Hiking in Los Angeles

During the closure of airports around the world, I had to stay in Los Angeles for 30 days while waiting for Kuwait Airport to open. I’ve had some time to look up places to go to which are not indoors, preferred open spaces to I could enjoy a little bit of outdoors while still keeping safe/healthy.

I’ve managed to find some places but many other places were closed unfortunately due to COVID-19 and state health measures. Here are three spots, two of them I’ve been and one I wanted to but couldn’t.

Hopefully to see more in the future and update this list then ♡ what would you add to this?

Hollywood Sign

One of the most iconic symbols of California, the Hollywood Sign! Again with everything closed even some of the streets leading to public hikes, I managed to see the sign for below! The road leading to the spot I was taking the picture from in my photo above is a super easy road, and anyone could easily walk it. There’s though another easy-ish hike to get to the top and near the sign which I really wanted to do but didn’t really know how to get there at the time. I read that after you hike to the sign you’ll see unique views of Los Angeles.

Through my readings after I left the sight, I saw the Brush Canyon trail (6.4 miles round trip around 10 km) is the most common trail taken to get up to the sign.

There are also other 2 trails:

• Hollyridge Trail – 3.5 miles round trip.
• Burbank Peak Trail – 3 miles round trip.

The shortest, most challenging route takes Burbank Peak Trail (formerly known as Wonder View Trail) and Aileen Getty Ridge Trail to the top of Cahuenga Peak and then crosses a ridge to the Hollywood Sign on Mount Lee. This is usually the least crowded route, but the trail is rough and packs a good workout on the way to Mount Lee.

For a good day hike, take the longest route, beginning up Brush Canyon Trail from the end of Canyon Drive. Parking here is fairly ample and adding a side trip to Bronson Cave (a.k.a the Batcave) is easy to do.

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area

I did visit Kenneth Hahn State Recreation area and it was really nice and with a huge space! It is an urban oasis and one of the largest inner-city parks and regional open spaces in greater Los Angeles. The park opens at 8:00 AM.

Here’s a link to more details about this park: https://parks.lacounty.gov/kenneth-hahn-state-recreation-area/

Malibu Creek State Park

One of the parks I was interested to visit but didn’t have the chance to is Malibu Creek State Park! This park is 35 minutes drive from where I stayed in Beverly Hills which is considered close.

Considered the recreational crown jewel of the Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu Creek State Park has over 8,000 acres of rolling tallgrass plains, oak savannahs and dramatic peaks. It’s no wonder many call it “The Yosemite of Southern California”. 

Visitors come to Malibu Creek State Park for a multitude of reasons. Hiking being the most common activity. You can also camp, fish, bird watch, and even swim.