Saturday, December 27, 2008
Griffith Park Hiking Trails
As I’ve mentioned before, there are some amazing trails to hike here in the Los Angeles area. For me, these are ideal locations since I’m not out in the middle of nowhere. I only look to the side and I see the city. This is quite comforting for us city folks. Those of you who grew up in a big city (especially this one) can relate. When I was in college on the East Coast, actual woods freaked me out since there was nothing but that – woods! Scary!
Griffith Park is a great place for urban hiking. When I say urban, I don't mean that you are hiking on actual city streets. You are on an actual mountain that is complete with coyotes and other wildlife. Don't worry too much about them, there are too many others around for you to be bothered and is part of the reason this area is closed from dusk to dawn. Not only is the very cool observatory there, but so are panoramic views of everything from the Pacific to the San Gabriel Mountains. Check out my pics from yesterday’s trip. We found a great trail that had plenty of inclines and declines mixed throughout. The best part – it was totally dog friendly. We’ve only met one dog that was not friendly in all of the times that we have gone here. His human was very much in on it as well and had a quite a sturdy leash and a friend to help him. He was at least trying to socialize his dog and get him accustomed to others.
Look through the slideshow and you’ll see Downtown, the Observatory, the Pacific Ocean, Wilshire, “Eas’ Los”, the L.A. River, and part of the San Fernando Valley. There are a few more landmarks in there and some snowy mountains in the distance. I highly recommend exploring the many trails if you are out this way. Drop me a line if you need advice on where to start, park, etc.
Where is your favorite hiking spot?
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3 comments:
Hmm, I love getting away from "the city" if I can call Fargo a city. Our parks are similar to yours in that you never really escape, but there is still woods and scenery. One of my favorite things to do is drive a few hours to the parks that are more isolated. I have to drive the whole day though if I really want to get away from civilization. Only thing is, national parks are usually not dog friendly. But our state parks allow dogs as long as they are leashed.
Oh and my favorite place to hike is along the shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. That's a 7- or 8-hour drive from here though. As for California, I've never hiked in the southern part of the state, but I did get to spend a few days backpacking through the Klamath National Forest. It was gorgeous!
Yeah, we have to be careful about "dog friendly". Believe it or not - state parks here do not allow dogs so usually city, county, and "private" are the only places we can take the dog. Fortunately, we have plenty to choose from since the area as a whole is very much animal-friendly.
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