Stop the presses, Los Angeles without cars? Heading to coffee or cocktails on foot in L.A., as if it's Rome, the world's most walkable city? No, you're not being taken for a ride! Hidden above the Angeleno asphalt -- sometimes even revealing cheeky peeks of the infamously traffic-choked Hollywood and Golden State Freeways -- are around 450 staircases constructed in the 1920s.
Before Beach Boys sang about getting around in T-Birds and James Dean and fast cars mythologized Southern California's shiny
and sleek car culture, streetcars -- not sedans -- took commuters from Pasadena to the Pacific Palisades. Hundreds of stairways were built into the steep faces of hilly neighborhoods for direct access to more than 1,000 miles of public transportation tracks. These shortcuts were, and still are, heart-pumping hikes up or down, the more popular ones today ranging from 101 to 529 steps — but oh, the unexpectedly picturesque views! Take a break on any landing for spectacular sprawls of the Pacific Ocean, dramatic scenes of the Hollywood Hills and Bowl, and a captivating cast of landmarks like Echo Park Lake (from the movie "Chinatown"), the childhood dwelling of Don Draper from "Mad Men," and the house from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video. And inhale a smog-free breath of L.A. life in the slow lane.
These stairways are now more local secret passages rather than a means to an end, with only 6.8% of Angelenos using public transit. The antidote to celebrity hotspots for star-spotting, they've become easygoing hangouts where residents unwind with drinks on informal only-in-Los-Angeles porches. Edgy and trending Echo Park alone has at least 12 sets to scale, winding through entertainment capital lore where silent film studios, W.C. Fields, roommates Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, and blacklisted screenwriters once roosted.
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Secret Staircases Transform L.A. Into An Unexpectedly Picturesque, Walkable City
The more intrepid string together series of stairs for more challenging expeditions, like the Silver Lake neighborhood's 2.5-mile Music Box Loop (705 steps), named for the 1932 Oscar-winning Laurel and Hardy movie filmed there. If you have time for just one, the Beachwood Canyon Stairs form a 2.6-mile (861 steps) romp across Hollywood's legendary landmarks, both breathtaking for its downtown-to-ocean panoramas and for L.A.'s steepest climbs.
Start amid beautifully manicured estates where classic A-listers like Humphrey Bogart and Bela Lugosi once lived, pass through eccentric Angeleno quirks like faux castles, and after 558 sharp rises, pause by musician Moby's mansion along Durand Drive. Behold unfettered views of Griffith Observatory to the east, downtown Los Angeles on the southern horizon, and the iconic Hollywood sign -- an alternate angle from the Lake Hollywood Trail's photo ops, but also some of the best. The Pacific Palisades-Castellamare route circles 3.2 miles (518 steps) over the Pacific Coast Highway and ocean, with voyeuristic sightings of the Romanesque Getty Villa and extravagant coastal villas like the 12,000-square-foot Villa de Leon with four naked nymphs decorating its gate.
For the deepest dive into these elevated explorations, arm yourself with "Secret Stairs L.A." by local flaneur Charles Fleming, who has mapped these fascinating flights since the 2000s. His guides to 42 excursions are packed with food and drink stops, historical tidbits, delightfully detailed observations -- from an eccentric minaret here and a kitschy Prince Valiant mural there -- as only an extreme enthusiast can capture. They also include much-needed warnings for particularly demanding sections of steps. To reach most of Los Angeles' favorite secret staircases, use this secret bus route for the perfect day of car-free sightseeing.
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Read the original article on Islands.
