Griffith Park: Old Zoo, Bee Rock, & Far Beyond

C. Love
May 22, 2021
3 min read

July 2020

Los Angeles, CA

7.33 Miles

Easy

Wow! What an adventure!

My Intention

A 4.4 mile loop from the Bee Rock Trail --> Vista Del Valla Drive --> Bill Eckert Trail --> Old Zoo Trail.

My Reality

A 7.33 mile loop from Old Zoo Trail --> Bill Eckert Trail --> Vista Del Valle Drive --> Bee Rock --> Vista Point --> Fern Canyon Trail

I am ridiculous!

(The yellow was my intentions. The red was my reality.)

My biggest suggestion if this is your first time taking the trail...USE the map . Griffith park has lot of trails that have many saddles, and if you pick the wrong trail (or refuse to come back the way you came) you could may turn a 2 hour hike into a 4.5 hour hike very easily.

I parked in the parking lot nearest to the carousel and starting walking from Fern Canyon Trailhead. At the trailhead you have a options to take about 5 different trails and along the way there are plenty of signs to inform you where you are going, if you use them.

What happened Love? How did you get on a different route?

I have a habit of making decisions and then being too prideful and/or curious to turn around an go the correct way. As I started walking the way my "heart" led me to go, I saw the old zoo cages and knew I had arrived at the Old Zoo Trail. That was when I realized I was walking the route I wanted to do backwards, this wasn't a problem until I got to Bee Rock Trail.

Bee Rock Point is where a gathering of graffiti ridden boulders over looks the the Glendale area. It is a nice view in person, unfortunately there is a gate all the way around that obstructs the views. After taking in the views from Bee Rock I looked around for the trail. When I found it, the trail looked incredibly steep; to a point I feel I would be prone to injury if I were to try to take the route down. So instead of going back the way we came, I opted to continue walking until I saw a fairly decent trail to come back on - that trail didn't exist until I got to Fern Canyon Trail, miles out the way.

Before I got to Fern Canyon Trail, I walked at least 2 miles on Vista Del Valle Drive and ended up at Vista View Point. This point was beautiful! I could see Silverlake, Downtown LA, Baldwin Hills, and Griffith Observatory clearly. It reminded me of a scene from those SoCal advertisements. From here, you can also see

a couple trails that led to Mt. Hollywood, the south side of the park, and semi-clear way to get bck to the carousel parking lot.

Fern Canyon Trail was a more trafficked trail compared to the others, but the trail was wide enough that everyone was able to get to their destination without issues. I would highly recommend this trail for runners, the gradual descent/ascend is good for training.

Overall the gradual inclines & declines throughout the route made this hike easy, but long.I would recommend the way I took for anyone that want to take an easy 7 mile stroll or run.

I will definitely be back to complete the 4.4 mile trail.

"I didn't get lost. I took another trail without my knowledge."

C. Love