Bonus Trail-ish Things

Here are some other things you might like. Train Town stuff, golf, food options, history of things, ghost stories – it’s a hodgepodge of a cornucopia!

Eating Places

The Trails – This funky little place is on Fern Dell Drive. It is supposed to be open 8:00 am – 5:00 pm except for Tuesdays however during the week, when things are slow, they just aren’t open sometimes. Feels like staffing issues maybe? The menu is heavy on the pastries but they have some sandwich options and some breakfast options. Lots of coffee, tea, and flavored lemonade. It’s got more of a Starbucks menu vibe than a sandwich shop menu.

It’s cute as a bug and if the line isn’t too long and there’s a place to sit shoot, get something after your hike. You deserve it…I’m guessing. I don’t know you. You might suck.

Griffith Park Café – On Crystal Springs Drive at the Train Rides and where the Pony Rides used to be. (RIP Ponies) This is a classic Roach Coach menu. Burgers, fries, burritos, drinks. Okay, Guy Fieri will never come here and do a TV show about it but, it’s got food your kids will love.

Only open on the weekends as of this writing (Oct. 2024) I wouldn’t trust that it’s open the day you are planning any event. It’s run by some City government department so those people don’t get bonuses for being good at their job or anything.

Franklin’s Market and Café at the Roosevelt Golf Course – It’s pretty great! It’s attached to the golf course pro shop off of Vermont Ave. It’s before you get to the Greek Theater. It has plenty of canned beverages as well as chips and snacks in it’s Market section as well as a decent amount of options on the kitchen menu. Open from 7 am to 6 pm. Fun fact… no cash accepted.

Griffith Park Clubhouse – Holy 19^th Hole Batman! This little gem is a pretty fancy little spot! At the Wilson & Harding Golf Course on Griffith Park Drive this spot is open 7:00am to 6:30pm every day. You’re looking at $15 burgers with a regular sit-down restaurant menu. Beer on tap, full bar. The service is slow when it gets just slightly crowded. The TV above the bar plays sports like any bar TV should. Sure, one TV has only golf for some reason but the other one plays real sports.

Toyon Canyon

It’s not much of a canyon anymore because from 1957 to 1985 the city of Los Angeles filled the canyon with garbage. It’d be nice to think that they reached a moment of enlightenment in the 70’s and said, “Hey man, this isn’t cool for the environment man. We gotta find a smarter alternative that is better for Los Angeles and all humans who live here!” and then worked tirelessly to find alternatives. Nope. They only stopped when it was declared full in1985.

So LA covered it up and was going to convert it back to a recreation area with trees planted and big bushes and such. However someone realized that the roots of larger bushes and trees would pierce the protective shell or coating or whatever is keeping down the escaping methane so now it’s just a weird, stepped field forever. And that methane? It is channeled into an electric power station at the top of the hill that burns that methane and powers 4,500 homes a years. Houses powered by garbage! I think we all know which homes in our neighborhood are running on garbage power.

Royce’s Canyon
Royce Neuschatz was a Parks Commissioner from 1978 to 1984. During that time she (That’s right you rotten sexist, Royce is a lady name! And… I didn’t know that until I just now read her obituary online. Spoiler alert. She’s dead) anyway, when Toyon Canyon filled up to the top with garbage, jerks at the city were thinking, “Well, let’s just start filling up the next canyon over.” But Royce wasn’t having any of it. She fought ‘em. She was a fighter. Environmentalist. Preservationist. Activist. Back in those days they just called her a “tree hugger” and she saved this canyon.

So look for this sign as you are riding up Mount Hollywood Drive. Maybe you’re not on a bike but a lot of bikes come up this way. It’s the piped off asphalt road just above the compost area. Go hike down this ¼ mile trail one day, there are a couple of groovy caves and an intermittent creek!

Train Town

Used to be a prisoner of war camp during WW2 for Italians, Germans, and Japanese. That’s a long commute to house prisoners but I think they were mostly Americans that the FBI thought were suspicious collaborators with the enemy so, when in doubt… throw  ‘em in a prison camp.  It was also a Japanese internment camp. I don’t know why you’d capture Japanese in the Pacific or around the country, then bring them to California, mix them in with American Japanese citizens that you’ve decided were all spies.

This place opened for prison camping in 1941 and in 1943 turned into an Army photography center… of course. Griffith Park tried to cover up all that nastiness and just talk about trains whenever people would come by this area however there were too many Japanese survivors. They got tired of that bullshit and said, “Hey, that’s bullshit,” and in 2023 (that’s not one of my poorly researched stats, that’s real – 2023) they finally put up a plaque admitting to their (our) bullshit.

Griffith Observatory

It’s free! I mean the planetarium show costs $10 which you should do if you are touristing. But if you live in town and just curious there are cool solar, sun flare, astronomy exhibits up there that are great for kids and great for curious older humans. I know the $10/hour parking up there is a kick in the sack but if you have anyone in your group that has the slightest difficulty, you gotta do that.

There is a great view of the Hollywood Sign from up here and if you park up here, you might as well hike up to Mount Hollywood. It’s some work, but if it’s a clear day?… LA will look like the gem it is portrayed as in old Hollywood movies or on Hollywood Blvd postcards.

What’s the deal with The Zoo?

It’s a great zoo. It’s $22 bucks. Parking is free. If you live in town, buy the $90 dollar year-long (includes one guest) membership.

What about The Autry Museum?

It’s a pretty small museum. You walk in and the first thing you see are old clay pots. If you want to spend $18 bucks to look at old clay pots, this is the place for you. I’ll meet you afterwards at a food truck out front.

Golf Courses

There are three golf courses in Griffith Park. I haven’t golfed in six years because I’m terrible at it and it made me curse more than usual which is already quite a lot.  But there are a lot of golfers out there so here are the basics.

Roosevelt Golf Course – 9 holes. Par 4. Right off of Vermont Ave before the Greek Theater. $18 during the week and $26 on the weekends. There are lower rates for Seniors, Juniors, and Twilight golfing. Open 5:30 am to 8:00 pm.  Reserve online at golf.lacity.org

Wilson & Harding Golf Courses – both 18 holes and both start at the same clubhouse on Griffith Park Drive near Toyon Canyon. $35 on weekdays and $54 on weekends. Again, there are sliding rates for Seniors, Juniors, & Twilight golfing. Wilson is slightly longer so it might cost and extra buck or two but some say that Harding is more challenging.  Open 6:00 AM to 8:30 pm. Reserve online at golf.lacity.org

Wilson Harding Driving Range – Yeah, it’s right there at the same spot. Open from 7:00 am to 9:30 pm. Small bucket is $7 and large is $15.