Segment J – DTLA to Montecito Heights  – View Google Map – View Photos

Distance: 21.0 miles     67 stairways     2,581 up-steps     Total Climb: 2,880 feet

Cities/Regions:  Westlake North, Bunker Hill, Downtown LA, Chinatown, Arts District, Boyle Heights, Ramona Gardens, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Heights, Montecito Heights.

Facebook Event on 25 Feb 2017

Official Finishers:

Dan Gutierrez, Evelyn Sanchez, Hilda Ibarra, Jane Fransella on 25 Feb 2017 | Pat and Elizabeth Shirmer, Dave and Kristy Moorman on 15 Apr 2017 | Aaron Veals on 21 Jul 2017 | Olivia Oshimo on 12 Nov 2017 | Jeff Rozema, James Peterson, Kathy Lopez, Alfredo Salgado, Teresa Cavazos, Maria Casillas, Luis Prado on 20 Jan 2018 | Maribel Sanchez on 2 Jun 2018 | Who will be next?

Route Features: This route starts out in Westlake North and heads to DTLA, passing through residential and commercial areas and includes Vista Hermosa Natural Park and loops through Bunker Hill to the Disney Concert Hall in the first 5 miles. The next 5 miles pass through Grand Park, and the Civic Center area, as well as the southern edge of Chinatown, Union Station, passing over the 1st St bridge, then along the 4th St bridge, to Hollenbeck Park, where we will traverse all 10 stairways, and just north along 1st and Soto, we will have lunch at the 10.5 to 11 mile zone in a Boyle Heights area that is primarily residential. Afterwards, the walk heads northeast to Ramona Gardens public housing, then through Alvarez Park, Hazard Rec Area, and Lincoln Park, to just past the Coral St stairway at the 15 mile mark. The last 5 miles traverses stairways along Huntington between El Sereno and Montecito Heights, then treks through Montecito Heights, ending at the Lincoln/Cypress Metro Gold Line Station, near I-110, at mile 20.

Start Location: Beverly Blvd and Rampart Blvd (at The Original Tommy’s!), which is bus accessible via Metro Bus Line 603 on Rampart, and Metro Bus Line 14 on Beverly, that both connect to rail stations.

Finish Location: Lincoln/Cypress Metro Gold Line Station, which is train accessible on the Metro Gold Line, north toward Pasadena, or south to Union Station.

Transit Connections:
Finish to Start: Take Metro Gold Line south to Union Station, then the Metro Red Line to either:
1) Pershing Square Station, and transfer on Olive St to Metro Bus Line 14 northbound, to Beverly, to reach the start on Beverly Blvd at Rampart Blvd, or
2) Westlake/MacArthur Park Station, and on Westlake Ave, transfer to Metro Bus Line 603 to Rampart Blvd, northbound to Beverly Blvd, to the start.

DTLA to Start: From the Metro Pershing Square Station, go north to Olive, then take Metro Bus Line 14 northbound, to reach the start on Beverly Blvd at Rampart Blvd.

Finish to DTLA: Take the Metro Gold Line, south to Union Station, and connections to The Metro Red/Purple Lines, which in turn lead to the Metro Blue Line and Metro Expo Line at the 7th Metro/Station.

Route Description (needs to be updated):
Miles 0-5: From the start at Tommy’s Burgers, cross Beverly to the south side, and continue east, toward DTLA, three blocks to Carondelet St. To your right will be a double stairway.
Climb the right side, and at the top, cross the street to the east, and go down the opposite stairway back to Beverly, and continue eastward. At Alvarado, cross to the North side of Beverly, and continue eastward crossing Union Ave, turn left, and head northeast 4 blocks to Court St, and turn right. on the near side of Court. Walk down the hill past the 1 mile mark, and three streets on your right to reach Glendale Blvd. As you approach Glendale, there will be a stairway to your right going back and up the hill.After climbing the first set of flight the stairway splits. Take the left fork (red arrow), then make a hard right turn and climb the stairway and go left at the fork climbing the last flights up to Lake Shore Terrace, and turn left on the sidewalk. Go downhill to Colton, turn left again and go down the steep hill back to Glendale Blvd, then turn right and continue south on Glendale and cross under the Beverly/1st St bridge. Cross again to your left to the east side of Glendale Blvd, then continue on 2nd St past the Belmont Station apartments, and the road diagonals to the right away from the bridge. When you reach Toluca St, turn right, and continue up the street. At the end of the street is a stairway, but before you reach it, there is an historic transportation artifact to the right, and down. There is a retaining wall, with a semicircular door covering it.

