Popular Los Angeles Hiking Trail Is Litter-Free, Thanks to 20-Year-Old's Months-Long Mission to Clean the Park

A popular Los Angeles hiking destination is finally clean, thanks to a 20-year-old climate activist’s mission in picking up litter. Edgar McGregor, who is autistic, travelled to Eaton Canyon every day for the last 589 days – despite turbulent weather and pandemic closures – and shared his progress cleaning up the park on social media.

Last week, McGregor finally announced that Eaton Canyon, which is part of Angeles National Forest in southern California, is “now free of municipal waste,” he said on social media.

According to Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates, Eaton Canyon spans 198 acres and provides water to the City of Pasedena and parts of Altedena.

But McGregor's mission doesn’t stop there – McGregor and his trash bucket are still patrolling parks and trails every day, picking up any stray litter on the way.

Some days McGregor hikes for five hours. Other days, he only ends up finding a few pieces of trash.

He explained that the worst litter is ones found thrown off cliffs, as he and others like him can’t get to it.

The recyclable trash he does find, McGregor explained, he keeps and turns into the recycling depot. While the money from trash collected doesn’t amount to very much – about $30 every few weeks – what money he does get from recycling he donates to charity.

“Because the future is worth fighting for,” McGregor’s Twitter bio reads.

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