Customer Reviews

Day Hikes Around Los Angeles, 4th

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I haven't gone on all 82 hikes in this book. But I have gone on a few, and on some the directions are not quite right. So if you get this book, here's some notes:

Hike 51: Rustic Canyon
This hike is awesome. However, if you go, go with someone who has gone before, or you WILL get lost. The trail in the canyon is not maintained whatsoever, and has pretty much disappeared at the tail end. The best way out is to slog through the stream, so you will be soaked. Be prepared.

Hike 66: Brush Canyon
It says to reach Mt Bell, to take a right on Mount Hollywood Drive. It's a left. The turnoff isn't far, but it's to the left. If you go right, the first turnoff takes you up to Mt Hollywood (a back way to Hike 68).

Many, many hikes:
Be very careful - there are numerous hikes where North is not at the top of the map. On some hikes, North is the bottom of the map. Who does that? If you don't realize this, you're going to get lost. Be sure to double check.

Other than that, some great hiking routes. Many are pretty far from "Los Angeles" - so be prepared for a bit of a drive sometimes. Also, there are NO hikes east of the 5 freeway - even though there are some fantasic hikes above Pasadena, Altadena, Azusa. Even a few above Whittier. They're just not in here at all. The majority of the hikes are nearer to the Ventura County Line than they are to Los Angeles. They're just not in here at all.

Considering that there are like 20 million people living in the LA area, it's sad no one's really written a review of this gem of a book. I find that even though people may have lived here their whole lives, they really haven't seen much of the city.

So what better way to get acquainted with my new home than this book? More interesting to me than "how to go to Disneyland with 110,000 other people" or "learning where the Orange Crush is located," is a book about some offbeat, and beautiful, parts of LA.

Case in point was the hike to Point Fermin I took Sunday. A fine day with my father-in-law, son, and daughter. My panama hat did yeoman's duty, and we enjoyed the wonderful scenery and relative solitude. The best part is, it didn't cost a dime. We even drove over the only suspension bridge in LA county to get there. My boss has lived in LA for forty years, and hadn't heard of this location.

Anyway, this book falls under the heading of "potentially life-changing books" not because the hikes are all that mind-blowing, but because it is the key to unlock experiences you'd otherwise never have. It's that little push that gives you permission to do something a little unusual, a little less safe, than your ordinary weekend. The exploration of such a complex city rich in natural beauty is a great gift, and opening the book is the first step on that journey.

Sean Penn says that now that men aren't hunters anymore, the only thing left for them is violence. I say that's not true. There's a whole world out there to explore, and a man can still try to see it for himself, and take pleasure in showing it to his family.

I purchased this book for directions to hike to the Hollywood sign with a friend, and was not disappointed. The directions in this book take you as close as you can legally get to the sign. The map, driving directions, and hiking directions were quite accurate. The trailhead has been moved since this edition was published, but there were signs clearly directing us to and marking the new trailhead. The only unclear element was the listed hiking time, which the book says is 1.5 hours, not stating whether this is one-way or round-trip. Taking time along the trail to stop for water breaks on a warm sunny day and photograph the excellent vistas, it took us about 3 hours round-trip to complete the hike. I suppose if one did the hike in a hurry it might be completed in the stated time, but if you plan to admire the scenery, you should probably add at least an hour onto the hiking times provided in this book. Though there were several other groups of hikers on the trail with us (one group also using this book as a guide), there were many points where it was so quiet that you couldn't hear anything but nature sounds. Even the freeways and fellow hikers elsewhere along the trail were often inaudible. The views along the trail and from the top of Mt. Lee were gorgeous - we could see all the way to the ocean!

A great book to explore Los Angeles area, the hikes are fun my husband and I go almost every weekend and use this book. The hikes mentioned are great but the only thing is that most of them are outdated. I am pretty good with navigation but still we got lost few times on some of the trails in Griffith park as some of them are interconnected and not marked at all. We loved this book so we ordered the latest edition and cant wait to use that for our future hikes. Im hope the maps and directions on that would be more precise and up to date.

Nice book. Has clear directions to all the trails. Can't wait to put it to use.

I tried one of the Griffith Park hikes this weekend and between the map/directions to the trail head being unspecific and there not being trailhead signs at the park, it was quite difficult to find the proper route. We ended up going the wrong way (the back way of the loop) and then found the front end after going up a different trail. It turns out that the book left out a fork in the trail before the fork that we were supposed to go on. It seems like the book is good for the basic hike ideas but a more detailed map would be necessary to find the proper trails.

I went on a number of the suggested hikes - all were good ideas and well described in the text, also nicely sorted by area - hill range. The maps leave a bit to be desired - best to check the trip out on Google maps first, especially if you are combining routes into a single longer hike.