Welcome to the 6th installment of my dog-centric look at the Los Angeles River.
In Part 1, I covered the Western San Fernando Valley - from the Headwaters to the Sepulveda Basin Dog Park.
In Part 2, I took a thorough sniff of the entire Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.
In Part 3, I explored the Eastern San Fernando Valley - from Sepulveda Bl. in Sherman Oaks to Universal City.
In Part 4, I made my way through Burbank and parts of Glendale, completing my exploration of the river's West to East section.
In Part 5, I journeyed along the Glendale Narrows by exploring the East side of the river; from the "Great Bend" to the Riverside-Figueroa bridge.
And now, in Part 6, we'll check out the West side of the Glendale Narrows.
Let's get going!
* Ferraro Fields to Los Feliz Bl. Bridge
In Part 4, we ended our West side journey across the street from the Ferraro Soccer Fields, which are in a small slice of Griffith Park that is separated from the main park by the 5 Freeway. This is a good place to park your car while we continue our journey South because there is easy access to the bike path.
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| Dog Park! Its not the greatest dog park in town, but I'll save that for another blog post. |
Walk through the gate opening and we'll have access to the water right away - a good spot for a quick dip before we get started. After getting our paws wet, head South along the bike path and soon the riverside fence will block us from the water as we walk under the 134 Freeway.
After just over 1/2 mile of walking, the fence opens up again and we can get to the water. The vegetation that is so common in the Glendale Narrows makes its first appearance here and the birds are glad to see it. If you can put the noise of the 5 Freeway out of your mind, it looks and feels like the natural river it was so long ago.
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| Hello Mr. Heron! |
Shortly (just over 1 mile from our start) we'll pass under the Colorado St. Bridge and another 1/3 of a mile takes us past Tunnel #1, which goes under the 5 Freeway and provides access to Griffith Park. This tunnel is mostly used by horses and their people who have crossed the river from Atwater Village on their way to have fun in the park.
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| Griffith Park's Tunnel 1 leads us into the park near the Crystal Springs Picnic Area |
Continue South for another 1/2 mile and the fence once again prevents access to the river as we approach Los Feliz Bl.
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| Time to get back on the bike path...or get our paws wet walking under the bridge. |
* Los Feliz Bl. Bridge to Glendale-Hyperion Bridge
Instead of going under the bridge, we decided to go over it via the Alex Baum Bicycle Bridge, which was built in 2002 to provide safe passage over Los Feliz Bl. and is dedicated to Alex Baum, a major player in the effort to turn L.A. into a bike-friendly city.
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| The 'arch' is supposed to represent the spokes on a bicycle wheel... |
Soon after Los Feliz Bl., the vegetation grows almost to the river bank, limiting our access to the main part of the river. However, there is still water to splash in most days.
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| Looking North toward the Los Feliz Bridge....there's no place quite like L.A. is there? |
Just over 1/3 mile South of Los Feliz Bl., there are two footbridges that provide access to the river. The Sunnynook footbridge goes over the river to the East side and beyond to Atwater Village. The Griffith Park Recreation Center footbridge takes us over the 5 Freeway and into the recreation center, where there is grass to roll in, picnic benches, water fountains, trash cans, and tennis courts.
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| Over the river... |
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| ...or over the freeway. |
Immediately after the footbridges is the Sunnynook River Park. Opened in 2013, its almost 3-1/2 acres of native plants, benches, info signs, and the Luis McAdams Riverwalk, which ends just before the Glendale-Hyperion bridge.
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| The trail is named in honor of Luis McAdams, the co-founder of FoLAR. |
Approximately 0.6 miles South of Los Feliz Bl. brings us to the Glendale-Hyperion bridge.
* Glendale-Hyperion Bridge to Glendale Fwy. Overpass
Walk under the bridge (or stay on the bike path) and you'll pass the Red Car pylons that still stand many years after the Red Cars made their last run. This is perhaps the prettiest section of the river and the speed of the water picks up considerably.
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| Check out my post about the East side of the Glendale Narrows for more about the Red Cars. |
The next 3/4 of a mile is a beautiful walk leading us to the Fletcher Dr. bridge. Pass under the bridge and almost immediately to our right is a small park and a pathway leading up to Fletcher Drive. Take the pathway and check out one of the nicest of the many gates along the river.
