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Explore Runyan Canyon, a former hillside retreat of Hollywood stars, in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Runyan Canyon, a narrow strip of open space rising into the hills just one mile from the heart of Hollywood, counts among its former residents the actors John McCormick and Errol Flynn. For more than 40 years, this now-quiet site was threatened by proposals to transform it into either a massive resort or a luxury housing development. In 1984, the property was purchased as parkland by the City of Los Angeles. Its popularity has grown ever since among those seeking a little peace from the pressure-cooker pace of life in the city below.

In the 1930s, McCormick built a mansion here and began to landscape the area around it. Despite the later razing of the mansion and the effects of fire, flood, and general neglect, plenty of palms, pines, eucalyptus, and other exotic vegetation still grow on the site. Native chaparral vegetation thrives as well -- dry and unappealing during summer's drought but verdant and aromatic in the springtime.

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Entrance gates for the park at the north ends of both Fuller Avenue and Vista Street are open during daylight hours only. There are at least three hikes you can take up into the canyon, each ending at an overlook.

The first (one mile out and back) goes straight up the old driveway from Fuller Avenue. It curves up the ridge east of the canyon bottom and ends on a flat spot overlooking most of Hollywood and the Wilshire corridor from a point roughly 600 feet higher.

The second (two miles out and back with a gain of 500 feet) follows an old asphalt road up the canyon's west side and circles to the east ridge near the head of the canyon. There you meet a dirt road going south along the ridge to another viewpoint -- this one on the same ridge as the overlook mentioned earlier, but about 200 feet higher.

The third (three miles out and back, with a gain of 700 feet) involves turning north instead of south on the ridge-running road and following it uphill toward Mulholland Drive. Just short of Mulholland Drive, you can take a spur trail on the left that leads to the park's 1325-foot high point.

On Mulholland Drive, there's a small dirt parking area 1.6 miles west of Highway 101 at Cahuenga Pass for those who wish to enter Runyan Canyon Park from its upper end.

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Runyan Canyon, a narrow strip of open space rising into the hills just one mile from the heart of Hollywood, counts among its former residents the actors John McCormick and Errol Flynn. For more than 40 years, this now-quiet site was threatened by proposals to transform it into either a massive resort or a luxury housing development. In 1984, the property was purchased as parkland by the City of Los Angeles. Its popularity has grown ever since among those seeking a little peace from the pressure-cooker pace of life in the city below.

In the 1930s, McCormick built a mansion here and began to landscape the area around it. Despite the later razing of the mansion and the effects of fire, flood, and general neglect, plenty of palms, pines, eucalyptus, and other exotic vegetation still grow on the site. Native chaparral vegetation thrives as well -- dry and unappealing during summer's drought but verdant and aromatic in the springtime.

Sponsored
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Entrance gates for the park at the north ends of both Fuller Avenue and Vista Street are open during daylight hours only. There are at least three hikes you can take up into the canyon, each ending at an overlook.

The first (one mile out and back) goes straight up the old driveway from Fuller Avenue. It curves up the ridge east of the canyon bottom and ends on a flat spot overlooking most of Hollywood and the Wilshire corridor from a point roughly 600 feet higher.

The second (two miles out and back with a gain of 500 feet) follows an old asphalt road up the canyon's west side and circles to the east ridge near the head of the canyon. There you meet a dirt road going south along the ridge to another viewpoint -- this one on the same ridge as the overlook mentioned earlier, but about 200 feet higher.

The third (three miles out and back, with a gain of 700 feet) involves turning north instead of south on the ridge-running road and following it uphill toward Mulholland Drive. Just short of Mulholland Drive, you can take a spur trail on the left that leads to the park's 1325-foot high point.

On Mulholland Drive, there's a small dirt parking area 1.6 miles west of Highway 101 at Cahuenga Pass for those who wish to enter Runyan Canyon Park from its upper end.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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