Segment H – Los Feliz and Silver Lake North – View Google Map – View Photos

Distance: 20.1 miles     51 stairways     3,954 up-steps     Total Climb: 4,040 feet

Facebook Event on 28 Jan 2017

Cities/Regions:  Thai Town, Los Feliz, Franklin Hills, Edendale, Silver Lake.

Official Finishers:

Dan Gutierrez, Pat and Elizabeth Schirmer, Evelyn Sanchez, Hilda Ibarra, Alex Rose on 28 Jan 2017 | Aaron Veals on 3 Jul 2017 | Dave and Kristy Moorman on 16 Jul 2017 | Olivia Oshimo on 1 Oct 2017 | Jeff Rozema, James Peterson, Kathy Lopez, Alfredo Salgado, Teresa Cavazos, Maribel Sanchez, Maria Casillas, Juliet Howlett on 18 Nov 2017 | Luis Prado on 8 Apr 2018 | Who will be next?

Route Features: The first quarter of the route is in hilly upscale residential streets below Griffith Park, then proceeds to a few remote stairways in the rolling Los Feliz/Franklin Hills area, also primarily residential. Then the walk becomes a residential area stair-fest in the Franklin Hills, including the longest stairway set in Silver Lake, while on the circulation pattern of The Sicilian Stair-Walk, though starting in a different location. Then there is a lunch break at Tomato Pie Pizza Joint, then you take on the stairways around the western ridge of residential homes, overlooking Silver Lake, which includes the third longest stairway set in Silver Lake, punctuated by a walk to and from the Hyperion Bridge to catch two stairways. Then the last part of walk resumes the residential area stair-fest, this time on the ridge east of Silver Lake, which includes some stairways in the 150 to 200+ step range. Overall, this walk, even though it has about 580 less total up steps than Segment I, may still be the toughest of the entire LA Loop, since it has 6 of the top 10 step-count stairways in Silver Lake, which have over 200 steps, including #1 Prospect – 295, and #3 Esther’s Steps – 265!

Start Location:  Hollywood/Western Metro Red Line Station, which is accessible via the Metro Red Line Train, that travels to DTLA.

Finish Location: Riverside Dr and Allesandro St, which is bus accessible via the Metro Bus Line 96, and Metro Bus Line 603, that travel to Rail Stations.

Transit Connections:
Finish to Start: From the finish at Riverside Dr and Allesandro St, take the Metro Bus Line 603 to the Metro Westlake/MacArthur Park Station, then take the Metro Red Line Train westward to the start at the Hollywood/Western Station.

DTLA to Start: From Union Station or the 7th/Metro Station, take the Metro Red Line Train to the Hollywood/Western Station at the southeast corner of Hollywood Blvd and Western Ave.

Finish to DTLA: Take the Metro Bus Line 96 to Union Station or the Civic Center/Grand Park Station in DTLA to connect to all the rail lines that go downtown.

Route Description:
Miles 0-5: From the Hollywood and Western Metro Rail Station, head north on Western up the gentle and increasing grade to Franklin, cross to the north (uphill) side of Franklin, turn left and head west past Garfield Place to St Andrews Place and turn left on the near side sidewalk, continue up the increasingly steep hill to where the street ends at Neindorff Dr, and notice that the sidewalk continues upwards as a stairway, the 153 step St Andrews stairway to be specific, climb it and turn right at the top onto Tyron (not Tyrion) Rd!

Head up the steep grade on Tyron until it reaches a saddle with Live Oak Dr, look up o see the Griffith Observatory, as you continue down the other side on Live Oak, around two bends until it intersects Black Oak Dr, which you will take, to the right and steeply down around the bend to the right. At the bottom of the hill in front of you is the Fern Dell portion of Griffith Park.  Turn right onto Fern Dell Place and take it past the 1 mile mark, to where it ends at a gate to a down-going stairway on the left.

Go down the stairway to connect to the paved pathway known as the Fern Dell nature trail and take it all the way down, descending 49 steps over two sets of stairways to the sidewalk on Western Ave.

