Welcome to LAist City Treks, a series of easy hikes and walks that will help you explore the parts of Los Angeles and SoCal that we rarely get to see — or only see through the car window. Expect to get about 5K steps, and plenty of photos for your social media channels. Keep scrolling, because you'll also find recommendations for grabbing a quick bite to eat once you're finished. This week, we're heading to Old Towne Monrovia, for a trek set against the impressive backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. Those mountains have also contributed to the building materials of many residences, a highlight of this loop through town.

Where are we headed?

Why now?

Bears aside, Monrovia is a model city for humans. It has taken pains to preserve its past but also changed with the times, embracing a streak of whimsy. Its flatness makes it eminently walkable. And sure, it can get hot during summer, but that’s what throwing shade is for (courtesy of its mature trees). It’s also well-served by public transit.

Quickly, what can I expect?

• Route conditions: Flat and paved, with slight inclines
• Difficulty: A relatively easy 2 on a scale of 1 to 5
• Distance: 2.4 miles with the option to add on more if desired
• Dog friendly: Yes
• Parking: Free street parking
• Bathrooms: At businesses along the way (so consider bringing along a few singles to tip in exchange for using the facilities)

Map it!

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Ok, let's stroll Main Street USA...

Start your walk under the “Old Town Monrovia” sign at E. Walnut and S. Myrtle avenues. Monrovia is named after an early founder, William Monroe, and its main drag honors his daughter Myrtle (one of those classic girl names that has yet to come back in vogue).

Lights, Cameras.... Action! This art installation pays homage to Monrovia role in TV and film, whenever the script calls for a quaint, Americana backdrop.

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Stroll four blocks north, lingering among Myrtle’s charming shops, restaurants and street sculptures. At 410 Myrtle Ave. is an “action” movie installation in front of a cinema, commemorating Monrovia’s countless cameos on the silver screen, where the designated All-America City often doubles as a homey American town in such fare as Legally Blonde, Never Been Kissed, and American Pie.

It's not your imagination. There are many bear statues on this walk, all tribute to the late great Samson.

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Across the street is “Painter Samson the Bear,” one of nine themed Samson statues around town that are decked out in different outfits, sometimes representing prominent Monrovians. (Authorities finally put a stop to Samson’s hot-tubbing ways and relocated him to the Orange County Zoo, where he had his very own hot tub, and lived to the ripe old age of 27.) 

Recognize this writer?

Take a seat next to a statue of noted author and humorist Mark Twain, inside Library Park.

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At the northwest corner of Myrtle and W. Lime avenues, enter Library Park. Have a seat next to author and American humorist Mark Twain, whose bronze likeness awaits you on a bench. Ponder why there isn’t a statue of that Pulitzer Prize-winning muckraker Upton Sinclair, who actually lived in Monrovia for 24 years!

If picnics are your thing, Library Park features a century-old Moreton Bay Fig Tree. Under its generous canopy are memorials to war veterans and several picnic benches, affording a great view of a central fountain and the library itself, a mid-Century Modern masterpiece.

A Meso-American icon

Exit Library Park at its northwest corner and head north up S. Primrose Avenue. Turn left on W. Foothill Boulevard, which retraces the original Route 66. Roadside attractions were essential to luring drivers off the Mother Road. A relic of that era still exists in the frenzied façade of the Aztec Hotel, at 311 W. Foothill Blvd.

The eye-catching exterior of the Aztec Hotel, long since closed for business, but still something to see.

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Long closed for renovations, the century-old landmark helped launch the Mayan Revival movement, an architectural style that became popular in the 1920s and ‘30s and whose signature landmark in L.A. is the Mayan Theatre. But wait, isn’t this building named after the Aztecs, and weren’t the Aztecs and Mayans different civilizations? Yeah, but that never stopped civic supporters from engaging in cultural conflation.

Looking out for historic houses

Turn right on N. Magnolia Avenue and stride into a residential district, where many homes are landmarks. The Arts & Crafts house at 141 N. Magnolia is a case study of how rocks — quarried from San Gabriel Mountains riverbeds — were often integrated into the local architecture. Keep an eye out for other houses boasting stone foundations, walls, and chimneys. And while the house at 161 N. Magnolia may not contain stone, it does hold value for Back to the Future fans as the home of Jennifer Parker, Marty McFly’s love interest.

All those rocks? They hail from the San Gabriel Mountains, which provide the backdrop to this stroll. When you're lucky, friendly residents put a boxes offering fruit and produce to those passing by.

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Speaking of which, turn right on Monroe Place to practice the next best thing to a flux capacitor. The Queen Anne-style Victorian at 225 Monroe Place was built in 1884! It housed William and Myrtle and the rest of the Monroe clan. Despite being the oldest building in Monrovia, it wasn’t the first of the town’s 129 designated Historic Landmarks. For that, turn right on N. Primrose Avenue and head to 231 N. Primrose Ave., where river rocks buttress the front porch of a Mediterranean-Craftsman stunner built in 1914.

Turn left and travel two blocks east on Oaks Avenue, returning to N. Myrtle Avenue. Take a right, delighting in one more Queen Anne-style gem from the nineteenth century at 150 N. Myrtle Avenue. (Bonus points: If you haven’t already overdosed on old homes, head one block east to N. Encinitas Avenue and check out more of them in the North Encinitas Historic District.)

Bear witness

After recrossing Foothill, it’s six blocks back to your point of origin. Salute Monrovia’s latest Samson statue at the southeast corner of Myrtle and Foothill as you head back through Old Town. Donning a top hat and bow tie, the “Steve Baker bear” celebrates the town’s late, classy City Historian, who was instrumental in preserving many of the civic treasures you’ve just experienced.

Done! Where to eat?

LAist's Associate Editor for Food and Culture, Gab Chabrán recommends the following three places in the area:

38 Degrees

K-Chicken & Beer

Noodle St.

Where to next?

Any suggestions for great hikes in and around L.A.? Don't keep it to yourself! Let us know, and we might check them out for a future story.