Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Poke around the rustic Franklin Canyon Ranch, an open-space park adjoining Beverly Hills.

Franklin Canyon Ranch, a patch of open space north of Beverly Hills, belongs to a sprawling assemblage of interconnected parklands called the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Without the benefit of administrative protection, much more of Los Angeles's canyon and mountain open spaces in the Santa Monicas would surely have succumbed by now to housing developments for the wealthy.

Franklin Canyon is worth a look around, perhaps before or after touring Beverly Hills itself. Go north on Beverly Drive -- but be careful to fork left on the lesser-traveled north end of Beverly Drive where the main Coldwater Canyon Drive goes straight. After 0.8 mile, bear right on narrow Franklin Canyon Drive. Go 1.2 miles farther along the canyon side to Lake Drive. Turn right and backtrack 0.3 mile south to a small parking area. The Hastain Trail begins there, on the left. (It is also possible to reach Lake Drive and the Hastain Trail by driving south from Mulholland Drive on Franklin Canyon Drive.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

From the parking area, walk the twisting Hastain Trail (a fire road) 0.9 mile along chaparral-covered slopes to a hairpin turn (980 feet elevation) with a panoramic view of the city. Looking over green-mantled Beverly Hills estates and the office towers and condominiums of the Wilshire corridor, you can sometimes see a blue horizon beyond.

From the hairpin turn, the fire road continues climbing toward Coldwater Canyon Drive. You veer right on the narrow switchback trail descending to the green lawn and ranch house below. Somehow this old gentleman's ranch managed to retain its rustic, rural charm before being acquired for parkland about three decades ago.

From the ranch house you can walk back to your car on either of two trails that parallel Lake Drive. The trail on the right passes under a shady canopy of live oak, while the trail on the left meanders among scattered oaks and sycamores down along Franklin Canyon's usually dry stream bed.

For additional hiking in the area, try following the Cross Mountain Trail, which leads one mile north to Mulholland Drive. You can also walk or drive around placid Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir, visit a tiny duck pond adjoining it on the west dubbed "Heavenly Pond," and/or check out the exhibits at the nearby Douglas Nature Center.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1
Next Article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief

Franklin Canyon Ranch, a patch of open space north of Beverly Hills, belongs to a sprawling assemblage of interconnected parklands called the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Without the benefit of administrative protection, much more of Los Angeles's canyon and mountain open spaces in the Santa Monicas would surely have succumbed by now to housing developments for the wealthy.

Franklin Canyon is worth a look around, perhaps before or after touring Beverly Hills itself. Go north on Beverly Drive -- but be careful to fork left on the lesser-traveled north end of Beverly Drive where the main Coldwater Canyon Drive goes straight. After 0.8 mile, bear right on narrow Franklin Canyon Drive. Go 1.2 miles farther along the canyon side to Lake Drive. Turn right and backtrack 0.3 mile south to a small parking area. The Hastain Trail begins there, on the left. (It is also possible to reach Lake Drive and the Hastain Trail by driving south from Mulholland Drive on Franklin Canyon Drive.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

From the parking area, walk the twisting Hastain Trail (a fire road) 0.9 mile along chaparral-covered slopes to a hairpin turn (980 feet elevation) with a panoramic view of the city. Looking over green-mantled Beverly Hills estates and the office towers and condominiums of the Wilshire corridor, you can sometimes see a blue horizon beyond.

From the hairpin turn, the fire road continues climbing toward Coldwater Canyon Drive. You veer right on the narrow switchback trail descending to the green lawn and ranch house below. Somehow this old gentleman's ranch managed to retain its rustic, rural charm before being acquired for parkland about three decades ago.

From the ranch house you can walk back to your car on either of two trails that parallel Lake Drive. The trail on the right passes under a shady canopy of live oak, while the trail on the left meanders among scattered oaks and sycamores down along Franklin Canyon's usually dry stream bed.

For additional hiking in the area, try following the Cross Mountain Trail, which leads one mile north to Mulholland Drive. You can also walk or drive around placid Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir, visit a tiny duck pond adjoining it on the west dubbed "Heavenly Pond," and/or check out the exhibits at the nearby Douglas Nature Center.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents
Next Article

Big swordfish, big marlin, and big money

Trout opener at Santee Lakes
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader