Page 85 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

VENICE BEACH AND SKATE PARK, right; Rodeo Drive under a shining sun, Beverly Hills, California, opposite.
The Great Outdoors
Despite its car culture rap, LA County offers lots of outdoor activities. Rent a bike along the Santa Monica Pier and ride down the path that parallels the ocean, through Venice and on to Marina del Rey before doubling back. Pack a picnic lunch and hike Echo Mountain in Altadena or the Arroyo Seco trail system in the San Gabriel Mountains. Sign up for rock-climbing instruction, or take a surfing or stand-up paddle boarding lesson from one of the many surfing centers in Santa Monica.
Explore the county’s varied beaches, from the famous to the little known, but bring a sweater if you go early or plan to stay late. In the summer, moist marine air is pulled inland and forms a misty cover until it burns off by the afternoon, and tempera- tures drop with the sunset. Start in Malibu and show your stuff at the legendary
Surfrider Beach at Malibu Lagoon State Beach. Explore tide pools and caves at Leo Carrillo State Park. Malibu’s Point Dume State Beach is featured in movies such as the Iron Man series (2008-2013) and it also appeared in the final scene of the original Planet of the Apes (1968), however, it is cur- rently closed due to storm damage. Look for California gray whales during their migra- tions from December to mid April. Next, wind your way down through Topanga Beach and stop over for a volleyball game at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades. Then hop over to Venice and the Strand on Manhattan Beach to people-watch.
Family Fun
Check out fossils of saber-toothed cats and mammoths that roamed the LA Basin during the Ice Age at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. If the kids are tired of trying to spot stars on Hollywood Boulevard, take them to Griffith Observatory. Featured in many movies including Rebel Without a Cause (1955), the observatory is set on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, with a view of the Hollywood sign and greater LA below. View exhibits and events on Tuesday through Sunday at the Samuel Oschin Planetarium and Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon Theater, and attend free public star parties monthly at the Observatory from 2 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Budding astronomers and their families are encouraged to try out different telescopes and talk to amateur astronomers about the sun, moon and planets.
Visit the California Science Center that houses the Endeavour, which traveled 123 million miles, the final ship to be built in NASA’s Space Shuttle program. View space capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo-Soyuz missions. Special exhibits include “Mission 26: The Big Endeavour,” which features photographs highlighting some of the spectacular scenes witnessed during space shuttle Endeavour’s flight over California and the 12-mile, 68-hour journey to its new home at the science center. Enjoy the many touch-friendly exhibits such as the Space Shuttle Endeavour Simulator Ride which takes passengers on a mission to fix the Hubble Telescope—Endeavour's actual first mission.
DRIVE TOUR
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
offers spectacular views of the
HOLLYWOOD BOWL,
the LA BASIN and
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY.
It’s about 24 miles from the
405 freeway to Highway 101 with overlooks all along the way. Or, drive in a loop from HOLLYWOOD. Starting at the DOLBY THEATRE, home of the Academy Awards, go west on HOLLYWOOD BLVD. in Los Angeles till it ends. Turn right on LAUREL CANYON BLVD. and at the top, turn left on Mulholland Drive. Stop at the NANCY HOOVER POHL OVERLOOK and enjoy a great view of the “Valley.” Return to Mulholland Drive, going eastbound, past Laurel Canyon Road until you see the HOLLYWOOD BOWL OVERLOOK on your right. Park and walk up to see the panoramic views of downtown LA, the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Bowl Amphitheater. Continue east until you reach the bottom of Mulholland Drive. Turn right on Woodrow Wilson and make an immediate right onto CAHUENGA BLVD., heading south back to Hollywood.
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