Angeles Forest Highway - Big Tujunga Creek Segment

Big Tujunga Creek Segment

Once the highway meets the Big Tujunga Road, its character changes. This section between the junction and the bridge over the Narrows is the most precipitous, is the most prone to rock slides, has the most rescues from people climbing down its slopes to the waterholes, and features more wildflowers than other sections along the route, such as the Spanish broom. The roadcuts show off the light-colored Mt. Josephine granodiorite. (2, p. 109)

After crossing the Big Tujunga Narrows Bridge, originally named the Armstrong Bridge (1, p. 202), which rises 275' above the canyon bottom, there is a large turnout on the east side of the road. Floods periodically scour the canyon and debris fills the reservoir behind the dam lower down. The vegetation was recently destroyed by fire.

Next the road passes through a tunnel, sometimes marked on maps as the Singing Springs Tunnel. At the tunnel's south entrance are rocks of banded gneiss, 1,700 million years old, some of the oldest rock found in the San Gabriel mountains (2, p. 110). The road cuts through a ridge separating the Big Tujunga from its tributary, Mill Creek. From this point, the Angeles Forest Highway follows the west side of Mill Creek.

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