24 Jun Trail walking around downtown LA

Runyon Canyon – 10 km

Walking Runyon Canyon at the foothills of Hollywood is like dog central, pets and people are everywhere.  Free yoga classes in the park, stroller friendly paths, challenging climbs, labyrinths, and the superbloom on the sidehills are all part of the 10 plus kms of hard or easy trails.  The pay off is when you get to the top is impressive if not a little hazy.  There’s the Hollywood sign, some amazing houses and a 360 degree view of LA. 10klms later I’m tired. Tomorrow is another day. 

Griffith Observatory – 10 km – 72 stories high

Griffith Observatory is our next trail walk.  Situated in the 4.2 hectare Griffith Park, you can avoid the $10 an hour parking at the Observatory and walk and park at the base of the park.  Either I’m tired from the day before or this walk really is tougher because by the time we get to the peak I’m exhausted and because the observatory is a night time thing the café is closed.  Never fear, there’s plenty of water bubblers to drink from.  And the view is spectacular.  Around 12 kms we walked but there’s plenty of opportunities to turn around if that’s too far.  Believe me, I had to push myself the last two or three.  The walk down can be tough on the knees too. 

Temescal Canyon – 12 km – 75 stories high

The last walk of the weekend is from Temescal Canyon in the Topanga State Forest. After the last two trails is very different.  Really quiet, very lush with greenery and a tiny narrow pathway. This holiday weekend it’s busy, quite often we stop to let people pass us and we pass others.  The view at the top is different from the other two walks, it’s ocean and oceans.  Malibu and the Pacific coast view greet us and it’s awesome. 

Now to hit the east coast!