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| Caballero Canyon Trail | Photo: Joshua Lurie |
A few quick reminders:
1. Carry your cell phone with you in case of emergency. The signal can be limited in the mountains, but the phone is your best friend if you run into trouble.
2. Carry plenty of water because trails often offer little shade and it can get hot.
3. Wear sunscreen. Even if the sky starts overcast, sun often breaks through clouds.
4. Stay to the center of the trail to limit contact with plants like poison ivy and wildlife like rattlesnakes and tarantulas.
1) CABALLERO CANYON
4040 Reseda Blvd, Tarzana 91356Distance: 3.4 miles
Route: Out And Back
Walk down to flat, dusty single track with chirping birds and brush on both sides. Pass by green hills and a dry creek bed to your right. The trail widens and gradually climbs up the hillside above Caballero Canyon, with views of a tree-lined ridge behind you. Pass a rusted yellow gate to reach an unpaved stretch of Mulholland Drive, which has a bench to look out on the valley below. On weekends expect to see trail runners and mountain bikers at this intersection. After soaking in the scenery, head back to the starting point.
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2) FRYMAN CANYON PARK
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| Fryman Canyon | Photo: Joshua Lurie |
323-644-6661
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Distance: 2.55 miles
Route: Loop
This is perhaps the closest trail to civilization in L.A., convenient to people on both sides of the hill. Park in the Wilacre Park lot and begin climbing the paved, tree-lined Betty B. Dearing Mountain Trail. Wrap up the hillside and see the Valley expand below you on the right. Concrete gives way to a dirt straightaway. Gradually climb up the hillside, dry brush at your feet, with the occasional bench lookout, mountain biker and dog walker. Descend past the base of Tree People's Coldwater mulch-lined headquarters. Round the bowl above the canyon, past fences both wood and chain-link. A yellow gate spits you out into a residential cul-de-sac. Take Iredell Lane down the hill to Iredell St. and hang a left on Fryman Rd. to bring you past ferns and white fences both picket and modernist to get back to the Wilacre parking lot.
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3) GETTY VIEW TRAIL
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| Getty View Trail | Photo: Joshua Lurie |
Distance: 3.0 miles
Route: Out And Back
To reach this aspirational hike through Bel-Air, one of LA's most luxurious neighborhoods, take the Moraga Drive exit off the northbound 405 Freeway. Cross Sepulveda Boulevard and take an immediate left past the gas station on Bellagio Road, which becomes Casiano Road. At the dead end, park and climb the dirt and gravel. This wide fire road overlooks freeway traffic, and on the opposite ridge, the Getty Center. This hike is gradual and eventually highway sounds fade. A ridge lifts on your left and a deep canyon appears to the right, giving you rare peek behind the Bel-Air gates - from a distance. The halfway point is at, you guessed it, a gated community. Look across the 405 to see the impossibly green MountainGate Country Club golf course, and then descend the hill to where you started your hike.
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4) KENNETH HAHN STATE RECREATION AREA
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| Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area | Photo: Joshua Lurie |
323-298-3660
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Distance: 2.0 miles
Route: Out And Back
Enter this state park off La Cienega, with dusty oil derricks conjuring images of L.A. Confidential. Geese and ducks swim in Gwen Moore Lake on your right. Children's parties, bouncy castles and barbecues pop up on weekends. Take a left into the parking lot at your first opportunity, and then walk left until you reach the mouth of a fire road. Climb up the fire road, past covered benches of Autumn's Peak and Christine's Point to see Blair Hills oil derricks in full bloom. Look to your left for views of Century City, Downtown and the distant San Gabriel Mountains. Continue along the ridge until you hit the end of the line, then double back to the beginning. When you reach the base of the fire road, hang a right on Olympic Forest Drove to reach bucolic Doris' Japanese Gardens. Parking is $6.
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5) LOS LIONES TRAIL
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| Los Liones Canyon Trail | Photo: Joshua Lurie |
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Distance: 3.5 miles
Route: Out And Back
Enter Los Liones right off Sunset, just up the hill from Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean. Park on the side of the road near the first park sign you see. Park further up the road in one of the small lots if you prefer a shorter jaunt. Either way, continue north on a single-track trail that runs along a dry creek. Pass what looks like a tiny stone amphitheater on your left. Wrap up the hillside, where homes quickly give way to green ridges and birdsong. Natural roadblocks present themselves, just follow paths of least resistance. Eventually you'll reach the ridge, connecting Paseo Miramar Trail and a park bench for prized views of the Pacific Ocean, as long as the marine layer's lifted. Head back to the start or continue on Paseo Miramar if you’re looking to take your hike from easy to intermediate.
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