What is the Emerald Necklace?

The Emerald Necklace is an interconnected loop of parks and greenways along our urban waterways. Nestled in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley and extending from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Angeles National Forest down to the Pacific Ocean, providing desperately needed recreational areas.

The initiative is meant to provide recreational access, capture stormwater, increase groundwater infiltration, and improve water quality has been underway for two decades. Additional projects are under development that could yield more water benefits, including restoration of a reach of the Rio Hondo near Whittier Narrows and various park and school projects that increase pervious surfaces.

The Emerald Necklace Vision Plan

An important part of our mission is working with other organizations to make the Los Angeles region into a recognized leader in park and green space creation opportunities working to offset the effects of climate change.

In 2005, Amigos de los Rios introduced the initial Emerald Necklace Vision Plan that outlined a detailed strategy for the development of a 17-mile loop of beautiful multi-benefit parks and green-ways connecting 10 cities and nearly 500,000 residents along the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel rivers watershed areas of East Los Angeles County.

Over the past 15 years, we have been working as a liaison between the community and public agencies to facilitate the collaborative effort known as the Emerald Necklace Expanded Vision Plan.