Rattlesnake / Condor / Oak Trail

The Rattlesnake/ Condor/ Oak Trail is a 4 mile loop that includes The Skyline Trail. The 525′ elevation gain is mostly at the beginning and puts the difficulty level at a modest 5/10. Views of Burbank and IKEA are what they should be… mediocre.

The Parking – There are about 30 dirt spots at the Rattlesnake trailhead. (34.155417, -118.303556) It can have water filled pot holes long after any rain storm just FYI. This is also the parking area for the Train Museum.  This is the “small train” parking not the “big train” parking. And don’t worry, there is also plenty of street parking along Zoo Drive and another giant dirt lot across the street.

The Best Thing – Well, if you didn’t know about the free compost area in Griffith Park you get to see where that is. I mean, it’s a nice short run but nothing really to tell your friends about.

The Route – From the enormous trailhead sign and map begin uphill with a decent elevation gain and past the 2 water tanks on your left. When you reach the ridgetop turn left and you are now on the Skyline Trail. There will be a spur trail to an overlook to your right. Take it or don’t. We didn’t today but have in the past.

Continuing on the Skyline Trail there will be a slight downhill and you will reach a large intersection. Turn right here. This is the beginning of the Condor Trail. This chunk lasts about ½ mile and spits you out at the end of the Mineral Wells picnic area.

Cross Griffith Park Drive and keep to your right through the dirt parking lot and the trail will head towards to bottom of Toyon (the old city dump) Canyon. Turn right, uphill, before you get to Toyon and the trail will bring you back along Griffith Park Drive.

Here’s where you might see cars filling up with free compost. Make a mental note and continue  on the trail uphill parallel to the road.  The trail peaks and there is a route that peels off to the left (Toyon Trail). Don’t take that, continue forward and downhill. You are now on Oak Canyon Trail.

This parallels the road until the bottom where, if you were a horse, you could continue forward underneath Forest Lawn Drive. Instead, turn right and cross the street as if you were headed to Travel Town. Run past Travel Town in the bike lane along Zoo Drive because you are parked in the dirt lot on the other side of Travel Town. Remember? 4 miles. Boom.