Franklin Canyon Park

I don’t think I’ve ever given a park /​nature spot /​hiking trail any less than 5 stars, but Franklin Canyon Park sucked.
First of all, parking was hard to find. We got lost and asked a hiker for where the parking lot was, which was a tad bit hidden right by this one-​way road. Then we got out of the car and ready to to enjoy the scenery, except there wasn’t much of a scenery. This park isn’t well kept. We tried to walk around the water, but there wasn’t a path. The grass is overgrown.
You’re better off going someplace else.

5 stars for nature! Thanks God! And thank you for Thenneighborhood too. You’re pretty awesome.

Came here because Runyon is closed for the next few months. And honestly this place is great, can’t believe I haven’t been here before… I live about five minutes away. Parking is very easy, and there is a lake where you can catch a group of ducks and turtles hanging around. A lot of benches as well so you can chill and its not crowded at all… Throughout the hike there were a lot of lizards running around and you might see a snake or two. This place makes you feel like you’re outside of LA. This isn’t a place you would want to go alone though, gets pretty lonely and has a lot of creatures around… There was a warning sign for mountain lions. Overall a good spot to come for a quick hike.

Lovely hiking spot hidden in the hills with lots of things to do. So many trails and nice shady areas that allot for cooler and longer hikes. People here are very friendly and the drive up to the park is fantastic. I would definitely go on a weekday after 11:30 as there don’t seem to be many people, or early before the sun rises as the temperature gets hotter. Great choices of parking in many spots and for free, and lots of directories with maps of the many different trails. Just remember, bees are important and don’t want to hurt you so don’t be afraid to walk through those flowers, the views of the scenery are well worth it.

Great place for a great workout!

Have always loved this little oasis in the middle of Los Angeles.
Great short hikes, dog friendly (pick up your poop dog parents!) and some great opportunities to spot everything from the ducks and turtles at the small pond, to various Hawks and slithery creatures.
Two bits of advice if you go in the near future and throughout summer.
1. Come to a FULL stop at all stop signs. If you don’t, expect to get ticketed (this is year-​round advice).
2. Watch out for snakes. We’ve had rain and rain means more rodents and more rodents mean more hunters of said rodents. This includes snakes.
Here’s the picture I took of a Southern Pacific Rattler this past Sunday. Luckily I saw him before my dog did. On the narrower trails it means the snake gets right of way (at least in my world), we said «have a nice day», turned around and took another route. Just keep your eyes and ears open and enjoy some fresh air and beautiful scenery.

I have been hiking in Franklin Canyon about 3 times a week for the past year. Its far and away a better place for an afternoon workout than Runyon. However, SNAKES! This spring I have spotted rattle snakes on nearly ever official path and on the hidden self made trails.

Franklin Canyon is a rustic hideaway in between Beverly Hills and the Valley.
What I like about it is that it has several different hikes and walks so I always feel like I’m an explorer here; there is always a new trail to find. As for hiking the only real hike is the Hastain trail which is about 2 miles with some decent elevation and great views at the top. The rest of the trails are level walks or very short hikes.
Everything on Unilocal said about parking tickets is true, it’s a bitch. I’ve always been careful but I’ve been here enough that lo and behold one day I wasn’t paying attention and did a California stop. I think the problem is not so much the ticket but the outrageous price for rolling a stop sign. As long as you drive like you are 16 taking your driver’s test for the first time you will be fine. In fact the one good thing about the tickets is that it controls the number of people coming here which I think is the reason it was installed in the first place. Even on the weekend it is not too busy which makes it more enjoyable.
Many parts of Twin Peaks were filmed here! I re-​watched the series in anticipation for the new Twin Peaks and recognized a few places and also saw more on this website:
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This is a good place to come to be totally out of the city with nature while in fact being geographically right in the middle of the city.

This was a good hike, but if you don’t know where u are going you can get lost… The big lake is not easy to find if you’ve never been… So follow the maps and ask where it is… My friend and I hiked around for about 2 hours and we parked far since we didn’t know there are parking spaces at the park much closer and for free too… So, good to know for next time. We were sore for days and I’m an avid hiker. Good workout and beautiful, peaceful lake.

The Beverly Hills Runyon Canyon, but better than Runyon, it has this beautiful lake where there are tables to sit around and you can breath the fresh air and enjoy the view. Then there is the hiking area and a little recreational/​museum hidden, but not so hard to miss if you are walking around.
This is not only for hiking, this place is so green and beautiful/​clean that you can just come here and enjoy the walk, the view and clear your mind for a moment.
A lot people here with dogs, ohh and there are ducks and turtles on the lake swimming. Can’t say enough good things about this location.

Dear Franklin Canyon,
I would totally rate you 4.5 but there is no such thing. SO with that said I will tell you why I cant rate you a perfect 5.
The trails just need a tid bit more signage! Im not asking for a huge bulletin board but little signs would be major help. On the plus side? This park is NOT as crazy packed as other hiking popular trails in Los Angeles. Another Unilocaler perfectly described this location as more intimate, less crowded, and absolute solitary grounds.
The hiking is not so bad, not so heavy, not so crazy as other ones I’ve experienced. The beauty of Franklin is of course the lake view! Ive only attempted one trail via South East overlooking the lake but I have read about the other spectacular views the other trails lead you off to.
If you have the time and youre around the valley, youd be surprised to find this almost secretive location. Even if you arent into walking/​hiking? Park where the lake is and just enjoy the ducks, water, and benches to sit on. You get the «I wish I had a sandwich to munch on or picnic basket» mode on.

