#1: The six historic stairways of Hollywoodland. We’ll see lots of glam older homes and stunning, contemporary newer ones, with beautiful views of downtown and the Hollywood sign along the way. This will be about two miles and take a little more than an hour, with ~500+ steps up and ~ 400+ steps down. Then we’ll return to our starting point/parking.

#2: We’ll do the stairway loop above, and continue on past our starting point up two of the stairways we walked down previously. We’ll then walk around the entire (flat) Lake Hollywood Reservoir, checking out Mulholland Dam’s cool gargoyles enroute. The remaining portion of the Reservoir path that had been closed due to storm damage since 2005 just re-opened in April.

#3. Finally, we’ll head uphill through the Hollywood Knolls neighborhood past Lake Hollywood Park (and all the visitors capturing the drop-dead sights of the Hollywood sign and reservoir from there), into Griffith Park, past Sunset stables and back down Beachwood Drive to our starting point.

The Beachwood Café is a historic dining spot for anyone hungry afterward, and for those hungry for a deal, Beachwood Drive will have plenty of tag/garage sales flanking the street on your way home.

Finally, check out a few of the posts on filmmaker Hope Anderson’s excellent blog, “Under the Hollywood Sign,” for the latest news on this historic neighborhood (including a link to aNYT story on Moby’s re-do of Wolf’s Lair, one of the houses we’ll walk by).

STATS (for entire route)Level: Advanced Beginner/ModerateGain: 1,000 ft. (?)Distance: ~ 8 milesTime: 3-1/2-to-4 hoursType: Roads, steps, single trail, and fire road, loopDogs: Not permitted (around the reservoir)Water: Not available at trailheadRestrooms: Not available at trailheadParking: Free street parking, but watch carefully for parking signsBring: Hat, sunscreen, tennis shoes or trail runners fine, at least two liters of water, snacks to share, and a camera

DIRECTIONSWe’ll meet at the corner of Belden and Woodshire (Woodshire is one block West of Beachwood). An approximate address for GPS purposes is 2730 Belden Drive, Los Angeles, 90068.

From the 101 South, exit Vine and turn left at the end of the off ramp onto Franklin. Turn Left on Beachwood and proceed about a mile North, passing through the stone gates to Hollywoodland Village. Turn left on Belden and look for parking.

From the 101 North, exit Gower and turn north up Beachwood, follow directions above

From the East, exit the 5 Freeway south at Los Feliz, head right/west at the end of the off ramp and take Los Feliz west until it curves south to Franklin. Turn right/west on Franklin to Beachwood and right/north on Beachwood to Belden.

Note that parking may be limited on weekends, so you may need to park south of the stone gates and walk to our meeting point.

Here’s a map.

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