The Bowtie - Rio de Los Angeles State Park
About the Bowtie
The Bowtie parcel is an 18-acre strip of land located on the east bank of the Los Angeles River in northeast Los Angeles and is a part of Rio de Los Angeles State Park. The parcel was initially named G-1, and is now referred to as "the Bowtie" because the shape of the parcel resembles a bowtie. Historically, this property was part of Taylor Yard, the former headquarters of Southern Pacific Railroad. Once a bustling railyard and major local employer, Southern Pacific closed the facilities in the late 1980’s and began parceling the land for future sale. After rail operations shut down, advocates, including nonprofit organizations, community groups, and government agencies, all worked to ensure the land found its way into public hands with a vision to revitalize 100 acres of the area into publicly owned park space. This collective vision is managed by the 100 Acre Partnership.
In 2003, California State Parks bought the Bowtie parcel, with the intent of transforming the currently undeveloped industrial land into a safe and clean, vibrant public green space focused on nature conservation and restoration, education, and providing opportunities for passive recreation.
Notice of Determination for the Bowtie Park Development Project
The California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) has completed a Final Initial Study (IS) and Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Bowtie Park Development Project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Final IS/MND indicates small changes made to the project that do not affect the environmental impact findings as well as responses to comments provided during the public review period.
The Final IS/MND and Notice of Determination (NOD) may be viewed via the following two links:
The project team appreciates those who commented on the IS/MND as well as your continued engagement with the project as it proceeds towards construction.
Projects at the Bowtie
There are three planning efforts getting underway at the Bowtie. The respective project teams are working collaboratively to ensure a cohesive design across the site and coordinated community engagement efforts. The projects are:
Bowtie Wetland Demonstration: The Nature Conservancy is leading a stormwater diversion and habitat restoration project on the Bowtie called The Demonstration Project. The project aims to create vital habitat and demonstrate how storm water quality can be improved by natural systems.
Project Team Includes California State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, and Stantec.
The Bowtie Development Project: This project will provide for a comprehensive overall design and construction of the remaining 14 acres of the parcel, not including the Bowtie Wetland Demonstration Project. The project will include natural habitat and passive recreational opportunities. Project team includes California State Parks, WSP and Clockshop.
Paseo del Rio: This project will create a walking trail and greenway along the river’s edge spanning both the Bowtie and G-2 parcels. This project is a collaborative effort by the 100 Acre Partnership.
Project Team includes California State Parks in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering (BOE) and Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority (MCRA).
Activities To-date and Looking Ahead
State Parks and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have worked closely over the past several years with community-based partners to engage community members in developing the Bowtie vision.
State Parks and the Bowtie design team held a community listening process throughout 2021 to hear from future park users about their wants, needs, and questions for the future state park. Input was received from nearly 2000 community members, which informed and guided the concept design as a first draft of the park plan was developed.
State Parks and TNC organized community events in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to share updates about the Bowtie and Paseo del Rio, with English and Spanish-speaking community members, in partnership with local community-based organizations and partners. Activities included regular, ongoing attendance at the four Neighborhood Councils, open houses, soccer tournaments, bilingual coffee chats, and bilingual, and multi-generational native plant workshops, and attendance at 100 Acre Partnership events.
2024 will be a pivotal year for the Bowtie, as the Wetland Demonstration will break ground later this year.State Parks is focusing on completing CEQA & NEPA efforts, along with soil risk assessments to be completed in Fall 2024. The design of the Bowtie Park Development, including Paseo Del Rio River Front Trail will resume once soil risk assessments are completed, with the design projected to take one year to complete. Biological Surveys are scheduled for Spring 2024.
Please check back on this page for upcoming opportunities to engage and provide your input on the future of the Bowtie.
Get Involved
Please check back on this page for upcoming opportunities to provide feedback and input on the future of the Bowtie. Outreach and engagement will include community surveys, online meetings, and activations at the future park site.
Thanks to everyone who completed our Bowtie community survey! We’ve compiled your feedback, please review the Bowtie community summary results at this link.
The Bowtie and the 100 Acre Partnership
The Bowtie is part of the 100 Acre Partnership, an agreement between City and State agencies to collaborate on revitalizing 100 acres of the former Taylor Yard railyard into a contiguous public green space along the LA River. The 100 acres is comprised of:
- Rio de Los Angeles State Park: A 40-acre State Park that opened in 2007 and co-managed by the City of Los Angeles and California State Parks
- The Bowtie (G-1): 18-acre parcel owned by California State Parks
- G2: A 42-acre property, with 12 acres owned by MRCA and 30 acres owned by the City of Los Angeles.
- Paseo Del Rio: 100 Acre Partnership collaborative project which will provide for approximately one-mile of walking trail and greenway that will run along the river and across both the Bowtie and G-2 parcels.
Map of the Bowtie area and its part of a larger vision to create 100 acres of contiguous green space along the LA River.
Access to the Bowtie
Currently the Bowtie is not formally open to the public as it is still an undeveloped industrial site with no developed facilities or amenities.