Los Angeles
California
A basin of neighbourhoods between the San Gabriel Mountains and the Pacific, joined by freeways and a growing Metro, where the film and television business has used almost every street, canyon and beach as a set. The free ground runs from clifftop parks and piers to hillside trails, plazas and the sidewalks outside its theatres.
10 challenges · 49 stops
STARTERBluff, Pier and Sand at Sundown
≈ 1,900 steps0.9 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Start on the clifftop park above the ocean, walk down onto the pier where Route 66 ends, and finish on the sand where the first outdoor gym stood. About two hours on foot, best in the hour before sunset.
STARTERHollywood Boulevard Forecourts
≈ 2,500 steps1.1 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.Walk the Walk of Fame east along Hollywood Boulevard from the handprints in the Chinese Theatre forecourt to the Egyptian's courtyard, then up Vine Street to the round tower of Capitol Records. About two hours, easiest in the morning before the crowds.
STANDARDBoardwalk, Bowls and Canals
≈ 3,500 steps1.6 mi · about 3.5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Venice from the sign over Windward Avenue to the concrete bowls on the sand, then inland to the footbridges of the old canals and back out along the fishing pier. About half a day on foot, best in the late afternoon.
STANDARDCaves, a Dam and the Dome
≈ 7,000 steps + 3.0 mi by car3.2 mi on foot · about 4.5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Four stops in the hills of Griffith Park: the Hollywood Sign seen across a reservoir, a quarry cave used in countless westerns, the observatory lawn, and the summit above it. Half a day with short drives between trailheads and one climb of about an hour.
STANDARDFrom the Old Pueblo to Angels Flight
≈ 3,000 steps1.4 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.Downtown on foot, oldest to newest: the plaza where the city began, City Hall's tower, the fountain in Grand Park, the steel curves of Disney Hall, and the little orange railway on Bunker Hill. About four hours with time to look around.
STANDARDGateway, Roses and Towers
14 mi by carabout 5 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.South Los Angeles in four stops: the bronze Olympic gateway at the Coliseum, the sunken rose garden next door, the fountain at the heart of Leimert Park Village, and the hand-built towers of Watts. Half a day by car or Metro.
ADVANCEDHarbor Lights and a Bell
≈ 3,000 steps + 19 mi by car1.5 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.A full day by car around the Palos Verdes cliffs and the port: a lighthouse on the bluff, the Korean bell, Point Fermin, the old bathhouse on the beach, a battleship at its berth, and a small lighthouse across the water from the Queen Mary.
ADVANCEDMalibu Coast and the Old Fox Ranch
≈ 6,000 steps + 32 mi by car2.8 mi on foot · a full day · + the walk in to 1 stopAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.A full day by car along Pacific Coast Highway and into the canyon behind it: the pier, the Point Dume headland, the sea stacks of El Matador, then the lake, rock pool and M*A*S*H site of the old studio ranch. Malibu Creek State Park charges a day-use parking fee.
ADVANCEDTar Pits to the Sunset Strip
≈ 4,500 steps + 5.3 mi by car2.1 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.A full day across the west side: the lamp posts and tar pits of Museum Row, the rock club on Sunset, a mansion garden in the hills, and the sign and fountain of Beverly Hills. Needs a car or rideshares between clusters.
ADVANCEDThe Location Scout's Loop
≈ 8,000 steps + 60 mi by car3.7 mi on foot · 1 day or more · + the walk in to 2 stopsAdvanced II · 8 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.Two days by car across the county, standing where the cameras have stood: desert rocks north of the city, a lone tree on a ridge beside the Hollywood Sign, the grand station downtown, and the rock, bridge, stadium and city hall of the Pasadena side.
Counted between stops; you'll walk more at each one.
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