When you reach the sidewalk, make a hard left turn and head back up the hill where Western Ave bends to the right and changes name to Los Feliz Blvd, and follow Los Feliz past the Fern Dell entrance to Griffith Park, continuing for nearly a mile to Berendo St. Turn left onto the near side of Berendo, passingthe 2 mile flag and climbing up to Cromwell Ave, you will notice that the sidewalk continues across Cromwell as the 181 step Berendo stairway.

Climb the steps, and turn left onto Bonvue, then right on Catalina, then right again on Glencairn and follow it until the street ends in a cul-de-sac. At the end of the cul-de-sac is the Glencairn stairway. Note the archway entry that looks private but is public!

Go down the 70 steps and turn left onto Bonvue Ave for the second time, and continue up the hill. immediately before you reach Glendower Ave to your right, there will be a stairway to your left. These are the lower Glendower steps, the first of two consecutive Glendower stairways.

Climb both the lower and upper sets for a total of 207 up-steps, your first of many 200 steps stairways for the day, and the last of the stairways near Griffith Park.
At the top of the upper Gelndower stairway, turn right on Glendower, and an follow it for another 1/4 mile, passing the 3 mile mark, and on your right will be the famed Frank Lloyd-Wright designed, Ennis House.

It is a close cousin architecturally to the Hollyhock House atop Barnsdall Art Park almost 1 mile directly to the south near the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Vermont Ave, and has been used in many films and TV shows, including Game of Thrones as the pyramid top in the mythical City of Meereen across the Narrow Sea from Westeros.

Back in Los Angeles, continue past the Ennis House down Glendower, staying to the left, as you pass the intersection with Bonvue, continuing all the way down to where Glendower ends into Vermont Ave. Veer right to stay on the near side of Vermont, and continue south on Vermont as residences slowly give way to businesses as you pass the 4 mile point in the route. Further south at Franklin Ave, at the start of a busy commercial strip, cross to the opposite (east) side of Vermont Ave, and continue southward to Prospect Ave. There is a Starbucks on the corner if you need a restroom break. Cross Prospect, and turn left, and follow Prospect past an alley and two more streets to Hillhurst. Cross Hillhurst and turn right heading one block down to Camero Ave, and turn left and follow Camero past an alley and the next street you reach is Hoover. Turn left on Hoover and look to the end of the street at the beautiful mural, Fluid City Rising, by muralist Ricardo Mendoza.

The mural is on the retaining walls of the 38 step Hoover Walk. Climb the stairway taking the right fork to continue to the right (east) on Prospect Ave. At the corner at Talmadge St, turn right on the near side and follow Talmage, passing the 5 mile mark shortly after the turn, and continue south all the way to Fountain Ave. Go right on Fountain a short block to the triple intersection with Sunset and Hoover, which is first rest/snack stop, with cafes and fast food joints, and is also the end of this section. Take a rest, the walk becomes progressively more difficult from here onward.

Miles 5-9.5: Cross to the south side of Fountain and walk one block east making a shallow right turn onto Effie St, which you will take 3 blocks southeast to Manzanita St. Turn right onto Manzanita and at the end of the block is a stairway with yellow and red painted steps, the bare steps you see were green, but the paint faded.

Climb the steps and continue southeast on Sunset one block to Sanborn, cross it, and turn left walking along side the El Pollo Loco, continuing northeast two blocks, passing mile 6, back to Fountain Ave. Go right on Fountain, and cross to the opposite side of Hyperion at the signal where Fountain goes right and up the hill to become Landa Street. You will continue on Hyperion northeast, to begin the very challenging Sicilian Stair-Walk (Google Map) circulation of the Franklin hills, climbing 3 stairway sets with more than 200 steps, and 3 more with over 100 steps. Here is a facebook photo album to accompany the Google Map. This includes the longest stairway in Silver Lake, the 295 step triple-set Prospect walk.  Unlike the Sicilian proper, you will enter the circulation at Udell Ct, and will include an down/up of the Western 39 step Udell stairway that the Sicilian skips. This circulation will take you past mile marks 7-9, and over 1,200 up-steps, as you walk on Claremont Ave to climb the Radio Walk East stairway. After climbing Radio walk, you come back down via Lyric Ave and Entrance Dr, but instead of turning left on Tracy Terrace, you continue downhill to Hyperion, and turn left to walk one short block to Tracy St, and arrive at the lunch stop at the Tomato Pie Pizza Joint, and mile 9.5, which is the end of this section of the route. Take a nice relaxing lunch, you are going to need it for the second half.