This is the entrance to the now closed Belmont Tunnel, that connects to the main Pacific Electric (Red Car) Subway Station in DTLA, which we will visit later on the route!

From the 1920s to mid 1950s, Red Car trains would leave the DLTA station and travel in the Belmont Tunnel and exit at your location, and continue through what is now the Belmont Station apartments to reach Glendale Blvd and continue northward passing under the bridge (which was built to pass over the trains!) on Glendale Blvd, all the way over to Corralitas and over the bridge at Fletcher, where you climbed the 64 step stairway at the back of the valet parking area, two segments ago! The area to your left, which is now Toluca St and a row of houses, was once the Toluca Rail Yard that you can see in the #2 image in the composite photo above. Also note how the rail lines go under the Beverly/1St Bridge. Now that you’ve had your transportation history lesson, recall that there is a stairway at the end of the street, that’s not pretty, and definitely needs some love.

This stairway once brought train travelers down to the tracks at the Toluca station, and you can see it in the previous mosaic photo of the Toluca yard.  Climb the stairs, and then go back down and use the opposite side of Toluca St to return to Glendale Blvd, and turn left retracing your steps to the continuation of Touluca St that passes under the bridge. Cross at the signal and continue up the hill to the Vista Hermosa Natural Park entrance on your right. This park is totally self sufficient for water (drought resistant plants and recycled water) and power (solar panels). Enter the park and to the right of the main visitor center is a stairway up to a dirt path.

Climb it and go to the left, and stay right at each successive fork, you will climb and eventually reach a stairway to your left, and a pair of restrooms. This makes for a good early restroom stop if needed. The stairway is optional, climb it if you like, and you will note that the gate at the top is locked, so return the way you came.                             Continue up the trail past the restrooms, and you will see a concrete path switch-backing to your left. Take it up to the children’s playground, passing mile 2, and brave the sea serpent infested waters (walk between the serpent segments),

and exit the area at the far side, heading east, and to your left is a set of a 3 steps taking you to to the upper/northern park exit, onto Colton St.  Turn right and follow the sidewalk as Colton bends to the left and becomes Boylston, heading northeast.  Pass Court St to your left, and at the next block at Temple, there will be a small side-stair to your right connecting Boylston to Temple.

Descend this stairway and continue south east on Temple to Beaudry, cross Beaudry, turn right, and head southwest to 1st St, turn left and walk under the I-110 freeway, and climb the bridge over Figueroa. As you start to cross Figueroa proper, note that there is a break in the guard rail to your left, to a stairway leading down to Figueroa!

Go down the stairs and turn right onto Figueroa, and passing mile 3, continue past 2nd St, look ahead and above to see a pedestrian walkway, called a pedway, heading from a tower to your right, across Figueroa to your left. Pass the tower and look up to your right to see a stairway climbing the tower.
Climb the stairs which wrap around the tower to the right and take you up to the pedway you just saw from below. Continue on this first pedway, and when it intersects another second pedway from the right in a T, look down in the center of the intersection to see a circular stainless-steel plaque describing the pedways designed by Calvin Hamilton, a former LA City Planner, including a map of all the pedways in Bunker Hill.
You can read more about the pedways in this article by Dan Koeppel of Big Parade fame. This route traverses all or part of 6 of the 11 pedways in DTLA. After viewing the plaque, turn right and follow the pedway that parallels Figueroa. There is a kink in the pedway at the location of a downward helical stairway you can see in the previous photo. Here is what the helical stairway looks like from street level.

