bridge, elegantly curved like something from a Japanese garden. Use this to cross Temple Street. On the other side, walk under some feeble trees and return to Main Street, turning left at the sidewalk. (Down below you, incidentally, is the Los Angeles Mall, a subterranean street of shops and restaurants that, though open during the week, go dark during most of the weekend.)
At First Street, turn right and cross Main Street, then bear right into City Hall Park, the grounds surrounding the seat of the Los Angeles government. City Hall is iconic, and it’s phallic, and it’s still a fine building. At the time of its construction in 1928, it rose to 452 feet—the first high rise in Southern California and, until 1964, the tallest building in the city. (The Union Bank Plaza on Figueroa, which stands 516 feet tall, stole that crown when it was completed.)
Enjoy the grounds and the views from the park to the stark new Los Angeles Police Department headquarters across First Street and the stately old Los Angeles Times building—although the newspaper no longer occupies the building—across Spring Street. When you get to Spring, bear right, walking slightly uphill. At the pedestrian crossing, cross Spring and enter Grand Park.
This is Los Angeles’s newest big urban green space. It stretches from the front of City Hall, across the equivalent of four long city blocks, and up to the plaza that is home to the Music Center, Ahmanson Theatre, and Mark Taper Forum. Enjoy its wide lawns, secluded shady areas, hot pink seats and benches—all of them free-roaming and untethered, so you can arrange them as you like—and water features. (There’s also a Starbucks, located near the top of the park.)
You’ll cross Broadway and Hill Street as you go (and Olive Street, or what used to be Olive Street, marked now only by a line of olive trees). Finally you will climb several sets of stairs (there are ramps for those who can’t climb stairs) to Grand Avenue. Cross this, and go up a final flight of stairs into the arts plaza.
To the right are the Ahmanson Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum. In the middle of the plaza you’ll find a fountain and, usually, some food and beverage carts.
After you’ve enjoyed all of this, turn toward the Ahmanson and walk all the way to the northern end of the arts plaza. Find a staircase dropping down to the corner of Grand and Temple, kitty-corner from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Cross both streets to get to the cathedral.
One of Los Angeles’s first churches was the cathedral known as Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles. The one standing in front you now is the newer American version. Designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo and featuring elements (like the bronze doors) from local sculptor Robert Graham, the cathedral was opened with great civic fanfare in 2002, after an expenditure of almost $200 million in construction costs. Among those interred here are Gregory Peck and the remains of Saint Vibiana.
Descending on Temple, go past the cathedral and turn left onto Hill Street. Walk two blocks, again crossing the Santa Ana Freeway. Just beyond this, to your left, is an unusual historic monument. This is what’s left of Fort Moore, where in 1846 a small band of U.S. Marines held off an assault by the local Mexicans and Californios, who for some reason resented being ruled by a foreign occupying force. The Marines were expelled, but returned in force. Los Angeles was taken some months later, and has been under U.S. control ever since. The fort was later rebuilt by a platoon of Mormons. All of this strange history is recounted artfully on the remaining walls.
Across Hill Street from this monument, back at the corner of Hill and Arcadia, find the staircase that drops down from Hill Street to Broadway. Then follow the sidewalk to descend another block. Cross Spring Street to the south side of the street, then turn left and walk a half block along Spring.
At a break in the long line of fencing, find the little staircase on your right, and descend to a walkway that runs between the original cathedral of Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles on your left and the museum known as Plaza de Culturas y Artes on your right—free to the public, and containing some great examples of early California art.
Follow that walkway to Main Street, cross Main, and once more enter the main plaza at the head of Olvera Street. Crossing this, take note from this angle of the area’s other church, a 1925 Methodist Church, which has a fine, tiled cupola dome. You will also probably see a forlorn donkey attached to a cart, whose job is to sit underneath or stand next to tourists who want their pictures taken.
Cross the plaza, heading generally toward Union Station and its clock tower. On the left, you’ll note a mural depicting the annual Blessing of the Animals (this ceremony does take place here every year on the Saturday before Easter). Also nearby are a statue of Spain’s King Carlos III and a huge equestrian statue of Antonio Aguilar, a popular Mexican actor and singer who was one of the first Mexicans to get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Drop down a few stairs to Alameda Street. Cross Alameda to the front of Union Station, and you will find yourself back at your starting point.
WALK #2
L.A. RIVER WALK SOUTH
DISTANCE: 2.2 miles
DIFFICULTY: 1
DURATION: 1 hour
DETAILS: Dogs on leash allowed. Wheelchair accessible. Metro buses #96 and #603.
This stretch of the Los Angeles River bank may one day be a fine, green waterside park. For now, it’s a good place to stretch your legs, get some fresh air, and see some unusual bird life.
Begin your walk at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Fletcher Drive, perhaps at Rick’s Burgers or trendy Salazar just up the road. Head east on Fletcher and pass under the Golden State Freeway (I-5), on the north side of the street. When you get to Crystal Street, turn left and walk to the end of the road—where you’ll find the entrance to the Los Angeles River Bike Path, sometimes referred to as the Los Angeles River Greenway Trail. Turn in to the left and begin walking north, with the river on your right.
This section of the river is a prime example of what’s happening all along its length: the concrete water sluice, built to control rainwater inundation after Los Angeles saw deadly floods in the early part of the twentieth century, has now begun to take on the features of a natural river.
The flat, clean bike path, which is lighted for evening walks and rides, parallels a green belt largely free of debris and trash. Willow trees have taken root. Rushes and reeds have flourished, as has the bird population. An early morning walk offers views of stilts, herons, egrets, and a variety of ducks.
Walk upstream on the path (being mindful of the bicycles who claim the right of way). As the roar of the freeway softens, look straight ahead for a view of the Griffith Park hills. Far off to the right, you may get a glimpse of the buildings of Forest Lawn’s Glendale property, too.
As you approach a complicated series of overpasses, watch for the new pedestrian bridge on your right. This runs along the tracks of the old Red Car line that crossed the river here. Opened in early 2020, it’s only for bikes and pedestrians. Enjoy and cross to the opposite bank.
This is Red Car River Park, whose murals tell some of the story of Los Angeles’s once-great public transportation system. (A fuller story, though fictional, was told in the book Who Killed Roger Rabbit? and the film based on it, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.)
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