The Great Heron Gate is the entrance to Rattlesnake Park, a pocket park with benches and trash cans that was built by Northeast Trees in 1997. The park is named after the nest of rattlesnakes they found during construction. The snakes were relocated and now this park is one of the official points for kayakers to enter the river.
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| Nice gate......so you're sure the rattlesnakes are gone? |
Return to the bike path and walk another 1/4 mile to reach the Glendale Freeway (Rte. 2) overpass.
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| Under the freeway is one of the most popular spots for fishing on the river...that's right, I said fishing. |
* Glendale Fwy. Overpass to Riverside-Figueroa Bridge
The next 2.3 miles is by far the most developed section of the river for recreation. There is a lot to see here and it seems like every couple of months brings us something new to explore.
Just beyond the overpass is the newest addition to the river's fun spots. Phase II of Marsh Park just opened in August 2014 and its sure to be a hit for years to come.
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| Near the riverside entrance to the new Marsh Park Phase II |
There is a big parking lot here with EV charging stations, a building to host events, restrooms, an exercise course, lots of grass, benches, poop bag dispensers and a dog-friendly water fountain.
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| Any park that has one of these is OK in my book... |
Back on the bike path, another 1/4 mile brings us to the original Marsh Park with it's funky playground, benches, grass, a water fountain and poop bag dispenser.
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| Well this isn't something you see everyday at the playground... |
Just past Marsh Park, the vegetation in the river grows right up to the bank, blocking access to the water for almost a mile. However, there are plenty of things to keep us busy along the way.
About 0.6 miles South of the Glendale Freeway is tiny Elysian Valley Gateway Park. This was the first park built along the river back in 1996. It has picnic benches, a poop bag dispenser, trash cans, and a water fountain. There's some grass to roll in too. Not bad for a little park.
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| Its been 18 years since this park opened...a lot has happened since then. |
A two minute walk past Elysian Valley Gateway Park and we're at perhaps the coolest and certainly most unique new feature of the Glendale Narrows...The Frog Spot.
"The Frog Spot serves as both a community gathering space and as a launching pad for excursions into the river..." say the good people at FoLAR, the creators of this wonderful idea.
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| An "oasis" along the banks of the LA River |
On the weekends there are often bands playing, barbecues, and a variety of educational programs for kids and their Pack Leaders......I mean parents.
The next mile or so along the bike path takes you past the occasional bench to take a break at and offers views of the Taylor Train Yard across the river. Soon the vegetation recedes from the bank and the river can be seen again in all its glory.
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| My sentiments exactly. |
At just over two miles South of the Glendale Freeway overpass you'll find Steelhead Park. Here there's a small amphitheater used for educating kids about the river, info signs, a water fountain and a little bit of grass. There are no poop bag dispensers.
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| The Steelhead trout was once very common in the river. |
Go South for another 1/4 mile to arrive at Egret Park and the end of the bike path. The small park has benches, water, trash cans, a porta-potty, poopbag dispenser, and a bunch of info signs.
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| If you like fancy gates, it really is hard to beat the parks of the Glendale Narrows. |
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| You can see this awesome mural while relaxing on the benches of Egret Park. |
The bike path may end here for now, but you can walk South of Egret Park along a dirt path that takes you to the construction site of Riverside-Figueroa bridge. The path ends at the train tracks near the junction of the 5 and 110 Freeways near Avenue 19. When we took these pictures in August 2014 you could see both the new bridge and the old one. Since the old bridge is going to be demolished, you'll have to get there soon to see it.
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| An effort to turn the old bridge into a park recently failed.... |
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| We found some strange things underneath the old bridge... |
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| The end of the trail....and the Glendale Narrows. |
We did it! We've covered the LA River from it's Headwaters to the end of the Glendale Narrows. Next stop is Downtown LA. Be sure to subscribe to my blog or visit my website to join me as I make my way toward Long Beach and the Pacific Ocean.
See you on the river!
Chloe Canine-Angeleno
Much of the information I've shared in this blog came from the following sources:
Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation
LA Mountains
Los Angeles Times
North East Trees
KCET
Down By The Los Angeles River
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.
