L.A. Hikes?
 

Does anyone have a favorite L.A.-area day hike to recommend? I want to impress a visiting friend who thinks LA is all smog and traffic. I'm thinking maybe Will Rogers or somewhere in the Santa Monicas... Help!

I've hiked in Topanga Canyon State Park out by Malibu. Very nice, simple easy hikes. Definitely no smog or traffic.

You could hike in Temescal Canyon right off of Sunset.

I like Solstice Canyon off Sunset Blvd. in Malibu. Gorgeous views of the ocean.

OMG do not do Temescal if you want to impress someone. While I like the hike, once you get to the top you will see a thick layer of smog covering the whole city, yuk! Go with the Santa Monicas/Malibu area.

There are innumerable day-hike trails in Santa Monica Mountains NRA noted on this map:

www.nps.gov/samo/maps/maps.htm

I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. Two of my favorite short hikes were to Henninger Flats and Echo Mountain. Both have excellent nighttime views of the city at night (you can see Catalina on clear nights). Both trailheads are in the Pasadena/ Altadena area.

Henninger Flats is a 2.7 mi fire road all uphill. With the full moon you should be able to hike down in the dark just fine. The ranger station has a visitor center and there is a campground with running water.

Echo Mountain is an abandon resort, just foundations remain, located at the transfer from the alpine car to the train tracks. The echo megaphone does make great echoes, but I don't know if that alone is worth the hike. This is an easier hike.

This post brings back great memories, thanks.

Oops, my apologies to the OP and to enjoylife. I confused Temescal with Runyon Canyon also off Sunset but in Hollywood. Temescal is a lovely hike with views of the ocean and clean air! I rarely post to the boards and now I know why. JenV

oh, that's all right, now we know to avoid Runyon Canyon.

Lots of trials in SMMNRA to pick from. You can use this map to find all the trails. It's a little better than the NPS map for locating them. The trails are in yellow. Zoom in first, than use the lookup menu.

www.cccarto.com/wmaps/SMMNRA/index.html

Have fun