Don't go mountain biking in Griffith Park
Posted Sun, Jan 19, 2003 at 3:47 pm
MTBs aren't allowed on the dirt trails; there are signs all over the place.
Sure, despite hiking a few hundred miles there, I've never once seen a park ranger on one of the trails. But, that's not the point. To the other visitors, it makes MTBers look like scofflaws, and might have an impact when, for instance, opening Griffith Park or another area up to MTBing comes up for discussion.
Bikes are, of course, allowed on the roads. You can get a moderately good uphill workout if you park in the zoo parking lot, continue down Crystal Springs Dr. to Los Feliz, head up Los Feliz to Hillhurst, and bike up to the Observatory. The Observatory and most of its parking lot is now closed, however. You can come back the way you came, or, after coming down from the Observatory, take an uphill left opposite the tunnel and around the barricade. After a couple miles you come to a stop sign (even though the road is closed to traffic). Either continue straight or take a right. If you take a right, you'll come back to Vermont after passing the tennis courts. Or, just start and end at the tennis courts for an abbreviated trip. Something which I've also done a couple times is drive up to the Observatory, chain the bike to the fence, drive back down to either the bird sanctuary or the ranger station on Crystal Springs, hike back up to the Observatory wearing a backpack weighted with water, dump the water, and then bike back down. Talk about fun!
I found out about this from the Highpointer's Club forum. The Highpointers try to reach the highest point in each of the 50 states. I've bagged three so far. But, I also have (I think) about 15 CA counties. Bagging the county highpoints is the domain of another club, the County Highpointers. One of these days, I'm going to try to get me one of the unbagged confluences, which is the integral latitude/longitude meeting points.
For instance, 34N 102W seems to be doable.
Sure, despite hiking a few hundred miles there, I've never once seen a park ranger on one of the trails. But, that's not the point. To the other visitors, it makes MTBers look like scofflaws, and might have an impact when, for instance, opening Griffith Park or another area up to MTBing comes up for discussion.
Bikes are, of course, allowed on the roads. You can get a moderately good uphill workout if you park in the zoo parking lot, continue down Crystal Springs Dr. to Los Feliz, head up Los Feliz to Hillhurst, and bike up to the Observatory. The Observatory and most of its parking lot is now closed, however. You can come back the way you came, or, after coming down from the Observatory, take an uphill left opposite the tunnel and around the barricade. After a couple miles you come to a stop sign (even though the road is closed to traffic). Either continue straight or take a right. If you take a right, you'll come back to Vermont after passing the tennis courts. Or, just start and end at the tennis courts for an abbreviated trip. Something which I've also done a couple times is drive up to the Observatory, chain the bike to the fence, drive back down to either the bird sanctuary or the ranger station on Crystal Springs, hike back up to the Observatory wearing a backpack weighted with water, dump the water, and then bike back down. Talk about fun!
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In other GP news, a MTBer (presumable while hiking) fell off a cliff there and spent four nights in a ravine. I don't know where he fell, but, except for a couple spots, I can't think of too many cliffs, and I doubt if there are any inaccessible ravines. GP isn't exactly the San Gabriels.I found out about this from the Highpointer's Club forum. The Highpointers try to reach the highest point in each of the 50 states. I've bagged three so far. But, I also have (I think) about 15 CA counties. Bagging the county highpoints is the domain of another club, the County Highpointers. One of these days, I'm going to try to get me one of the unbagged confluences, which is the integral latitude/longitude meeting points.
For instance, 34N 102W seems to be doable.