Go down, and at the street level, at the NE corner of Figueroa and 3rd. Cross to the opposite diagonal corner, by The LA Hotel, and continue southwest on Figueroa, cross 4th St, and walk under yet another pedway, which the route doesn’t visit, then cross 5th, and as you pass the bear sculpture, there is a stairway to your right.

Climb the stairway, and cross the 3rd pedway back to the northeast side of 5th St, and follow the red line path in the photo below.

At the end of the pedway, make a hard right and take the small set of stairs in the direction from which you came. Continue around the corner to your left and before you is another set of stairs.  At the bottom continue to on 5th and cross to the diagonal opposite corner of Figueroa, the SW corner, and walk forward about 50 feet and to your left is a wide walkway parallelling the building heading downhill toward the 4th pedway at Flower. Turn left and follow this path to the pedway, note that it has stairs on the side you are approaching. Climbe the stairs to your left, cross the pedway (the last arrow on the map above), and descend the stairs ahead and to your right at the far end of the pedway.

Once back at street level, go northeast on Flower toward the main entrance to the Westin-Boneventure hotel, and observe that you pass under the 5th pedway, and to your left is a stairway leading up to to it as can be seen in this photo from street-level.

Climb the stairway, then cross the pedway to the left, and at the end, descend 9 steps to the left to take you to the 6th Pedway, which heads southwest. After crossing under the 5th pedway, the 6th pedway descends stairs back down to street level at the corner of Flower and 5th (final red arrow in the photo above). Turn left and head up the rise on 5th, noting that the Central Library is to your right across the street. As you reach the crosswalk to the main entrance to the library, to your left is the spectacular Bunker Hill dual-stairway. Here are a upper and lower photo pair of the stairway.

Climb either side, to the splendid water sculpture at the top of the stairway. This plaza is one of my favorite places to take a break in DTLA, and here are some panoramas of this location showing different views and lighting conditions.

From the top walk forward, northward to the street, turn right on Hope Pl, and stay on the near side and walk down the hill, passing mile 4, to Grand Ave. Do notice the 3D mural across the street, which is better viewed from afar, than close up.Turn right on Grand, and go down the steep hill to 5th, and cross Grand on the near side. On the opposite side veer left slightly up hill to head to the top of the down going side-stair connecting Grand to 5th.

Go down the side-stair and continue downhill on 5th, all the way past Olive to Hill, and turn left onto the near side sidewalk, and head northeast on Hill past 4th, and look to your left to see the approaching Angels Flight Funicular railway and associated stairway.
Before you climb the stairs, look across the street to see the Grand Central Market, a nice place to eat on another day! Climb the stairway:

At the top head to the metal stairs ahead, that continue upward.
Climb the metal stairway, and at the top you are facing the CA Water Court Plaza, veer to the left and work your way to the right in a counter-clockwise loop around the pond.Take in the nice views, and end up at the north end of the plaza, where there is a stairway leading down to Olive Street. Go down the stairway, and turn left to head north on Olive (end of red line in the photo above). After passing a busy Omni Hotel driveway pair, look to your left past the end of the hotel building to see a stairway leading up to the walkway Climb the stairway, and turn right onto the main walkway, check out the reflecting pond:

and proceed past two buildings to a stairway leading down to 2nd St.

Descend and go to the left to head up the hill on 2nd to Grand Ave. Cross to the diagonal opposite (north) corner, and you will notice a large stairway to your left associated with the Disney Concert Hall. Don’t climb it! Continue northwest on Grand and right before the restaurant seating area begins, there is a well hidden stairway to the left.
Climb this long and winding stairway, and at the top, and check out the great views:
Then turn left and follow the walkway to the northern corner of the building, and you will find a stairway that goes down a number of flights.
Descend the stairway and at the bottom head to your right and away from the concert hall entrance to end up in a courtyard area. To your left is rose sculpture dedicated to TBD Disney (though it looks more like a lotus flower to me), check it out:

and then go to the right and down the second set of down-going stairs.

at the bottom of the stairway, proceed to your left to the corner of Hope and 1st, reaching the 5 mile mark and the end of this section of the route.

