The Pomona Valley is located on the far eastern edge of Los Angeles County -- actually straddling it and San Bernadino County. The towns of Montclair, Ontario, San Antonio Heights and Upland are all located across the San Antonio River, on the San Bernadino side, in the Inland Empire.


Since I've yet to expand beyond writing about towns and neighborhoods of LA County (and Orange County, which was formerly part of LA County) to San Bernadino and Riverside Counties, this Pomona Valley primer is focusing only on the Pomona Valley communities within Los Angeles County: Claremont, Pomona and La Verne. (San Dimas and Diamond Bar, which straddle the border of the Pomona and San Gabriel Valleys, I've chosen to include in the San Gabriel Valley.)

THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

Invariably when one speaks or hears of "The Valley," the valley in question is the San Fernando (despite the fact that there are at least six major and loads of minor valleys in Los Angeles County). For the same reasons that I'm mildly annoyed when people refer to "THE City" or "THE Bay," the notion of "THE Valley" smacks of ignorance at best and unpleasant small-mindedness at worst. This blog entry is an introduction to the San Gabriel Valley, that great and amazing expanse of suburbs, boomburbs, exurbs and enthoburbs (any "suburb" portmanteaus I've missed?) with surprisingly significant history and variety of cultures beneath the seemingly uniform surface of bandage-colored strip malls and homes. That being said, at the time of writing, the San Fernando Valley page on Facebook has 25,519 fans whereas the San Gabriel Valley page has a mere ten.

Pendersleigh & Sons' Official Map of the San Gabriel Valley

GEOGRAPHY

THE VERDUGOS

 

The Verdugos region of LA County lies between the San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains (or Verdugo Hills) and the San Rafael Hills. The residents mostly live in the Crescenta Valley and the less-developed ranges that surround it. It includes the communities of (parts of) Glendale, La Cañada-Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, La Tuna Canyon, (parts of) Pasadena, Sunland and Tujunga. It's surrounded by the San Fernando Valley to the west, the San Gabriel Valley to the east, Northeast LA to the south, the Mideast Side to the southwest and the Angeles Forest to the north. The inhabitants of the region are approximately 50% white, 23% Latino, 13% Asian and 8% black.

Angeles National Forest is a vast 650,000 acre wood that serves as a residence for few humans and mountain playground for a population already spoiled for choice with ocean, desert and urban options… all available to be enjoyed in a single day. The National Forest was established by Executive Order in December 1892. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Mojave Desert along the San Gabriel Mountains, spreading across five counties. 

LOCATION OF ANGELES FOREST