Residents and travelers will find this comprehensive guide essential to locating an amazing number of hiking trails throughout the 50-mile-long Santa Monica Mountains. The range parallels the coastline in southern California, dividing the Pacific coast from the interior valleys. Included are 138 day hikes, with an additional section of 13 hikes that traverses the full length of the 68-mile Backbone Trail. 496 pages with clear trail descriptions, ample maps, index. All hiking levels.
Discover the magic of the Santa Monica Mountains! "Consult the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Guide and just moments later you'll know where to go for a fun outdoors adventure," declares author John McKinney. "These mountain trails will uplift your spirit." Santa Monica Mountains Trail Guide is a collaboration between author John McKinney, former Los Angeles Times hiking columnist and author of 20 books about hiking and Tom Harrison, California's premier mapmaker, long admired for his easy-to-read and accurate maps of the state's parklands. The only range to bisect a major U.S. city, the Santa Monica Mountains boast a splendid scenic diversity with fine trails leading through woodlands, canyons, foothills and mountains. John McKinney's proven trail accounts, along with Tom Harrison's trusted maps will help you select-and take-a quality hike you're guaranteed to like. Santa Monica Mountains Trail Guide features: Colorful stories, clear maps, easy-to-follow directions Best hikes for waterfalls, wildflowers, mountaintop vistas Best hikes for families, friends, out-of-town guests Nature walks, moderate hikes, all-day adventures Enjoy hikes on classic trails and brand-new pathways in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, plus all you need to know about the trails in Will Rogers, Topanga, Malibu Creek, Leo Carrillo and Point Mugu state parks. Saunter to the M*A*S*H movie and TV location near the magnificent gorge sculpted by Malibu Creek, hike a length of the majestic Backbone Trail that extends 65 miles across the mountains, chill-out at waterfalls in Temescal Canyon and Zuma Canyon, enjoy fabulous wildflower displays at Nicholas Flat and at Malibu's Charmlee Park.
• 125 of the best trails throughout the Los Angeles metro area • Easy-to-use, well-organized guide to hiking in the greater Los Angeles area • Hikes feature ocean views, waterfalls, coastal canyons, native grasslands, rocky peaks, desert wildflowers, and more In Southern California, the city of Los Angeles alone covers more than 500 square miles. Yet beyond the freeways and suburbia, there is a surprising amount of hikeable green space and wilderness. This new guide details trails in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the world’s largest urban national park stretching from the Pacific Coast right into Hollywood itself; the Santa Susana Mountains in Los Padres National Forest; Angeles National Forest, including the San Gabriels and Mount San Antonio, the highest point in Los Angeles County; the striking desert landscape of Antelope Valley; the Santa Ana Mountains; portions of the San Bernardino Mountains; Chino Hills State Park; and slivers of green space and city parks such as famed Griffith Park.
Containing walks and detailed maps from throughout the city, Secret Stairs highlights the charms and quirks of a unique feature of the Los Angeles landscape, and chronicles the geographical, architectural, and historical aspects of the city’s staircases, as well as of the neighborhoods in which the steps are located. From strolling through the classic La Loma neighborhood in Pasadena to walking the Sunset Junction Loop in Silver Lake, to taking the Beachwood Canyon hike through “Hollywoodland” to enjoying the magnificent ocean views from the Castellammare district in Pacific Palisades, Secret Stairs takes you on a tour of the staircases all across the City of Angels. The circular walks, rated for duration and difficulty, deliver tales of historic homes and their fascinating inhabitants, bits of unusual local trivia, and stories of the neighborhoods surrounding the stairs. That’s where William Faulkner was living when he wrote the screenplay for To Have and Have Not; that house was designed by Neutra; over there is a Schindler; that’s where Woody Guthrie lived, where Anais Nin died, and where Thelma Todd was murdered . . . Despite the fact that one of these staircases starred in an Oscar-winning short film—Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box, from 1932—these civic treasures have been virtually unknown to most of the city’s residents and visitors. Now, Secret Stairs puts these hidden stairways back on the map, while introducing urban hikers to exciting new “trails” all around the city of Los Angeles.
Secret Walks: A Walking Guide to the Hidden Trails of Los Angeles is a sequel to the popular Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles, and features another collection of exciting urban walks through parks, canyons, and neighborhoods unknown and unseen by most Angelinos. Each walk is rated for duration, distance, and difficulty, and is accompanied by a map. The walks, like those in Secret Stairs, are filled with fascinating factoids about historical landmarks—the original Bat Cave from Batman, the lake where Opie learned to fish on The Andy Griffith Show, or the storage barn for one of L.A.’s oldest wineries. The book also highlights the people who made the landmarks famous: the infamous water engineer William Mulholland; the convicted murderer and philanthropist Colonel Griffith J. Griffith; Charles Lummis, who walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to take a job on the L.A. Times; and tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney, who dug canals to drain the marshes south of Santa Monica and create his American “Venice.” Written in the entertainingly informed style that has made Secret Stairs a Los Angeles Times best-seller, Secret Walks is the perfect book for the walker eager to explore but tired of the crowds at Runyon Canyon or Temescal Park.
One of the most fascinating historical areas of Los Angeles, the Cornell area - home of the Three Magical Miles - is where hundreds of movies have been shot, remnants of a 1950's race track curve in the tall grass and a future president had his horse ranch. This is the only known area in Southern California where a general store, post office and one-room schoolhouse still stand and are in use today.