Miles 5-10: Cross 1st and continue on Hope past the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and veer to the right to pass the fountains, and come to the top of a broad stairway.

Descent the stairway and cross the street to Grand Park. Don’t forget to look back at the artwork on the stairway.  Ahead of you are more stairs, leading down through Upper Grand Park. At the bottom of the first set is a spot offering great views of the fountain!After descending  the first flight then go right and descend the subsequent flights taking you down to the Starbucks and restrooms, from which this shot of the fountain from below was taken (note the stairway you descended is to the left):
This area makes for a good rest stop on the route. Here is Video of Fountain shot from the same spot at the photo above. After taking a break, continue downhill on the southeast walkway, and when you reach Hill St, turn left and cross the street in the middle of the park. Once across, you will go down stairs through the center of Middle Grand Park:
Descend these stairs sets all the way to Broadway, and cross the street, and veer left, to reach the NE stairway (follow the red line path in the photo above) and continue down the stairs and pathway down to Spring St, and cross Spring, then turn left, and go to Temple.  Turn right, head down the street past Main, and ahead you can see an overpass, a pedway. As you approach it, and to your right is a curved stairway leading up to the pedway.

Climb the curved stairs, then go up the pedway stairs and cross over Temple, and down the steps on the other side. Once across, and to your left is the Triforium sculpture, that plays music. It is long neglected and many consider it an eyesore.

Walk past it, and head back toward Main street on a diagonal to save distance, reaching the sidewalk before you come to Aliso St. Turn left, and cross Mail and continue on Aliso two blocks to Broadway, then turn right on the near side and cross Aliso, passing mile 6, and cross Arcadia, and to your left across the street is a stairway leading up to Hill St.

Cross Broadway and climb the stairway, then cross Hill, and turn right.  Follow the sidewalk, or walk through the parallel memorial plaza to your left, and continue on Hill St over the bridge, and down to Ord St.  Cross Ord and you have entered the southwest corner of Chinatown, proceed to the Hill entrance to the Asian Center, and turn left to enter it, and walk all the way through to the rear exit, and across and to your right is a stairway:
Climb it, and veer to the left to exit through the rolling gate, turn right, and follow the sidewalk to about the third diagonal parking stall. and look directly across the street to see the entrance to underground parking for the tall apartment complex above. Cross the street and head toward that garage opening’s left side, and as you get close, you will find a short flight of stairs hidden behind a retaining wall, leading to a long 152 step stair-street!Climb the stairway then turn left onto the sidewalk on Hill Pl, and continue to Caesar Chavez, turning left again, and follow Chavez under the bridge on Hill you descended previously, and continue for past Alameda, crossing Mile 7, and pass under the bridge at Union Station.  When you come out of the under-crossing, look to your left for a stairway leading up to a street above you:
Climb it and stay to the right, and pass through the parking area to get back to Caesar Chavez Ave.  Continue on Chavez to Vignes St, and cross to the other side of Chavez and on a diagonal to your right is a series of small stair flights.

Climb them and at the top proceed to your right, then left around the busway loop to the Union Station East Portal. Enter and you will see a curved stairway pair leading down to the tunnel under the station. Also check out the mural above the tunnel (passageway).Go down the first stairway, and note that there are restrooms to the left, and continue up the second stairway, and exit the portal, heading east on the walkway leading to the intersection of Vignes and Ramirez, cross Vignes and continue southeast on Ramirez, continuing to Commercial St, cross it and Ramirez changes names to Center St, and follow it south 4 blocks to Banning, cross to the other side of Center and continue south approaching the 1st St Bridge. Center ends but there is an alleyway to your right, and turn that way to see the back side of a stairway leading up to the bridge.

