close peaks such as San Gabriel Peak, Mount Disappointment, and its closest neighbor Mount Markham. The peak has gone through several name changes since its first horseback ascent by Thaddeus Lowe in 1892 (Brown's Peak Brown Mountain Oak Mountain, and finally Mount Lowe). Mount Lowe was also the site of the Mount Lowe Railway, which enabled one to ride from Altadena to Mount Lowe Hotel and Resort (now the site of Mount Lowe Campground). The lower portion of the trip was up a tramway to Echo Mountain, where you can still see massive gears and other machinery, and the foundation of a hotel. A short distance from the top of the tram there is also the foundation of Professor Lowe's own house. At Echo Mountain, passengers shifted to a cog railway and rode west at a slight grade to the present Mount Lowe Truck Trail (2N50) which proceeds with many twists and turns to the site of the old hotel. The railroad never reached the summit of Mount Lowe.
