Driving Tour of Los Angeles Canyons

Nearby Destinations

Los Angeles State Historic Park

Nearby Guides

Content
provided by

Viewed 4700 times

(2 votes)

Difficulty: Easy
Length: 8.7 miles / 14.0 km
Duration: Half day

Download to Phone

View Large Map

View Photos

Overview: In the 1960s, Laurel Canyon was simply "the canyon." It was where kids climbed steep streets on bikes and built forts in the eucalyptus-scented hills. A few locals were becoming known as artists--Ed Kienholz and Carole King--as the canyon was undergoing a burst of creativity that would someday be likened to San Francisco's Haight in the 1960s or, with some exaggeration, Paris in the 1920s.

A place of great natural beauty, central in Los Angeles though also hidden and highly quirky, the canyon attracted such now-legendary rockers as Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall ("Blues from Laurel Canyon"), Mama Cass, Graham Nash ("Our House") and Joni Mitchell, who lived, loved, partied, composed and sang their hearts out in cottages and bungalows in the snaky streets off Kirkwood and Lookout.

That era may have ended when canyon ladies like Mitchell came "wrapped in songs and gypsy shawls" and found true love with shaggy, starry-eyed guitarists, but the canyon retains a special unbuttoned magic.

This tour is limited to the terrain between Mulholland Drive to the north and Sunset Boulevard to the south. These roads set the parameters of the canyons, which are, geologically speaking, former streambeds that cut through the Santa Monica Mountains, the camel's hump that divides the city from the valley. Though this tour covers about 30 miles, the tiny streets and hidden, shady folds make the canyons feel far more vast and intricate.

This tour references Travel + Leisure's article titled "Roadtrip through Los Angeles' Canyons" by Michael Frank.

Points of Interest

map

Laurel Canyon Country Store

The Country Store is a neighborhood institution and a purveyor of surprisingly good wines and delicious custom-made deli sandwiches. Resolutely ungentrified by Tommy Bina, who has owned the place since 1982, the red-brick building still packs a flower-power punch in its psychedelic murals, bougainvillea-splashed patio and palimpsest of a bulletin board.

The store is a great place to pick up provisions for your drive around the canyon and hikes/walks through the upcoming park and gardens.
---
2108 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Los Angeles
323-654-8091

map

Pace

Stop by Pace to have a look back in time or fuel up (as an alternative to the picnic from the Country Store).

Pace, as in "peace" (or "Peace, man!"), is a restaurant in the space that during the 1960s housed Café Galleria, which hosted open-mike nights for canyon habitués. In a room hung with black-and-white photos of the musicians, dine on the establishment's most popular dish, cedar-planked salmon.
---
2100 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Los Angeles
323-654-8583
www.peaceinthecanyon.com

map

Franklin Canyon Park

One of the most unusual secret parks in a major city: 605 acres of bucolic National Park Service land with a centerpiece of two bodies of water that ducks, turtles, and bullfrogs now call home. Hike along trails lined with California oaks, sticky monkey flowers, poppies and sage.
---
2600 Franklin Canyon Dr.
Beverly Hills
310-858-7272
www.lamountains.com

map

Virginia Robinson Gardens

This six-acre former estate of the heirs to the J.W. Robinson department store empire that has been open to the public (by appointment) since 1982 feels like Tuscany. The 1911 Mediterranean-style house, the blooming terraced gardens, the palm grove, the bubbling fountains, the terra-cotta statues--it's Gilded Age glory intact and immaculately tended at the edge of Beverly Hills.
---
1008 Elden Way
Beverly Hills
310-276-5367
www.robinsongardens.org

map

The Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows

This is the world-famous, 225-room Dorchester Collection pink palace, a hot spot since 1912, with two new bungalows (one opened February 2011, the other March 2011.)

Room to book: Superior guestrooms have balconies and city views.

Insider tip: Don't miss a drink (or a meal) at the iconic Polo Lounge, a favorite of the entertainment industry. A great spot to wrap up your afternoon and relax.
---
9641 Sunset Blvd.
Beverly Hills
310-276-2251
www.beverlyhillshotel.com