Walk over to the front of the stairway and climb it to the bridge, reaching mile 8 in the route. If bridge traffic is light, you may walk across the bridge to the stairway on the opposite side, to save a little distance. Otherwise, follow the bridge walkway down hill to Vignes, cross 1st St, and climb the opposite of the bridge to the stairway leading back down to Santa Fe and entering the Arts District.
Descend the steps and turn left onto Santa Fe. Walk south past the long white and red apartment/office complex, then One Santa Fe, and a rail building, for the better part of half a mile, and you will pass under the 4th St bridge.

Once across, turn left and you will be facing a stairway leading up to the bridge. If all goes well, it may be painted like this concept photo on the right, or plain on the left:
Painted or not, climb it and continue in the same direction across the 4th St bridge. At the far end of the bridge is a down going stairway.
Go down the steps and continue past mile 9 on 4th St, past 4 blocks, cross under the I-101 freeway and cross Boyle Ave, then turn right. You are now in Boyle Heights. Continue south on Boyle past 5th St as you converge toward the I-10 freeway, pass the signalized crosswalk leading to the Palms Apartments across the street, and look to your left for an opening between the chain-link fence and the metal fence. Enter it and you will be on a walkway crossing under the I-10 freeway that continues into Hollenbeck park.Brace yourself for a 10 stairway scramble in the park! After crossing I-10, the walkway bends to the left, and has a fork. Take the right fork leading to a down stairway #1.Follow the stairway down through a gate to the bridge across the lake (in the photo from the East LA/Boyle Heights walk, the people are heading in the opposite direction of this route). The bridge has stairs on either side of a central riser (#2).
Cross the bridge (if the bridge is not open , then walk around the lake to your right, and take it all the way to the third stairway) stairway and turn right, DO NOT climb the stairway straight in front of you!, and follow the lakefront path to the 75 step stairway #3 climbing steeply to the left.

Climb it and turn left, and take the walkway around to the next set of stairs leading up to a set of tiered concrete decks. These serve as a de-facto skate park; you can’t miss the skateboarders, and they will stop to let you climb the stairs.

At the top, turn left and cut across the grass to the walkway to the right and follow it downhill to where 6th St ends into the park. Turn left again and go down the path goes downhill, and you will find stairway #5.

Descend it, and turn right following the lakefront path to the gazebo/deck structure to your left, and you will have reached the 10 mile mark and the end of this walk section.

Miles 10-15:  From the gazebo, turn right and face up hill and note that there are three stairways in sight, one dead ahead, and one each on the right and left.

Go up the right stairway #6, loop around to the left and go down the middle stairway #7, then turn right and climb the ‘left’ stairway #8, and follow the path up to the right, then down to the left back to the lakefront path, and turn right. In another 50 feet or so you will come to a 9th stairway to the right, before the playground, leading up to the rec center.
Climb it, and turn left and and on the far side of the rec center, look for another stairway leading down to the playground on the north side of the rec center.
Descent the stairway, at the bottom, go through the playground to the right and exit through the break in the fence, then veer right and cross the grass to the corner of 4th and St Louis. Cross 4th and continue on St Louis northeast, for 4 blocks to 1st St. Cross 1st and you have reached the beginning of the lunch zone in Boyle Heights, which extends to the right (east) on 1st, to Soto, then left (north) on Soto to Caesar Chavez, which is the 11 mile mark in the walk. There are a wide variety of places to eat, so chose wisely! 😉  When we do this as a group, we will meet up at Soto and Cesar Chavez after lunch. If you are only doing half the walk, you can take the Gold Line from the Soto Station back to DTLA, and catch a bus back to the start (see transit connections at the top). From Soto and Caesar Chavez, continue northward on Soto  for about 6/10ths of a mile past Wabash to Pomeroy Ave and turn right on the near side. Cross Flickett, turn left and cross Pomeroy continuing north to Marengo, turn right, and take Marengo past Tremeont, passing mile 12, to Evergreen Ave. Turn left and cross Marengo heading north on Evergreen to the end of the cul-de-sac to find a stairway leading to a long freeway over-crossing (AKA skinny-bridge).

