Near Downtown, Far From the Crowds, It’s Elysian Park

Elysian Park, close to downtown Los Angeles, is a 575-acre retreat from urban Angst. Its hilly acreage is an undeveloped remnant of the original 17,172-acre Spanish land grant from which Pueblo de Los Angeles grew.

Although it’s near the central city, the park is usually uncrowded. It has a remote feeling--possibly because access is a bit confusing. Elysian Park appears to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You can see the park while motoring along Interstate 5 and Interstate 110, and you pass through it on the way to Dodger Stadium; to commuters and Dodger fans, it’s a familiar sight. But when you explore the park on foot, it somehow seems as if it’s in the middle of nowhere.

More than 10 miles of hiking trails and dirt fire roads lead through some surprisingly wild terrain. Although the park has been cut by many roads, it’s possible to follow trails that will immerse you in greenery and leave the roar of traffic far behind.

Portola Trail takes you through shady glens, over grass carpets and past rare palms. You can picnic under imported rubber trees or native oaks and enjoy the views of the Big Basin offered by the park’s promontories.

The trail and the historical marker at the trail head honor explorer Don Gaspar de Portola who, with Father Juan Crespi, led the first overland expedition to California.

On Aug. 2, 1769, Capt. Portola’s party camped on the banks of the Los Angeles River near what would soon become Pueblo de Los Angeles. Three months later, Portola overshot his intended destination of Monterey and made a great discovery--San Francisco Bay.

Directions to trail head: From downtown Los Angeles, head north on North Broadway through Chinatown. Turn left on Park Row Drive and park alongside the road. The trail begins at the historical landmark commemorating Portola’s campsite.

The urban mountaineer might consider taking the bus to the trail head. Service along North Broadway is pretty good.

The hike: Head uphill on wide Portola Trail, which soon crosses Park Row Drive. You’ll pass among oak and eucalyptus trees, top a grassy knoll, then descend to Park Row Drive, which you will join and follow over a bridge that spans Interstate 110.

Beyond the freeway bridge is a junction with a dirt fire road on your right. The next mile of travel is through the most tranquil part of the park. The trail winds through a zany mixture of trees that you would find only in Southern California--eucalyptus, walnut, oak, pine and palm.

Your path crosses East Park Drive and continues on a narrow hillside path. Periodically, you will emerge from the greenery and look down at the metropolis in miniature: freight yards, Glendale, Interstate 5. Beware of a small amount of poison oak that crowds the trail in a couple of places.

As the trail descends toward Stadium Way, the cacophony of urban life is gradually overwhelmed by bird music. Mockingbirds, jays, red-tailed hawks, bush tits, Audubon’s warblers, red-shafted flickers, house finches and many more birds have been spotted in Elysian Park. The great wealth of trees here attracts many birds. In 1940, the California Audubon Society dedicated Elysian Park as a bird sanctuary.

Portola Trail reaches a junction with Elysian Park Drive and Stadium Way. On the west side of Stadium Way is a wide grassy area for picnicking. Within easy walking distance are other park attractions: Palm Hill, the fountain and stream of Grace S. Simons Lodge, the Arboretum and Elysian Fields.

Those wishing to extend their walk will pick up a bridle trail from the grassy knoll of Palm Hill and climb south for views of Dodger Stadium and the Los Angeles skyline.

Return the same way.

Portola Trail

5-mile round-trip tour of Elysian Park