Its time for our next adventure, and this week I'm going to return to a subject that will come up often in this blog: The Los Angeles River!
In Part 1 of my dog-centric look at the river, I started at the Headwaters and finished in the Sepulveda Basin Dog Park. Today I'm going pick up where I left off and follow the river all the way through the vast Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area. This place is full of fun things for dogs and their humans to do, so tell your pack to throw a towel in the car and let's roll!
The Sepulveda Basin is an approximately 2,000 acre flood control basin that was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the floods of 1938. Those floods devastated much of the San Fernando valley and led to the concrete assault on the river that we see today. The dam, which can be seen from the 101 Freeway, was completed in 1941.
Today, besides being used for flood control, its a major recreation area.
The LA River runs through the entire basin and four seasonal creeks end their journey to the river within its boundaries: Encino Creek, Haskell Creek, Woodley Creek, and Bull Creek. You can explore most of the river on foot/paw, on or off trail, and you can see the river from many spots along a well maintained 3.3 mile bike loop.
Beyond the river, there are many 'humans only' places for you guys to have a good time including: the Balboa Sports Center, Hjelte Sports Center, Sepulveda Garden Center, Encino Golf Course, Balboa Golf Course, Woodley Lakes Golf Course, the Leo Magnus Cricket Complex, the Sepulveda Basin Archery Fields, the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve, and the Japanese Gardens...
But enough about what the dog can't do....
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| The Wildlife Reserve is beautiful but its a No Fun (for the dog) Zone |
There are two places to park that access the areas described in this blog: a large parking lot just South of the Balboa Bl. bridge on the West side of Balboa or across the street in Anthony C. Beilenson Park.
I've broken this adventure into 3 sections, each divided by one of the major boulevards that run through the complex:
1. From White Oak to Balboa
From the dog park, the river makes it's way Southeast after it passes under the White Oak Ave. bridge. The bridge has fencing along it and you cannot access the river from this end. The only way to get to this section of the river is to start at the Balboa Bl. bridge and walk upstream.
You'll initially be on a bike bath but, just as the path U-turns, you'll see a small trail.
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| The unofficial trail upstream from Balboa Bl. |
Follow this trail until you reach some baseball fields, then continue on along the top of the concrete wall that slopes down toward the river; the baseball fields will be on your left. For approximately the next third of a mile, the river will be on your right, hidden by impassably thick vegetation and trees. But don't worry, you'll soon pass under the Metro Orange Line bridge where you can access the concrete encased river. This is the first place you can actually get your paws wet if your following the river downstream from its origin at the Headwaters.
Continue upstream toward the next bridge at White Oak where the dog park will be above you to the right. You can't see the dog park but you can hear all the dogs having fun.
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| I can hear dogs having a good time up there. |
Return the way you came to get to the next part of our adventure.
2. From Balboa to Burbank
[Note: This section is currently being considered by the Army Corps of Engineers as a spot where kayakers will be able to explore the river. If you want to know what they decide, follow me on Twitter and I'll let you know as soon as the information is available.]
When you get back to the bike path's U-turn, continue East and you'll soon pass under the Balboa Bl. bridge.
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| Walking beneath Balboa Bl. |
When you get to the other side of Balboa, you quickly find yourself in Anthony C. Beilenson Park. This park has a lot going for it: a very well equipped Universally Accessible Playground, tennis courts, picnic benches, lots of grassy areas to roll in or have a picnic on, and best of all...Lake Balboa.
Lake Balboa is a man-made 27-acre lake filled with reclaimed water from the nearby Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. There's a paved walkway that goes all around the lake and you can fish or rent a paddle boat for a closer look at the water. Unfortunately you cannot go swimming which I wanted to do soooooooo badly.
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| Someone please tell me to "go jump in a lake" - I won't be offended |
To walk along the river from this point you can use a dirt path on the North side or backtrack toward Balboa Bl. and access a much more popular path on the South side. The best thing of course is to take one path on your way out and the other on your return trip. Either way you'll be walking in between two golf courses.
The river bank is thick with vegetation but there are many spots along the way where you can access the water.
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| A quiet spot along the North path |
The North path also goes along side the Apollo XI Model Aircraft Field, where you can watch people fly remote controlled planes and helicopters.
The trails end at Burbank Bl. near its intersection with Woodley Ave.
*Side Trip:
North of the river and East of Woodley are a couple of places to check out that aren't right on the river. Woodley Park has plenty of cool grass to roll in and some picnic benches...
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| Woodley Park has all the basics - grass, trees, water fountains...but no poop bag dispensers. |
...and just South of Woodley Park is an earthen section of the dam that makes for a nice 2 mile round trip walk, as long as you don't mind walking along side the 405 freeway.
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| Park in the tiny lot on Burbank Bl., just West of the 405 freeway to quickly access this part of the dam. |
3. Burbank to Sepulveda
From the end of the path, cross Burbank Bl. and walk down to the river.
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| View from the edge of the Burbank Bl. bridge. |
This is my favorite part of the whole complex. Here the river is wide and shallow as it approaches the Sepulveda Dam and just begs to be splashed in.
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| Watch out ducks! I'm coming through! |
This is the end of our journey. Beyond the dam, the river is mostly inaccessible as it passes the Sherman Oaks Castle Park, where you humans can play a round of mini-golf or take some swings at the batting cages. It then passes underneath the Sepulveda Bl. bridge, where we'll pick up our exploration of the river in another blog.
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| The Sepulveda dam is the end of the line for today. |
The Sepulveda Basin is one of the biggest places to play in all of LA County and is easily accessible from the 405 and 101 freeways. Its so much fun for dog and human alike that you should make it a regular stop on your adventures in LA. Just don't forget a towel for the dog ;)
See you in the river!
Chloe Canine-Angeleno
Resources used to write this blog:
Down By The Los Angeles River by Joe Linton
The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth by Blake Gumprecht
All photographs were taken by my pack leader, Jim Gross
Everything else was discovered by getting my paws dirty and the extensive use of my nose.
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