On my last day in Los Angeles I took a walking tour of the LA River and Elysian Valley. The area covered is roughly between Silver Lake and the river.
When most people think of the LA River today — if they think about it at all — they tend to think of a dry concrete half-pipe used as a location for filming movies and music videos. While this is true, it’s not the whole truth.
In the early days of Los Angeles the river provided a source of water for drinking and growing food. However, it wasn’t particularly great for either purpose as the water was inconsistent at best; sometimes it would slow to a trickle, and every so often it would flood the entire area. The land being mostly flat meant that these floods could wash away entire neighborhoods as the river changed course.
As LA began to grow in the early 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers tamed the river with the concrete trench it’s known for today.
This tour starts at a part of the river that notably isn’t dry, and having been partly reclaimed by nature now serves as a recreation area for the neighborhood with parks and a bike path running alongside it. Much of this is only possible thanks to a large-scale volunteer effort to remove the garbage that had piled up in the river over the years.
As the tour winds through Elysian Valley (also known as Frogtown) many of the streets turn into steep staircases. These “secret” stairs have homes along them that aren’t accessible by any other means. One imagines that working as a USPS postal carrier in the area would negate any need to own a StairMaster.
On the subject of deliveries, one of these staircases is where the classic Laurel & Hardy comedy short “The Music Box” (embedded above) was filmed.
The stair portion of the tour includes dirt trails, brick paths, and passes some homes with unusual homemade decor. One home had a large Easter Island head outside that gave it a whimsical theme park quality. Say what you will about LA, it has character.
My recommendation: With all the stairs this tour requires some stamina. I will admit that booking this tour on a day with 90 degree weather wasn’t the best idea, though then again it did feel good to work off all those tacos. If you’re not up for a leg day and are only interested in the river, this probably isn’t the right fit. Otherwise lace up your walking shoes, put on some sunscreen, and grab yourself a bottle of water.