Climb the stairs, and cross I-10, and go down the right set of stairs on the opposite end:

which puts you on a walkway on the sough end of the Ramona Gardens public housing project. Follow the walkway until it ends into Fowler St and continue on Fowler and cross Whiteside, and look for a side-stair (steps in the sidewalk) to your right.

Go up the side-stair, then turn right and cross Whiteside and turn right again and go downhill back to Fowler, and turn left onto Fowler, then right onto Indiana St, then left on Lancaster, and continue on Evergreen when Lancaster veers to the left. Evergreen curves to the right, and shortly before the end of the curve, there is a fire hydrant on the left side, and a path beyond it leading to a stairway you can see going up and over a retaining wall.Follow the walkway and climb the stairway entering Alvarez Park.

At the top, look about 30 degrees to your right across the park, and spot the continuation of the stairway up to a street above. Climb it and continue down the short stub of Norfolk street to Murchison, and cross Murchison. Please note that the school ahead of you has an interesting mural with characters from many popular children’s stories:

Turn left and continue on Murchison to Lancaster, cross it, and note the entrance sign to Ramona Gardens. Turn right and note the mural to your left as you climb the hill past Tremont to Ricardo passing mile 13, then turn left and continue to Zonal, cross it and turn right, and continue to Soto, then turn left, and head downhill. In one short block you will see a stairway heading up and to your left to Verde St.
Climb it, and when it splits, go left, and at the top cross the street, and go down the other side back to Soto.  If traffic is light, cross Soto, and turn left on the opposite sidewalk. If traffic is heavy, head downhill on Soto and cross at Charlotte, then turn right and come back up the hill to the next stairway. From the point across from the Verde stairway head downhill and locate the stairway to your right. It looks like a stairway to nowhere.

Climb the stairs and note that there is a pathway ahead, it leads to low spot ahead that was the bed of a former red car line. These stairs, which are the continuation of Clara St, were used to provide Red Car access to the Monrovia-Glendora Line in the 1920s and 30s .
Go back down the stairs to Soto, turn right and head down the hill to Charlotte, and turn right. Continue up Charlotte and cross Cornwell, then turn right and follow the sidewalk up the hill to a pedestrian crossing that connecting two sides of a medical magnet school that has stairs on both sides and a nice medical themed mural on the near side.

Once across, turn right twice to continue uphill on Cornwell St, the nturn right onto San Pablo, continuing acros Norfolk, then turn left and cross Norfolk, then right to continue on the opposite side of San Pablo northward past Alcazar, Lambie and mile 14 to Valley Blvd. Cross Valley in the crosswalk, and veer right into Lincoln Park, heading on the pathway leading to a Florence Nightingale statue:This is the 1937 original, and there is a 1939 replica statue at the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco. Continue on the northward path past the statue and bend left around the lake splitting away to the right, to head on the path toward Lincoln Park Ave. Cross at the light in the crosswalk, and continue north on the right (east) side of Lincoln Park Ave, 3 blocks to North Broadway, then turn right and continue on an upgrade past Holgate Square, and as you approach Lincoln High Dr to your left, just ahead to your right is a tall metal framed free-standing stairwell that leads up to Coral St.

Climb the steps and continue on Coral St. It will make a bend to the left, changing name to Manitou Place, then bend again to the right, reaching mile 15 of the route and the end of this section!

Miles 15-20: After bending right on Manitou Pl, continue a short block to Manitou Ave, and turn left, then bend to the left and descend to Duke St, turn right and continue down the hill to Mission Rd, then turn left and continue northeast on Mission.  Follow Misson past Broadway to Commodore St, and turn left on the near side sidewalk, and climb past the two entrances to Mallard and look to your left to find a long stairway.

