3 L.a. Hikes That Are Great For Toddlers To Teens (and Kids At Heart)

I excitedly followed my uncle down nan constrictive ungraded way on Wildhorse Creek, a canopy of oaks, maples and different deciduous trees supra us.

“What’s this?” I asked, picking up a instrumentality that looked for illustration it’d gotten into a conflict pinch a wood chipper.

“That’s a beaver stick,” my Uncle Dale told me, explaining that 1 of nan tiny rodents had chewed connected it, astir apt successful nan midst of making a reservoir on nan river.

“Can I support it?” I asked, a small successful awe that I could clasp specified a magical thing.

We were trekking on a way that my uncle had created connected my family’s onshore successful Oklahoma. For years, nan instrumentality was successful my puerility bedroom, a memento from my earliest hiking memory.

Spending clip hiking pinch my uncle helped maine autumn successful emotion pinch nan outdoors, and I dream this week’s version of The Wild, The Times’ play outdoors newsletter, helps you make memorable moments pinch nan kids successful your life too.

I chose 3 hikes for children of each ages, including for america kids astatine heart. The trails are each either easy aliases immoderate level of moderate. They don’t require method skills, but curiosity, sunscreen and a reusable h2o vessel are each encouraged. They each characteristic a operation of autochthonal plants and trees and connection opportunities to spot a scope of wildlife.

I chose trailheads wherever parking isn’t excessively challenging (at least, I dream it isn’t). There are restrooms astatine 2 retired of nan 3 trails. You’ll want to battalion snacks and water, arsenic 2 of nan 3 hikes don’t person h2o refill stations available.

Logistics done, let’s dive into nan hikes!

The Park to Playa Trail offers panoramic views of L.A. County, including views of nan Pacific Ocean and San Gabriel Mountains.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Park to Playa Trail to Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

Distance: 2.6 miles
Elevation gain: 304 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Dogs allowed? Limited (see below)
Accessible alternative: Gwen Moore Lake way astatine Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area

The Park to Playa Trail is simply a 13-mile location trek that starts adjacent Leimert Park and takes hikers each nan measurement to nan Pacific Ocean. It’s besides nosy to break into mini adventures, for illustration nan 1 I outline below.

You tin return Park to Playa from Culver City up to nan Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, a nosy time for adults and kids (and teenagers who bask taking selfies pinch awesome views). If visiting Friday done Sunday, you and your kids tin popular into nan Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Visitor Center, which offers acquisition exhibits, maps and more.

Although Culver City Park allows dogs, canines aren’t allowed connected trails successful Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, truthful you and Fluffy would request to usage roads aliases sidewalks erstwhile you participate authorities parkland.

To statesman your hike, parkland successful aliases adjacent this Culver City Park lot. The batch offers two-hour parking. If you’d for illustration to enactment longer, you tin salary to parkland successful nan 10-hour parking on nan street. Either way, you’ll travel nan Park to Playa Trail signs northeast retired of nan lot.

A wood span way leads hikers to awesome views of L.A.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

You’ll return a well-built wood span way that’s shaded by respective ample oak and different trees. At nan apical of nan bridge, you’ll get astatine a mini picnic area pinch a nationalist creation portion that’s besides an equatorial sundial. You’ll get your first glimpse present astatine nan views you tin expect nan higher you climb.

Head north, either taking nan short stairs aliases ramp, to past hike eastbound past greenish sports fields. You’ll travel nan Park to Playa Trail astir a section earlier entering Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook via a charming metallic archway.

From here, nan ungraded way widens, and you’ll commencement to announcement much autochthonal plants specified arsenic California brittlebush and a assortment of sages (which connection a nosy sensory acquisition erstwhile you region to springiness them a sniff).

The Park to Playa Trail passes done nan Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook area.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Just nether a mile in, you’ll scope your first ample overlook. Look eastbound toward nan Hollywood Hills, and you tin apt spot nan Hollywood motion and Griffith Observatory. I paused present to watch a red-tailed hawk dip and alert supra nan metropolis below.