Miles 9.5-15: Walk south on Hyperion from Tomato Pie until you see the intersection with Scotland St to your left. There will be a stairway to your right just before you reach the green bus stop bench.

Turn right and go up the Scotland St stairway, and turn left at the top and continue on Lyric Ave until you drop back down to Hyperion at the 10 mile mark. Cross Hyperion and continue on Lyric one block o Griffith Park Blvd, cross the street, and turn left on Griffith Park Blvd and head north two blocks to Silverado Dr. Turn right and climb the steep sidewalk, which ends at the intersection with Meadow Valley Terrace, turn right and walk in the street up and to the right at the confluence with Drury Ln. Go over the hump and down to the bottom to yet another cul-de-sac, to find the Meadow Valley Terrace stairway.

Climb the 93 steps and you may need to turn around to see the phrases local resident Kimberly King has placed on the steps. Definitely worth a read, especially the one that top!
After climbing the stairs, turn right onto Fernwood Ave and continue downhill back to Griffith Park Blvd. Make the left onto Griffith Park and continue to the next intersection, Landa St, to the left, and continue up the steep street, best on the right side to be seen by cars on the blind curve. At the curve, move over to the left side and climb the 19 large sidewalk steps, followed by a single flight of 92 steps, signed at Esther’s Steps, just up the hill at the junction of Landa St with Lucile Ave.

At the top of the 92 steps, cross the street (Edgecliffe) and climb a triple stair-set of 65, 24, a long steep ramp, then 65 more steps!

Ester’s 265 steps are the third longest stairway in Silver lake. At the top, you do not get a rest, as you continue up the very steep section of Landa Street, up to the intersection with Micheltorena St, reaching mile 11 of the route. Turn left on Micheltorena and do some much appreciated downhill walking for about 3/4 of a mile, then right on Rock, left on Redcliff and right again on Moreno, all the way down to Silver lake Dr, where you’ll have a nice view of the empty Silver Lake Reservoir!
Turn left on Silver Lake Dr, and follow the sidewalk past 12 houses, and to your left is a public stairway that juts out slightly onto the sidewalk at its base. This is the 75 step Moreno, take it to the top and turn right onto Kenilworth Ave, heading north.

After a short downhill, Kenilworth Ave is fairly flat as it works its way to the next stairway on the route. After passing Hawick St and the 12 mile mark, pass Bright Ln, and immediately before you reach Tesla Ave, look to your left and find the Tesla stairway going uphill.

Climb the steps and continue to your left on Moreno Dr, and turn right at the intersection where Moreno and Micheltorena are parallel and close to each other, and right again on Micheltorena. After passing a few houses, veer right at the fork and go down Lanterman Terrace, a shot step hill and at the bottom to the left is the top of the Panorama Terrace/Lanterman Terrace stairway. Go down the first flight to the middle walkway, then turn around to see more of Kimberly King’s artwork in the form of a string of little hearts.

Turn back around and continue down the walk way and small flight of steps to the street, and turn left to continue downhill onto Scotland Street. When you reach the fork, veer right onto Meadow Valley Terrace, and after a right hand curve it straightens out, and one house before the end of the straightaway look for the stairway to your left. It has little feet all over it, also care of Kimberly King (see photo above). Go down the 23 steps, and then down the long ramp back to Griffith Park Blvd. Turn right on Griffith Park and do some flat walking to the intersection with Hyperion, cross Hyperion reaching mile 13, and turn left to continue northward. Three blocks later you will reach the intersection of Hyperion with Ettrick St, and the beginning of the Hyperion/Glendale Bridge, or Hyperion Bridge for short. At this point you have to make a decision to either walk on the 18″ sidewalk facing fast uphill traffic on the bridge, or use the frontage road and go down a ramp, that you will backtrack and climb later on.
Here is a closer view of the narrow road level sidewalk.
Either way, your goal is to reach the west side bridge sidewalk to continue down the bridge to the second of two stairways you will encounter, at the far end of the bridge.At the far end downhill of the bridge sidewalk, there will be a break in the concrete safety railing to your left, which is the entrance to the Glendale/Hyperion stairway.

