Views of the Westside from Franklin Canyon's Hastain Trail

Tucked at the southern end of Franklin Canyon Park on a dead-end road is Franklin Ranch, home to decently sized open grassy field, a small bench area for outdoor classes and a few trails, including the lasso-shaped trail known as the Hastain Trail.

It's a good alternative to the somewhat busy Wilacre Park in Studio City and much busier Runyon Canyon in Hollywood. You won't ever be alone on the trail, located near the edge of Beverly Hills, but bumping into other hikers is a little more rare than these other spots.

To get there, enter Franklin Canyon from either end of the park (Beverly Hills or the Valley) and head south at Lake Drive. Two trailheads and parking areas are available on the left side.

Most hikers tend to treat Hastain as a there-and-back instead of a full loop or lasso-shape, either because of confusion on maps (there are 3 versions, one online and two available at the park visitor center) or because a complete loop includes a short walk on Lake Drive (with the optional streetside Discovery Trail). We recommend doing the full loop (1.72 miles*) plus the there-and-back extension from the apex of the hill, which will add nearly a mile more of hiking for a total of 2.7 miles. Most hikers tend to park at the northern trailhead and hike to the top and back, which is about 2.8 miles.

From the lowest to highest point, the elevation gain is about 800 feet.

The Franklin Ranch portion of the park is owned by the National Park Service, but maintained by the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority. All of the park is within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

*The official park estimate is 2.3 miles. When marking the trail on gmap-pedometer.com, it came out to 1.72 miles.