Climb then come back down this stairway, and cross the street to the far side of Commodore, turn left and descend back down to Mission Rd. Turn left and continue past Superior Ct, then at Supreme Ct, cross Mission to the left, to reach Soto, then cross it, and take the pathway to the continuation of Soto which then becomes Huntington Dr South, and follow it northeast passing mile 16 at Turquoise, then pass Esmeralda, and before you reach the next block at Fern, about 2/3 of the way, there is a long stairway pair leading up and to the right by a street lamp.

Climb past the first intervening street to the second stairway, and go all the way to the top, turning left onto Cato St, than an almost immediate left onto Dudley Drive, then left again onto Dudley Way, then left on Ferntop, and descend all the way down to Huntington South, turning right and continuing one block to Topaz St.  There is a market just ahead if you need it, otherwise, turn left on Topaz, and continue northwest past Huntington Dr North, and Pyrites, and continue to the fork where Topaz splits three ways, taking the Galena St fork to the far left.  Galena is a dead end street for cars, however it is a through street for pedestrians because it has a nice long stairway!

Take the stairs up to Rose Hill Dr and veer slightly left to continue southwest on Rose Hills, and when you reach Raynol St, the name changes from Rose Hills to Esmeralda, and continue on Esmeralda on a bend to the right, then a hard left bend, down the hill to Pyrites, and go right staying on the uphill sidewalk, and pass the Rose Hills continuation and as Pyrites and Turquoise split, there is a side-stair to your right.

Climb the side-stair, and descend back down to Pyrites (don’t yet take the long stairway going up and to the right). Cross Pyrites and go down the short stairway to Tourmaline St, reaching mile 17 of the route.

Now turn around and climb the stairway you just descended, and the side-stair, and the long stairway above, for a combined total of 235 up steps, the longest stairway-set by far on this segment! At the top, continue uphill on dirt Tourmaline to Amethyst St, turn left and pass Turquoise to Telluride St, turn right, and continue downhill where the pavement gives way to dirt, then the road becomes very steep, steeper even than Fargo, but lucky for you, you’re descending! At the bottom turn left onto Eva Terrace, right on Flora, then left again onto the near side of Sierra St. Sierra has 6 stair sets serving an elevated sidewalk.

Feel free to zig-zag up and down them to the elevated sidewalk, as you head south on Sierra. At the south end, Sierra bends left to become Pomona St, and follow Pomona past Lincoln Park Ave to Alta, and cross to the far side, then turn left and go downhill. Follow Alta past Emma, and mile 18 shortly before Alta splits to the right at Altura. Cross to the east side, and continue downhill around the school, where Alta dumps into Thomas, veer left and take Thomas down to Broadway, then turn left and follow Broadway 3 blocks to Hancock St. There are fast food places and a 7-Eleven on this stretch so it can be used for a late rest/replenishment break. Cross and turn right onto Hancock and climb the hill past Altura and Aylesworth, to George St. There is an optional, long dead-end stairway, called the “Altura Walk”, that we may try, see  the green line diversion on the Google map. Here is what the stairway looks like in a 3D Google satellite view (thin red line):

Now back to Hancock. Dead ahead is a stairway through the open gate:

Climb the stairs and turn left at the top onto Terry Pl, and take it to Johnston St, turning right and climbing up the hill past Minnesota, then a rightward bend, then a left bend to reach East Ave 28. Go right on the near side of Ave 28, and climb up to Montecito St, at thew 19 mile mark in the route. Turn left on Montecito, and at the end of the dead end street is the last stairway of the route!

Climb it, and hopefully the fallen-tree that was blocking it in early 2016 has been removed. At the top, turn left and go down Johnston, as it bends to the left to come back to Ave 28, and go right continuing on Ave 28 5 blocks until it ends in a T at Barranca St. Cross Barranca and go left at the T to reach Ave 26, and make a hard right and continue northwest to Humboldt St, and cross Ave 26.  There is no crosswalk, so wait for a gap, or cork traffic as needed. Once across, continue northwest on Ave 26 passing under the rail bridge to the Lincoln/Cypress Metro Gold Line Station.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed Segment J of the LA Loop!