Follow Park to Playa arsenic it winds around, turning near (east) onto a abstracted way that will return you up to nan main overlook. You’ll soon walk nan celebrated Culver City Stairs, which you could return nan remainder of nan measurement up to nan overlook, aliases travel nan gentler ungraded way earlier you. The way will caput southeast earlier starring you to nan place wherever it’s mandatory to region and return it each in: nan ocean, nan mountains, nan views of why we unrecorded here.

From nan overlook, you tin return nan way southbound to nan visitant center, wherever you’ll besides find flush toilets and h2o fountains. You person nan action to move backmost astir and caput down pinch your unit to wherever you parked — aliases proceed onward connected Park to Playa, which if you consciousness adventurous, you could return to Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.

The Antonovich Trail runs alongside Walnut Creek successful San Dimas.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

2. Antonovich Trail

Distance: 7.8 miles retired and backmost
Elevation gained: 385 feet
Difficulty: On nan easier extremity of moderate
Dogs allowed? Yes
Accessible alternative: The Antonovich Trail, but alternatively of entering nan way disconnected San Dimas Avenue, wherever you must navigate a steep hill, commencement nan way from this parking area; nan way is not paved, but it is mostly level if you caput successful nan westerly guidance from nan parking lot.

The Antonovich Trail is simply a 7.8-mile out-and-back way that follows mildly flowing Walnut Creek, shaded by canopies of seashore unrecorded oak, fig and Southern California black walnut. Besides a steep descent from nan parking lot into nan canyon, nan way is mostly flat.

Unfortunately, there’s nary easy restroom entree on nan trail. If that’s a deal-breaker, past I’d urge nan Placerita Canyon and Waterfall Trail, which I wrote astir here, if you’d for illustration to hike successful a likewise shaded canyon vibes. You’ll parkland adjacent nan Placerita Canyon Nature Center, which I’d highly urge visiting for its acquisition exhibits and animal ambassadors. It has flush toilets and h2o fountains.

As shown connected this map, location are aggregate places to commencement nan Antonovich Trail. If starting it from nan batch disconnected San Dimas Avenue, you will navigate an exposed, steep ungraded way down into nan canyon. As you descend, return successful nan views of nan San Gabriel Mountains.

The way is celebrated pinch equine riders and locals who bask bringing their dogs to frolic successful nan cool creek waters. Keep a keen oculus retired for birds commonly spotted here, including black phoebe, acorn woodpeckers and hawks. Also watch retired for poison oak.

The way splits disconnected into aggregate unofficial trails, truthful support an oculus connected your hiking app aliases representation arsenic you scurry along. The first clip I hiked this trail, I was diverted from nan main way a fewer times, including erstwhile when, to my delight, my detour brought maine to a tyre plaything (which I tested out, flying complete a adjacent sparkling excavation of water).

The way appears to conscionable abruptly end, but it really connects to a larger section way network.

The Devil’s Chair Trail successful Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area leads to an unthinkable place constituent connected a mini boulder.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. The Devil’s Chair Trail

Distance: 7.4 miles
Elevation gain: About 1,500 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Dogs allowed? Yes
Accessible alternative: Prime Desert Woodland Preserve stepping way successful Lancaster

The Devil’s Chair Trail is simply a 7.4-mile out-and-back hike that takes visitors done ancient sandstone formations of each imaginable style and size. It’s a awesome all-day escapade for adults, teenagers and older kids.

About an hour-and-a-half thrust from L.A. adjacent Pearblossom, nan hike starts successful nan Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area, a 1,310-acre L.A. County parkland pinch monolithic sandstone stone formations and a patient godforsaken scenery of juniper and Joshua trees, on pinch autochthonal wildlife, including bighorn sheep.

Upon arriving successful nan ample parking lot, you’ll find vault toilets and a visitant check-in area. The quality halfway is simply a awesome extremity pinch unrecorded snakes, bugs and different crawly creepers inside. The rosy boa and tarantula are among my favorites to view.

The Devil’s Chair Trail was antecedently closed because of large wind damage, but reopened astir 2 weeks ago, acknowledgment to nan diligent activity of region staff.

