Ben Strawbridge

Playa Vista is one of the more walkable neighborhoods on the Westside — a tight grid of parks, wetland edges, and open space that’s easy to miss from the freeway but genuinely good on foot. This tour covers about 3.2 miles and works equally well as a morning dog walk or a first look at the neighborhood. If you’re here for the Bluff Creek Trail, the route connects directly to the Lincoln Boulevard trailhead at Stop 4.

The Bluff Creek Trail is a mostly flat, partially paved path that traverses the bluff just below LMU, on the border between Westchester and Playa Vista. It works best as a 4-mile loop — a couple miles on the trail, then a couple miles walking back through Playa Vista past Oberreider park. Accessible from three points: the end of Dunbarton Avenue, across from the Annenberg PetSpace on Bluff Creek Drive, and near the fountain on Lincoln Boulevard. Views include snow-covered mountains on one side, the ocean on the other, and at one spot the Hollywood Sign. The lower trail through the wetlands is closed to foot traffic year-round.

The Wisdom Tree sits on the slope of Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills, just below the ridgeline near Cahuenga Peak — one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles. The climb up into those hills is the highlight of this hike. The Lake Hollywood loop was a bit of a let-down: a fence runs between the trail and the reservoir the entire way, keeping you at arm’s length from the water for the whole circuit.

A four-peak hike in Angeles National Forest — Mount San Gabriel, Mount Disappointment, Mount Lowe, and Mount Markham via the historic Mt Lowe Motorway. Super challenging, with some serious steep sections. One of the more demanding days you can put together in the San Gabriels without leaving the road system entirely.

I did this trail on New Year’s Eve day with Rhys. It’s a moderately difficult out-and-back that ends at a very hot (120°) pool and stream. A great hike to take with a dog in January — but the lack of cover would make it too hot most other times of year. The hot spring at the end is really cool, and to get far into it you need to do some scrambling through hot water, which is not at all good for a dog, so we stopped there.

These are guides I’ve put together for walks I do regularly around West LA. Each one has a map, turn-by-turn stops with what to look for, and the honest answer to where to park. Most work as standalone walks or as extensions of the Bluff Creek Trail loop.

One of the best summit hikes in the San Gabriels — a steady climb through chaparral to a rocky peak with views from the ocean to the desert.