#36: Runyon Canyon Hike

Back in the day, my parents used to think that the best family activity was hiking. We lived out in the desert, so we would drive into the mountains for a day of fun activities and hiking. Obviously, this was before the internet. As could be imagined, when I was eight years old I was totally not into it, and was notorious for my constant whining on the trails. But, I have to hand it to my parents, there is now a soft spot in my heart for a good hike.

Living in an urban area, however, there aren't that many hikes close by. Don't get me wrong - drive an hour out of the city and there are amazing hikes all over the place. But there is one special little trail, right in the middle of the city, called Runyon Canyon. It stretches all the way from Mulholland Drive to Franklin Blvd in the heart of Hollywood. I'm sure pretty much every celebrity ever has been photographed hiking on the trail in those "Celebs are just like us!" sections of gossip magazines.

I finally made my way up to Runyon when I had a few days off after Christmas. It was a typical lovely LA December day, sunny in the mid-70's. I would say the hike is easy, but it still definitely raised my heartbeat! I remember having to hike for miles and miles once with my parents, and we even had to scramble up rocks and other hardcore stuff. Runyon is not like that, and in fact is pretty much paved the entire way, but does get pretty steep at times.

A great part about the trail is not only is it dog-friendly, but the majority of the trail is actually a dog park, where you can take your dog off-leash. My boyfriend and I were dog-sitting for the day, so it was a great activity to do with the pups (though, we didn't take them off-leash. Those dogs are totally unpredictable and I didn't want to be responsible for either of them going missing!). Another great part of the hike is that, unlike most hikes -where the view that makes the hike worthwhile is only at the top- Runyon has amazing views the entire way. At every turn you either have a close-up view of the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory, or the downtown skyline.

We hiked the trail backwards, starting at the top at the Mulholland entrance. It was fun starting from the top because we could enjoy all the amazing views at a leisurely pace. Just coming back up was the tough part! Overall it was a great hike, under 2 hours, full of really beautiful people (shirtless men, women in sports bras, etc), lots of cute dogs, and even some celebs (we saw Ron Jeremy... eeww). I really look forward to going again, and maybe I'll even see Ryan Seacrest... Rumor is he runs the trail every day!

Downtown skyline views from the trail

Sign at the top entrance on Mulholland Dr.