Art and nature along the Tujunga Wash in the Valley
The Tujunga Wash Greenway in the San Fernando Valley offers natural wonders and an epic mural.
This walk in the Tujunga Wash Greenway in the Valley is a combination leg stretch, history lesson and art gallery, taking in one of the city's least-known cultural constructions and one of the longest murals in the world.
Start your walk in the Tujunga Wash Greenway in the Valley at this green gate, where the paved path will take you along the concrete wash. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
1. Begin at the northwest corner of Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Oxnard Street, near Grant High School. Through a set of green gates adorned with images of marsh plants and water birds, begin walking on the paved path going north along the concrete wash.
The dry streambed to the left of the channel is dotted with native -- and drought-tolerant -- plants, including cactus. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
2. Walk along the concrete channel that carries flood overflow from Hansen Dam, nine miles to the northeast. Note the profusion of native plants lining the dry, rocky streambed to your left, among them tall sycamores and low-lying cactus and sage.
A pink oleander bush is in bloom along the concrete channel. The channel carries flood overflow from Hansen Dam, nine miles away. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
3. At Victory Boulevard, turn right, cross the wash on the sidewalk and turn right again to begin walking south on the opposite side. Watch for more local flora, such as the palo verde, oleander, lantana and bottle brush, lining the path.
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4. Approaching Oxnard Street, walk through a stone gate and across a lawn to cross the street and continue walking south along the wash under more big sycamore trees.
A portion of the walk features "The Great Wall of Los Angeles," a public art project that is 0.6 miles long. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
5. "The Great Wall of Los Angeles" is a public art project that lasted from 1976 to 1983 (with substantial restoration completed in 2011) and that now fills the eastern-facing wall of the wash with glorious murals. Local artists, creating a history of L.A. in 0.6 mile, created what is called one of the longest murals in the world.
Events such as the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar, shown here, cover the varying history of Los Angeles as painted by local artists for "The Great Wall of Los Angeles." (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
6. The mural highlights Olympic athletes of color, the civil rights and gay rights movements, baby boomers, the "bracero" migrant worker program, the Zoot Suit riots, the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar and Prohibition. Going backward in time, walking south, you see Rosie the Riveter, the pioneers of the motion picture industry, Chinese workers building the railroads, the settlements of the Californios, the expeditions of Gaspar de Portola and Junipero Serra, and Native American Chumash villages.
7. At Burbank Boulevard, turn right onto the sidewalk, cross the wash, and then pick up the trail on the opposite side, and head north. Walk along the edge of Los Angeles Valley College and Grant High until you're back at the starting point.
Fleming is the author of "Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles" and "Secret Stairs East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland."
Follow me on Twitter: @misterfleming
The Stats
Distance: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: 1, on a scale of 1 to 5
Duration: 1 hour
Details: Dogs on a leash are OK. Wheelchair accessible. Free street parking is plentiful. Metro bus lines 154 and 167 stop at Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Oxnard Street.