Go down the stairway, and turn right onto Glendale Blvd, and take it to the intersection with Riverside Dr, and make a hard right to the north side of Riverside Dr, heading back to the northwest toward the bridge. Cross under the bridge, and look to your left to see walkway heading toward the bridge. Take the walkway to your next stairway climb.

Climb the 62 steps of the Riverside/Hyperion stairway back up to the bridge. This is the same spot where the high and low red arrow paths meet, and you will and take the steep ramp, green arrow path, up to your right to connect with the small bridge on Waverly Dr. Turn left and cross the bridge, which has great views and photo ops.

Next, follow Waverly past mile 14 just before Herkimer St, past 4 more blocks back to Glendale Blvd. You need to cross Glendale but can’t on Waverly, so turn right onto Glendale, and cross at the intersection with Rowena, then walk one very short block to Locksley Pl, and turn right and follow Locksley all he way until it ends in a cul-de-sac, and there is a walkway exit to the left, take it, and make the first right onto a perpendicular walkway leading downhill to Fletcher Dr. As you near the church to your left, look to your right for a break in the fence to you right, you walk up the short hill to the parking lot, and go down the stairway leading back to the path.

Turn right, head to Fletcher, turn left and follow Fletcher to the valet parking for the Home restaurant. Walk into the parking lot past the valets and look up to see a stairway to the right of of a set of concrete abutments that used to support the red car rail bridge over Fletcher. Walk through the parked cars to the stairway, and climb it, following the dirt path, then concrete path to the left. At the fork, go right and climb the Waverly Dr stairway. This pair of stairways taken together constitutes a 110 up-steps stairway set.

At the top, passing mile 15, continue on Waverly to Farwell, turn left and go downhill to Glendale Blvd. Turn left again, and by the car wash at the intersection with Fletcher, you have reached the end of this segment and the second snack/rest stop. There is a Starbucks across the street, a Subway nearby, and a market. Take some time to replenish your reserves, even if that means eating another meal, for the last 4.8 mile push to the end. Only 15 stairways to go!

Miles 15-19.8: From the intersection of Glendale and Fletcher, cross to the south side of Glendale, then turn right and walk on the dirt, which almost immediately becomes a nice sidewalk, and continue up the hill until you reach a tough to spot stairway entrance to your left. The address on the nearby wall is 2617 Glendale Blvd, to help you find it. This is the 56 step Glendale/Ivan Hill stairway.

Climb it to Ivan Hill, and look both ways before crossing the street, to climb the 156 step Ivan Hill/Ivanhoe stairway, taking you up to Ivanhoe.

These two stairways taken together constitute a 212 step “Ivanhill” stairway set.
Make a left at the top onto Ivanhoe and continue uphill on a circuitous route. Ivanhoe makes a 180 degree bend to the right, then forks, and you will take the left fork, bend  90 degrees to the left, and continue straight down the hill. At the next intersection, the street name changes to Edgewater Terrace, and you continue straight to Silver Lake Blvd, turn left and cross to the diagonal opposite corner when you reach the intersection of Silver Lake Blvd and Glendale Blvd. Continue uphill on the south side of Silver Lake Blvd, and cross and make a left at the T to remain on Silver Lake Blvd, but now heading north. Continue north passing the 16 mile mark as you walk to the next intersection at India St, cross and turn right, going up the hill on India. Cross Silver Ridge Ave and turn left onto Lake View Ave, pass Roselin, and took to your right for a stairway between houses. This is the 35 step Lakeview/Roselin stairway.

Climb the stairway, then turn right onto the small street at the top. at the end of this short street, and to your left is a the entrance to the 98 step Roselin Pl stairway.

Go down the stairway, and the concrete gives way to dirt, which bends to the right and continues downward, then bends to the left, to enter the Corralitas Red Car trail. If there is rain or the day is muddy, I suggest turning around at the bottom of the Roselin  stairway and climbing it per the green line detour on the google map to avoid getting stuck in the mud or falling down on the way to the Red Car trail. Once on the Red Car Trail, turn left/head northward to reach the continuation of India St, and turn right and go down India to Riverside Terrace, turn right, then right again on Silver Lake Ave, and climb the hill. You will no doubt notice the three replica Easter Island (Rapa Nui in the native tongue) Moai (large stone faced human statues). Take a photo of/with the Moai!

