hikespeak

Ed Davis Park in Towsley Canyon is an impressive segment of Santa Clarita Woodlands Park, located on the north side of the Santa Susana Mountains at the north end of Los Angeles County. The trailhead is located just off the 5 Freeway north of the San Fernando Valley, not far from Six Flags Magic Mountain. You don't need a ticket for an adventure in this park, which has its share of natural attractions, like the narrows of Towsley Gorge and seeps of oil and liquid asphalt that pool along the trail. ...Read more.

If you are looking for a nice loop hike in the Santa Monica Mountains above Beverly Hills, give Hastain Trail in Franklin Canyon Park a try. Hastain Trail can actually be used for two loops, one easy 1.8-mile loop with 350 feet of elevation gain and one moderate 2.2-mile option with 550 feet of elevation gain. Each trek is a satisfying way to explore Franklin Canyon Park. ...Read more.

Rocky Peak is a panoramic 2,715-foot summit on the border between Los Angeles and Ventura counties in the Santa Susana Mountains. The county line-straddling peak stands at the center of a 4,800-acre park bearing the same name. The shortest hike to Rocky Peak takes Rocky Peak Trail from Rocky Peak Road through Rocky Peak Park. Oh boy, we're off to a rocky start. ...Read more.

What to go for a hike but don't have time to leave Los Angeles? If you live near the Hollywood Hills or Studio City, Fryman Canyon may be the perfect place to get an hour of outdoor exercise. The 3-mile loop on Betty B. Dearing Trail passes through Wilacre Park in Lower Fryman Canyon and Coldwater Canyon Park, dishing out just 450 feet of elevation gain. ...Read more.

Charmlee Wilderness Park is perched on a bluff overlooking Malibu's alluring coast. Operated by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (previously the city of Malibu), this 590-acre park has eight miles of interwoven trails, making it easy to build your own hike between two to four miles, easy to moderate. In spring, Charmlee puts on a champion's display of wildflowers. ...Read more.

When Escondido Falls is flowing strong, it is flat out one of the finest waterfalls around Los Angeles. The waterfall has an easy-to-reach lower tier that is 50 feet tall and a hard-to-reach upper tier that's 150 feet tall and stunning in optimum conditions. The 3.5 mile round trip hike to Lower Escondido Falls begins just off Pacific Coast Highway and begins by traveling uphill for 0. ...Read more.

Tuna Canyon Park preserves 1,255 beautiful acres in the mountains between Topanga and Malibu. Despite being relatively unknown and under-visited, the park delivers some of the grandest ocean views to be found anywhere in the Santa Monica Mountains. From ridges 1,500 feet above a silken Pacific Ocean, Tuna Canyon Park looks east toward Santa Monica Bay and west up the coast of Malibu. ...Read more.

Two half-mile long fire roads cross the 62-acre Trebek Open Space, providing short hikes on the south face of the Hollywood Hills. Bantam Trail begins from Nichols Canyon Road and climbs to a ridge running down the east side of the park. Castair Trail begins from a trailhead lower down the ridge and drops into Nichols Canyon, coming to a dead-end above the road. ...Read more.

Mandeville Canyon is a north-south running trench in Brentwood area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Above Mandeville Canyon is San Vicente Mountain, a 1,960-foot summit that was used at the start of the cold war as a defense site to protect Los Angeles from Soviet attacks. Mandeville Canyon is enclosed by two long finger-like ridges, Westridge and Canyonback Ridge. ...Read more.

The 1,000-acre Corral Canyon Park protects a span of the Santa Monica Mountains between Dan Blocker Beach and Malibu Creek State Park. This is the only canyon on the Los Angeles County side of the range that remains undeveloped from the ridge top down to PCH, allowing the 2.5-mile loop through the park to plunge hikers in to a world of natural scenery and vegetation. ...Read more.