Its trailhead is successful nan southeast area of nan parking lot. The first mile of this hike is arguably nan hardest portion because you summation 500 feet successful conscionable nether a mile.

After catching your breath, you’ll move near (or east), transverse a seasonal creek and hike for conscionable complete 2½ miles connected a gentle path.

As you hike on nan trail, you’ll apt spot chipmunks and grey squirrels. I often perceive a assortment of birds erstwhile I hike successful nan park, including hawks, ravens, white-crowned sparrows and dark-eyed juncos (which are very cute).

You besides get unthinkable views of nan godforsaken beneath and mountains successful nan distance, including adjacent Table Mountain successful Angeles National Forest and nan Tehachapi Mountains successful Kern County.

To scope nan trail’s namesake, you will locomotion down a constrictive fenced way to a mini boulder, surrounded by a short fence, that overlooks nan vale below. This is nan aforementioned devil’s chair. It’s a awesome spot to return a family selfie, stock snacks and reminisce. And if you’re lucky, you mightiness spot bighorn sheep successful nan vale below.

***

Regardless of really you walk clip successful nan outdoors, pinch your contiguous aliases chosen family, I dream you make awesome memories connected our nationalist lands.

3 things to do

A impermanent astatine Clockshop’s Kite Festival flies a ample octopus kite astatine L.A. State Historic Park.

(Gina Clyne / Gina Clyne Photography)

1. Fly a kite pinch friends successful Chinatown
Clockshop’s Kite Festival, an yearly free celebration, is scheduled from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday astatine L.A. State Historic Park. Visitors tin be free creation and kite-making workshops, compete successful a kite title and creation to section music. This year, The Times collaborated pinch Clockshop to people a newspaper kite design. We will person a booth wherever you tin get a transcript of our newspaper kite creation while supplies last. RSVP and donate astatine clockshop.org.

2. Yank weeds successful Northeast L.A.
The Ascot Hills Green Team and section hiking group We Explore Earth will big a unpaid time from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday astatine Ascot Hills Park. Participants will yank retired castor legume and achromatic mustard, 2 invasive type that move into superior occurrence hazards erstwhile they barren out. Closed-toe shoes, agelong pants and a reusable h2o vessel are recommended. Register astatine eventbrite.com.

3. Restore nan onshore successful Santa Clarita
TreePeople, an L.A. ambiance resilience nonprofit, will co-host a unpaid restoration time pinch CalFire from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday successful San Francisquito Canyon successful Santa Clarita. Volunteers will region invasive weeds and h2o autochthonal plants complete uneven ground. Register astatine treepeople.org.

The must-read

(Photo illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; root photograph / Getty Images)

Cute animal videos are a immense portion of what makes nan online world spell round, including a caller viral video wherever Big Bear’s bald eagle Shadow appears to springiness his celebrated mate Jackie a bully massage. Too bad it was fake. Times unit writer Lila Seidman wrote that deepfake wildlife videos are taking complete societal media, prompting overmuch interest from animal experts. “Far from benign, immoderate experts opportunity nan videos tin skew really group position and moreover interact pinch wildlife — perchance starring to perilous encounters,” Seidman wrote. “They whitethorn besides undermine viewers’ increasing desire to tune into quality to flight nan frenetic rhythms of regular life.”

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Any hiker who has driven into Angeles National Forest has undoubtedly forgotten to bargain a $5 day pass aliases mistakenly near their annual pass astatine home. Good news, forgetful ones! Angeles National Forest installed an automated time walk dispenser astatine the pull-off astatine nan intersection of Angeles Crest Highway and Angeles Forest Highway. The batch antecedently housed nan Clear Creek accusation halfway and sits conscionable westbound of nan entranceway to Switzer Picnic Area. The instrumentality only takes cards. Better to extremity and drawback a walk than consequence a ticket!

For much insider tips connected Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, cheque retired past editions of The Wild. And to position this newsletter successful your browser, click here.

Correction: A erstwhile type of nan April 30 version of The Wild instructed readers to return Griffith Avenue extracurricular nan Audubon Center astatine Debs Park. The street’s sanction is Griffin Avenue.