Then climb the stairway to the right, it is the first of three sets of Silver Lake Ave stairways, totaling 137 steps.

At the top of the third stairway continue straight ahead, downhill on Silver Ridge Ave, and go left at the fork with Electric St. In the middle of the block, you will see a stairway to your left. That’s the 82 step Hidalgo Ave stairway

Climb the stairway which take you up to Hidalgo St for cars, and continue in the street to the next block and turn right onto Ayr St, and at the next block go left on McCready Ave until it Ts in to Brier. Turn right on Brier, passing mile 17 and pass Teviot St to reach Glendale Blvd, turn left and continue up the hill to the south, until you reach the pedestrian crossing Deane St. Cross to the other side of Glendale Blvd, and keep going southward ten turn right onto Earl St, going all the way down to Silver Lake Blvd, then turn left and continue to Cove Ave. Turn right and climb the very steep Cove Ave street, which ends at the start of the Mattachine Steps, named after one of the first LGBT societies, the Mattachine Society, founded by Harry Hay in the mid 1950s, at a residence at the base of this stairway, where he lived.

Near and at the top of the stairway are great views of the Silver Lake Reservoir, Griffith Observatory, and the Hollywood sign, so make sure you turn around or you will miss them. Just think about how close you were to the observatory earlier in the day!
Continue from the top of the stairway down Cove Ave, and across Apex to descend the 19 steps of what I call the “Baby Cove” stairway, taking you down to Glendale Blvd.

Glendale has fast traffic in both directions, so use caution when crossing this uncontrolled (no crosswalks or signals) intersection with Cove Ave. After crossing Glendale, climb Cove Ave, which bends o the left at the top of the steep hill and the name changes to Fair Oaks, just past the dead end, Cove Way stairway on your right.
[photo of Cove Wy stairway]
This stairway used to connect down to Glendale Blvd in the days before the SR-2 freeway was built, which severed the connection. Nevertheless, this useful transportation stairway is the access for residents living on this stair-street! Pass the stairway and continue downhill on Fair Oaks past Oak Glen, and mile 18 of the route, to Edendale Pl to the left. Turn left and go up the street to the dead end, and you will find that there is a long steep stairway, the 148 step Edendale Stairway, or as I like to call them, the Ice Box Steps.

Why Ice Box steps? Because Curly of The Three Stooges in the 1941 film, An Ache in Every Stake, on a hot summer day, carried large blocks of ice up these steps that melted to small globs by the time he reached the top of the stairway! Go to 3:12 in the video for the stairway scene. At the top of the stairway continue forward a few steps on dirt to the alley, and turn left, and then right to go down the very steep, like 30% grade steep, Edendale Place, all the way down to Glendale Blvd. Turn right and then turn left up the next street, Loma Vista Place, which is short and steep, ending into a very long two sided stairway that climbs to the top of the hill, then goes down the other side. First you will climb the Loma Vista West stairway’s 182 steps in 9 flights, and once at the top, descend the 166 steps of Loma Vista East, which has a series of stair flights and ramps interspersed, with a long walkway ramp pair in the middle.

Note that residents living along these stairways must of necessity have all their furniture hauled up these stairs as they are the only access to their homes. Dan Koeppel was sufficiently impressed by this stairway, that he refers to this pair as, The Mother Stairs, of Silver Lake. At the bottom, turn left onto Allesandro Way, and continue one block to Earl St. Turn left and climb Earl, staying right at the fork with Earl Pl, and after a shallow S-bend, and a straight segment on a steep hill, to your left, where Earl meets Bancroft Ave, the Earl St stairway begins. This is a big one, with 11 flights and 219 total up-steps, that winds up the canyon and will take the spring right out of your step!At the top, continue forward past the first home to your right, then turn right onto Hidalgo St. Yes, this is the same Hidalgo St that has the stairway, but at the other end to the north!
Continue down Hidalgo and at the intersection with Bancroft, turn right and go downhill. Bancroft takes you back to Earl St, and you will continue on Earl, all the way to the bottom of the hill back to Allesandro Way. Turn left onto Allesandro, and head northeast, past mile 19 at Silver Ridge Ave, and continue to the end of Allesandro, where it turns left and becomes Lake View Ave. Instead of turning, look for the Allesandro/Corralitas walk-street path behind the guard rail straight ahead, and take it downhill. While it is tempting to step over the guard rail, the top metal edge is very sharp, so the more prudent course is to walk around the guard rail to the left to reach the Allesandro walk-street.

