Abalone Cove Trail

Abalone Cove offers the hiker a fine sampling of the pleasures of the PV shoreline: tidepools, sandy beaches and dramatic 180-foot high bluffs laced with trails. The excellent vistas from the top of the bluffs include Sacred (Smugglers) Cove and Inspiration Point, Catalina Island and the wide blue Pacific, and inland to the Portuguese Bend landslide zone.

Mile-long Abalone Cove Shoreline Park boasts two beaches—East Beach, a sandy beach at the east end of the cove and Upper Beach, an artificially raised rocky and sandy beach created in the 1930s for a resort hotel, whose former clubhouse now serves as a lifeguard facility. An ecological reserve protects the rich tidepools and offshore kelp beds.

Arroyo Seco Trail (Gabrielino National Recreation Trail)

During the early decades of this century, Arroyo Seco was an extremely popular place for a weekend outing.  About halfway up the wild section of the canyon stood Camp Oak Wilde, a rustic resort constructed in 1911.  Hikers and horsemen stayed a night or two or used the hostelry as a rest stop on the way up to Mt. Wilson.  During the 1920s, a road was constructed and automobilists traveled the Arroyo to Camp Oak Wilde.

Southern California's "flood of the century" wiped out Oak Wilde in 1938. The awesome torrent also washed away the road and many vacation cabins. A few stone steps and foundations, ivy-covered walls and bridges give today's hiker hints of a time gone by.

Besides the Southern California history lesson, oak, sycamore and bay-filled Arroyo Seco has much to offer. The modern day traveler can walk the old 1920s auto road and newer Forest Service trails to quiet picnic areas. Because the path up the Arroyo Seco is officially part of the Gabrielino National Recreation Trail, it's usually kept in very good condition.

Cabrillo Beach Trail

This coastal hike has a little of everything: Cabrillo Beach, the only real sand beach for miles to the north and south; the family-friendly Cabrillo Marine Aquarium; historic White Point, an intriguing chapter from coastal SoCal’s history.

The mission of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is to promote knowledge and conservation of marine life in Southern California and this it does well, with exhibits interpreting the region’s mudflats, kelp forest, sandy beach and other environments. The aquarium sponsors tide pool walks, grunion watches and is a coordinating point for whale-watching cruises. Open daily except Mondays, the aquarium attracts scores of school groups.

All but forgotten today, the rocky cove just down coast from White Point in San Pedro once flourished as a Roaring Twenties health spa and resort. All that remains today are some sea-battered cement ruins and lush overgrown gardens.

Season: All year

Even on the Angeles National Forest map, the trail looks intriguing: a red dashed line zigs and zags through the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains and connects Chantry Flat and Shortcut Station, Chilao, Cloudburst and Cooper Canyon.  Designed by the Los Angeles Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the 53-mile long Silver Moccasin Trail,  extends from Charlton Flat to the mountain named for the founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden-Powell. Scouts who complete the week-long trek earn the prized Silver Moccasin award.

One pretty stretch of the Silver Moccasin Trail tours the Chilao country, a region of giant boulders and gentle, Jeffrey pine-covered slopes. Another path--Mt. Hillyer Trail--leads to the top of 6,162-foot Mt. Hillyer. From the top, you'll get great views to the north of the desert side of the San Gabriels.

Eaton Canyon Trail

Late one August afternoon in 1877, John Muir set out from Pasadena to begin his exploration of the San Gabriel Mountains. The great naturalist was very impressed with Eaton Falls, as he wrote in his book, The Mountains of California: "It is a charming little thing, with a low, sweet voice, singing like a bird, as it pours from a notch in a short ledge, some thirty-five or forty feet into a round mirror-pool."

He spent the night camped with a blindly  optimistic, half-Irish, half-Spanish water prospector, who was convinced that his digging would soon result in a wealth of water. Muir was dubious of this cash flow, and the next morning bade his acquaintance farewell and began tramping up the canyon. After enjoying Eaton Falls, Muir followed bear trails, sometimes on all fours, up the chaparral-smothered ridges of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Sam Merrill Trail

Professor Thaddeus Sobreski Coulincourt Lowe's Echo Mountain Resort area can be visited by retracing the tracks of his "Railway to the Clouds" and also by way of a fine urban edge trail that ascends from the outskirts of Altadena.

This historic hike visits the ruins of the one-time "White City" atop Echo Mountain. From the steps of the old Echo Mountain House are great clear-day views of the megalopolis. Energetic hikers can join trails leading to Inspiration Point and Idlehour campground.

Pasadena and Altadena citizens have been proud to share their fascination with the front range of the San Gabriel Mountains. This pride has extended to the trails ascending from these municipalities into the mountains.

Portola Trail

Elysian Park, close to downtown Los Angeles, is a 575-acre retreat from urban Angst. Although the park has been cut by many roads, it's possible to follow trails that will immerse you in greenery and leave the roar of traffic far behind.

Although it's near the central city, Elysian Park is usually uncrowded. It has a remote feeling--possibly because access is a bit confusing. Elysian Park appears to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You can see the park while motoring along the Golden State and Pasadena Freeways, and you pass through it on the way to Dodger Stadium; to commuters and Dodger fans, it's a familiar sight. But when you explore the park on foot, it somehow seems as if it's in the middle of nowhere.

Elysian Park's hilly acreage is an undeveloped remnant of the original 17,172-acre Spanish land grant from which Pueblo de Los Angeles grew. More than 10 miles of hiking trails and dirt fire roads lead through some surprisingly wild terrain. 

Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, this lovely lake is one of the quietest and most secluded bodies of water in the city. The pathway around the lake is a favorite exercise circuit for stressed out film industry folks.

If you experience a deja vu while walking 'round the reservoir, don't be surprised. Scenes in Chinatown, the 1974 movie that showed the slimy side of Los Angeles water and power struggles, were shot around the lake. In another 1974 film, Earthquake, the reservoir dam collapsed and flooded the city below.

Hollywood Reservoir was built in 1925 by city water commissioner William Mulholland as part of the city's gigantic waterworks program designed to secure, ship, and store water for the rapidly expanding population of Los Angeles. Compared to some of the city's other, more utilitarian-looking reservoirs, Hollywood gets an "A" for Aesthetics.

Malibu Creek Trail

Before land for Malibu Creek State Park was acquired in 1974, it was divided into three parcels belonging to Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan and 20th Century-Fox. Although the park is still used for moviemaking, it's primarily a haven for day hikers and picnickers.

Today the state park preserves more than 7,000 acres of rugged country in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains. Malibu Creek winds through the park. The creek was dammed at the turn-of-the-century to form little Century Lake.

The trail along Malibu Creek explores the heart of the State Park. It's an easy, nearly level walk that visits a dramatic rock gorge, Century Lake and several locales popular with moviemakers.

Getty View Trail

Here’s how to see the Getty Center without reservations, without cost, and without crowds: Take a hike on the new Getty View Trail.

While you won’t see any art en route, you will get an inspiring view of the world’s most expensive art facility from a ridgetop above Sepulveda Pass. You’ll also get a bird’s eye views of two of the world’s priciest neighborhoods—Bel-Air and Brentwood, as well as of the freeway that separates them.

In 1769, Captain Gaspar de Portola, commander of the first Spanish land exploration of California, marched through Sepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley. Today, the San Diego Freeway extends through the pass, which connects the Los Angeles Basin and the city’s westside with the southern San Fernando Valley.