Stairway Data Table

Seg #	SS#	SW#	In-300	Zip	Stairway Name	Up	Down
J01	310		E8	90057	Carondelet St	36	36
J02	311		E7	90026	Council St	101
J03	312		E6	90012	Toluca St	44	44
J04		94	N/A	90012	Vista Hermosa Park	31
J05	313		E5	90012	Temple/Boylston		14
J06	314		E4	90012	Figueroa/1st		42
J07	315		N/A	90012	Fig/3rd Pedway POC	40	40
J08	316		N/A	90012	3rd St PUC of I-110 ramps	26
J09	317		N/A	90071	5th St POC W	56	48
J10	318		N/A	90071	5th St POC E	42	32
J11	319		N/A	90071	Flower St POC S	29	48
J12	320		E3	90071	Hope St (Bunker Hill)	101	101
J13	321		N/A	90071	5th/Grand		12
J14	322		N/A	90071	Angels Flight	121
J15		95	N/A	90071	CA Water Ct E	32
J16		96	N/A	90071	CA Water Ct N		25
J17		97	N/A	90012	Olive/MOCA walkway	50
J18		98	N/A	90012	2nd St/MOCA walkway		42
J19		99	N/A	90012	Disney Concert Hall NE	124
J20		100	N/A	90012	Disney Concert Hall NW Upper		59
J21		101	N/A	90012	Disney Concert Hall NW Lower		41
J22		102	N/A	90012	Music Center		30
J23		103	N/A	90012	NW Grand Park Middle Stairway		56
J24		104	N/A	90012	Middle Grand Park Middle Stairway		41
J25		105	N/A	90012	SE Grand Park NE Stairway		15
J26	323		N/A	90012	LA Mall POC of Temple	37	15
J27	324		E1	90012	Arcadia St	55
J28		106	N/A	90012	Asian Ctr Parking Lot	22
J29	325		N/A	90012	Yale/Hill	152
J30	326		D38	90012	Clara St	17
J31		107	N/A	90012	Chavez/Metro Plaza NE	30
J32		108	N/A	90012	E Union Station N	28
J33		109	N/A	90012	E Union Station S	28
J34	327		N/A	90013	Santa Fe/1st St Bridge N	44
J35	328		N/A	90013	Santa Fe/1st St Bridge S		43
J36	329		D36	90013	4th St Bridge West	53
J37	330		D35	90033	4th St Bridge East		32
J38		110	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #1		17
J39		111	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #2	13	13
J40		112	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #3	75
J41		113	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #4	16
J42		114	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #5		38
J43		115	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #6	16
J44		116	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #7		11
J45		117	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #8	12
J46		118	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #9	47
J47		119	N/A	90033	Hollenbeck Park #10		36
J48	331		N/A	90033	Evergreen POC of I-10	45	37
J49	332		N/A	90063	Fowler St/Whiteside St	10
J50		120	N/A	90033	Norfolk St	72
J51	333		D24	90033	Verde St	29
J52		121	N/A	90033	Chelsea Red Car Stairs	19	19
J53	334		N/A	90033	Magnet School POC of Cornwell	29	30
J54	335		D1	90031	Coral St	96
J55	336		D2	90032	Mallard Dr/Onyx St	123	123
J56	337		D4	90032	Lower Beagle St	77
J57	338		D3	90032	Upper Beagle St	95
J58		122	N/A	90032	Fern Pl	9
J59	339		D8	90032	Galena St	106
J60	340		D6	90032	Pyrites St	22	14
J61	341		D5	90032	Lower Tourmaline	31	31
J62	342		D7	90032	Upper Tourmaline	204
J63	343		N/A	90032	Eva Terrace		17
J64	344		C34	90031	Sierra Sidewalk	25	34
J65	345		C33	90031	Hancock St/Terry Pl	24
J66	346		C32	90031	Montecito St	78
J67		123	N/A	90031	Lincoln Cypress Station	9
					Total Stair Steps —>	2581	1236
					Total Stair-Streets —>	37
					Tot Non Stair-Street Stairs >	30