At the bottom of the path, you will reach the cul-de-sac end of Corralitas Dr. Take it northeast to the next block by the SR-2 freeway over-crossing at Rosebud Ave. Look to your left and you will see the Corralitas stairway, which you will now climb.

At the top, turn left and follow Corralitas Dr in a long rightward oval all the way back down to the bottom of the stairway, where you will turn left onto Rosebud Ave. In one short descending block, after crossing under the SR-2 feeway, you will arrive at Allesandro St, turn left on the near side sidewalk and walk downhill to Riverside Drive. Cross Allesandro, and you will have reached mile 20.8, and the end of this segment.

Congratulations, you have completed super-tough Segment H!

Stairway Data Table

Seg#	SS#	SW#	In-300	Zip	Stairway Name	Up	Down
H01	184		G6	90068	St Andrews Pl	153
H02	185		G5	90068	Western Ave		49
H03	186		G4	90027	Berendo Stairs	181
H04	187		G3	90027	Glencairn Rd		70
H05	188		G1	90027	Lower Glendower	74
H06	189		G2	90027	Upper Glendower	133
H07	190		F61	90027	Hoover Walk	38
H08	191		F46	90029	Manzanita St	40
H09	192		F57	90027	E Udell-Mayhew	206
H10	193		F56	90027	W Udell-Mayhew	39	39
H11	194		F60	90027	Sunset Dr	43
H12	195		F59	90027	Cumberland/Clayton	125
H13	196		F58	90027	Clayton Ave	10	28
H14	197		F47	90027	Sanborn S	41
H15	198		F48	90027	Lower Prospect Walk	57
H16	199		F49	90027	Middle Prospect Walk	71
H17	200		F50	90027	Upper Prospect Walk	168
H18	201		F53	90027	Sanborn N	85
H19	202		F52	90027	Lower W Radio Walk	97	97
H20	203		F51	90027	Upper W Radio Walk	118	118
H21	204		F54	90027	E Radio Walk	110
H22	205		F55	90027	Scotland St	137
H23	206		F42	90039	Meadow Valley Terrace	93
H24	207		F45	90039	Landa Side-Stair	19
H25	208		F44	90039	Lower Esther’s Steps	92
H26	209		F43	90039	Upper Esther’s Steps	154
H27	210		F39	90039	Moreno Dr	75
H28	211		F38	90039	Tesla Ave	111
H29	212		F40	90039	Panorama/Lanterman		51
H30	213		F41	90039	Tracy St		23
H31	214		F37	90027	Glendale/Hyperion		39
H32	215		F36	90027	Riverside/Hyperion	62
H33	216		F33	90039	Waverly Dr	46
H34	217		F32	90039	Fletcher Steps	64
H35	218		F34	90039	Glendale/Ivan Hill	56
H36	219		F35	90039	Ivan Hill/Ivanhoe	156
H37	220		F31	90039	Lake View/Roselin	35
H38	221		F30	90039	Roselin Pl		98
H39	222		F29	90039	Lower Silver Lake Ave	30
H40	223		F28	90039	Middle Silver Lake Ave	31
H41	224		F27	90039	Upper Silver Lake Ave	76
H42	225		F26	90039	Hidalgo Ave	82
H43	226		F25	90039	The Mattachine Steps	164
H44	227		F24	90039	Baby Cove		19
H45	228		F23	90039	Edendale Pl	148
H46	229		F22	90039	W Loma Vista Pl	182
H47	230		F21	90039	E Loma Vista Pl		166
H48	231		F20	90039	Earl St	219
H49	232		F19	90039	Rosebud Ave (Corralitas)	133
					Total Stair Steps —>	3954	797
					Total Stair-Streets —>	49
					Total Non Stair-Street Stairs >	0