How to LA

EP #39: Where To Get Outside (And Play, Hike, Be) in LA

Brian De Los Santos  

Oh, what's up LA? Uh, let's [music in] get some fresh air, yeah? This is How to LA. I'm Brian De Los Santos. You may already know this. On our podcast, we love to discover new places and things. And that includes checking out the cute outdoor spaces in LA. We know how some of you love to hike and bike and just hang out in nature. So we asked you to recommend your favorite spots to break away and enjoy being outside. We got a bunch of responses. So today, we're sharing a few ideas. And if you like the stories, do me a favor. Share the episode with your fam or post it on your socials. Every bit of love helps. Okay to start us off, [music out] Wattles Park in Hollywood.

Andy Cowan  

[music in] Hi, my name is Andy Cowan. I am a publicist based in Hollywood. [dogs barking in background] And I'm here today at Wattles Park. I'm here with a friend and we both have our little dogs here. So Wattles Park is, it's just below Runyon Canyon actually. And this was the Wattles Mansion, and I, and I honestly don't know who they were, the Wattles. [laughs] But they had a mansion and they turned it over to the city, and now it's a park, so it has a rolling beautiful green lawn in front of the, the big house. And uh, people just come and gather and hang out. Right now there's a group in front of us with, you know, blankets laid out and they've got Porto's and all kinds of food and, and fun things. And, you know, there's couples and there's people with their dogs running around, and I saw mom with a baby and there's a beautiful view of the city from this big lawn. So anyway, it's just a very, very low key chill spot in Hollywood.

Brian De Los Santos  

That was listener Andy Cowan, sharing one of his favorite outdoor spaces in LA. So to answer Andy's question, here's the story behind the Wattles and their big old house on North Curson Avenue in Hollywood. The mansion was home to Gurdon Wattles, a wealthy businessman from Nebraska. The house was built in 1907, [music out] designed by architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey, who by the way, also designed the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Huntington Library, and the Rose Bowl. It was known for its fancy gardens, including an Italian rose garden. The gardens were open to the public then, and you can still see what remains of them today. The original citrus and avocado groves are [music in] still in tact. And in 1975, a community garden was established at the base of the property that's still in use. Now let's take a walk through Ascot Hills Park in Northeast LA. It's a sprawling area with rolling hills and walking trails and some great views of Downtown LA. [music out]

Maria Patiño Gutierrez[birds cawing] My toddler really likes when we see squirrels. [music in] Hi, my name is Maria Patiño Gutierrez, and I am here at Ascot Hills after work walking with my kid, my husband, my sister-in-law, currently carrying my baby. The sun is like almost going down. [music out] Not quite. [baby sounds] [music in] I've just been noticing a lot of families, a lot of elders, a lot of maybe people that live around the area that just walk up here. Just really nice to see like Señoras y Señores walking up here, people with their dogs. [park ambi] My toddler just stopped to pet a dog. He's just playing with other kids. He's making friends. This is why I like coming to Ascot because, you know just enjoying nature in the middle of Los Angeles. I think especially as Latinos, it's really nice to be able to spend some time outdoors in nature smelling the fresh air. Really nice. [music out] The first time we came to Ascot Hills was about 12 years ago, Christmas Day, I believe. I was still dating my husband, who is now my husband. And he said if I wanted to go on a date. So actually, we ended up here at Ascot [laughs] and we actually have a picture of our first date and you can see the LA skyline in the back. I have a lot of favorite memories coming to Ascot but one of my favorite memories is when I came with my mom. [music in] We came to walk one day. In Mexico we actually do go hiking like we go to the cerros, so I told my mom let's go to the cerro, let's go walk at Ascot. So we came as a family one day, and it was a really nice moment. And since then my mom has passed. She passed due to COVID. So it's a nice memory now that I have of her. [ambi child speaking in Spanish] [Maria to her child: Do you like coming here? Mande. Mande? You want to say something? Say, hi. Say, hi!] [Child: Hi!]

Brian De Los Santos  

That's Maria Patiño Gutierrez sharing about why Ascot Hills Park is so special to her. If you'd like to visit, it's nestled between the 5 and the 10 freeways, east of Lincoln Heights and not too far away from El Sereno. The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is another great open space. It's just off of Jefferson Boulevard [music out] in Culver City. In fact, some people [sounds of footsteps] might just know it as the Culver City Stairs. With its open trails and great view, it's a favorite spot of our next listener.

Harrison Wallander  

Heading in... Auburn Hills. Hi, my name is Harrison Wallander, and I'm with my wife. [wife: Hi, I'm Olivia Aguilar.] And now we're walking in the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Actually where I proposed and you know, it just, it has a special place in my heart. The reason we found this place, I think it was recommended by a friend because they know we like to take walks. Basically it's southwest part of the city looking, you can either look at the ocean or you can look north. And it's almost like a reverse view of the city from what you would see if you were like on the path of Griffith.

Olivia Aguilar  

I think one of the beautiful things about this particular park is not only does it have great views of the city, they preserve it pretty well with wild vegetation, wild flowers. I think that's part of the reason why they don't allow dogs here because they want to make sure they're protecting the wild flora that's here.

Harrison Wallander  

Yeah, I mean, I think we did hikes here a while back. And when I was thinking of places to propose I was like trying to sort out details of like, what would be nice? And also, who would I want there? And I mean, I think I just wanted it to be us. Our friend Emily helped me hire a photographer, our friend Jerry, to hide out, and I sort of gave them clues as to what we would be dressed as so he would know when to come out and start taking photos. The whole week leading up to it, my heart was kind of racing. And I had to sort of lie to my fiance at the time and be like, oh it's just work stress, work stuff. And as we got closer to the spot where we did it, my heart was, I felt like it was literally gonna rip through my clothes. I was so nervous.

Olivia Aguilar  

I'm so glad you proposed to me here. LA just means so much to us. This is where we met. This is where we fell in love. And I feel that this location just really shows the grand scape of Los Angeles, and I can look at one area and be like Downtown- this is where we hung out with our friends who were visiting. And I can look the other side of the ocean. This is where we run our races. LA just means so much and it's such a beautiful big city that we've had very fortunate memories here.

Brian De Los Santos  

That was Harrison Wallander and his wife, Olivia Aguilar. They shared their love of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City. Finally, let's head south [music out] and to the ocean. [beach ambi] We're at a place called Point Vicente. It's right on the edge of a cliff overlooking a rocky beach.

Blaine Watanabe  

It's a really nice day. You get to see Catalina Island. You don't always get to see it that clearly.

Brian De Los Santos  

We're here meeting with a listener.

Blaine Watanabe  

My name is Blaine Watanabe and I'm just a South Bay local. I live in Torrance and I like to come out here to Palos Verdes when I want to either work out, get a hike in, or just relax. Cuz you just kind of grow up coming here, sometimes with family, we used to go to the tide pools. I'm not sure it's legal to [laughs] harvest things anymore, but we, we used to come get like the sea snails and things like that. We would just steam 'em and eat them and you like have to uncoil 'em out. You know, high school we would all come [laughs] here to hang out cuz it's quiet. It's really beautiful at sunset. That's my favorite time to be out here.

Brian De Los Santos  

She has her whole routine down. First she parked her car at Vanderlip Park off of Palos Verdes Drive.

Blaine Watanabe  

Well really this uh, is my parking hack. [laughs]

Brian De Los Santos  

It's a free spot y'all. Just FYI.

Blaine Watanabe  

I usually come and I walk through Tonia the resort because that's really beautifully landscape. You can get any level of food there they have like fine dining and then they have like sort of burgers like Nelson's is there sort of burger place, but that one's kind of out along the water. So it's kind of cool if you could get a spot on their patio, they have like these glass windows, but you're like right on the water. So it's really nice if you could get a seat there. But this trail, it goes all the way through Tanzania, all the way to the lighthouse if you kept walking.

Brian De Los Santos  

The last stop on the walk is the point you sent the lighthouse, which has been there for almost 100 years, and it still runs. If you do the whole loop. It's about five miles. So you might want to wear some good shoes, just not those cracks. If you need to take a break, there's a little museum by the lighthouse, where you can learn more about the history of follows wetlands. And one last pro tip. If you want to see a living whale and not just a skeleton, the best time to visit is December through April, when they migrate from Alaska down to Baja.

Blaine Watanabe  

Sometimes there's so many in a pod so you'll just see them like jumping on top of the water.

Brian De Los Santos  

You don't even need to be a professional you got museum docents to help you out. That's it for today, y'all, but I want to know what is your favorite outdoor spot? Send us your recommendation or any hiking hacks you might have hit us up on Instagram at LAistpics. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Donna Crawford who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a private corporation funded by the American people. All right, see you tomorrow.