Not entirely sure if this is still considered fryman or wilacre?
It’s directly behind what’s rumored to be George clooneys home at the end of the wilacre hike path.
It goes all the way up to mulholl drive where you can see the entire valley. It’s gorgeous. It has a stair case path which is a killer leg workout.
It also goes directly through the rainforest. Super nice and peaceful. Bring water though because it’s a long one.

This is my go to place whenever I want a peaceful hike, it’s always very low key without so much foot traffic unlike all the other trails in LA where you are brushing past someone every 2 mins. Only older local home owners usually hike this trail, mostly with their dogs. The Hastain trail is the best for true hikers, the trails are wide and amazingly lush with green. There are about 3 bases: a lower, middle and top. Go to the top, you won’t regret the view, it’s the best all around. You can see the ocean too which is crazy cool! The start of the trail has free poop bags so please take one and pick up after your pooch, I saw soooo many droppings on my hike it was absurd. Bring lots of water especially on a sunny day, it gets really warm up there!

I have been coming to this park for over 25 years I love it the air is so clean and my kids love running around one thing I don’t like that you can’t do barbecue

This place has all I need, good hiking trail, a lake, and tables to have some food.
It’s perfect

Stop sign scammers! The MRCA places stop signs in unreasonable places so that you need to position your car past their line to see the intersection. Even if you stop completely, they slap you with a $ 100 fine if you pass their unreasonably placed line. Ridiculous scam. They’re making upwards of 700k PROFIT on these unenforceable traffic tickets. They can only fine you and threaten your credit if you do not pay. Too bad. I would have loved to bring my kids more often. This was the first time I had ever been and had planned on going back and possibly having a birthday party there. No Way now!

This was such a nice hike to do today! We got lost, but this was a cute little adventure.

It’s not a real hike, instead a very pleasant walk. The trail is all shaded with lush vegetation. The duck pond is a true gem. You will see all sorts of ducks. It’s a place your entire family will enjoy, especially if you have little kids. Roads are narrow but manageable.

Quiet and serene… this place is perfect for a nice stroll and chatting with your walking companions. We meandered around the lake, going further down to feed the ducks and then we found a bench, so of course we had to stop and enjoy the view.
There’s a few picnic tables so I’d imagine this is a good spot for the warmer months. Once it got chilly, we hightailed it out of there. But not before snapping some gorgeous pics of the lake and fall leaves. Who knew LA had seasons?

If you walk around the lake it’s the closest thing to walking in a rainforest! Beautiful trails. We saw about 50 turtles in one section of the lake. A mini paradise. Watch for rattlesnakes though!

Beautiful canyon but don’t try to take pictures here without getting a permit. I had called the franklin canyon office and was told I could take pictures for my little sister’s high school project without a permit as long as they weren’t for commercial use. Then, the day of our shoot, we were told by an extremely rude park ranger to not only stop taking pictures, but to leave the park. (Because we were using a professional camera and we brought a reflector). Really put a damper on our day.

I was here a few days ago for the first time and I loved it! However, I just found out that you will receive a ticket for not doing proper Stop Sign etiquette. In other words, you must stop behind the white line, wait 5 seconds, and then move. If you fail to do this, you will be fined $ 100 each time. After reading this, I am now full of disgrace of this action and place. I stopped properly and made sure I did the right thing. Let’s just hope the camera thought I did it properly.
Besides that negative issue, this place was great. It was a tough tight drive to get into this place, but once there, you will be amazed. I parked near the Create from the Black Lagoon filming lagoon. It was a very adventurousness, easy hike, and cool moment to walk around the lagoon. From here, there is a small duck pond. I found out that place was used in a lot Hollywood productions and shows over the years.
After this hike, I hiked up the Lake Overlook trail to get a cool shot of the lake. It was a little tedious with the incline, but not impossible. It was worth the short hike up. From here, I walked down to a more woodsy trail in the area. Very cool place.
Overall I loved this place and had a wonderful time here. Great place to connect with nature, enjoy scenes from Classic Hollywood films, and a peaceful area. Only downfall is the stop sign cameras. Just be very very careful to stop before the white line and wait 5 seconds before moving. I understand the safety, but having something this strict in a deserted area is just stupid in my opinion!

I never knew there was hiking spot in Beverly Hills. Although it’s not as popular or challenging as other LA hikes, it’s still a good spot to skip the gym routine and be outdoors. There are varying landscapes including a pond, lush green areas with poison oak and bamboo, and dry dirt paths like other LA hikes. So you may spot ducks, turtles and lizards.
Parking was easy since there is a lot, and it was free. Since the trail wasn’t that long, we repeated some parts and had enough time to make it to brunch on Sunday. I like that it wasn’t crowded so I’ll be back.

Very easy hike. I did about 3 trails all were pretty short too. The lake had a lot of ducks and some of the trails have cool man made stairs. I went early in the morning and there were lots of people there with their dogs. We also passed by a pretty clean restroom in the Sooky Goldman nature center which was pretty convenient.
Watch out for ticks! Saw a couple of them so be careful! All in all it was a beautiful hike! Lots of trees and the lake was nice. There’s parking available just getting there is a bit scary the road winds down its very small with no railing so just drive safe! Happy hikings!

tl;dr: Super beautiful, not at all strenuous.
I have mixed views on Franklin Canyon. I came here with 3 friends for a recent weekend hike and while I was very pleased with the views/​ambiance (very lush even in our drought which was nice to look at and very cooling so it felt like we had really left LA, which is always a goal of mine for nature outings) and lack of crowds (I think we encountered maybe 7 or 8 people the entire time we were there), I still don’t think I’d recommend this as a «hike» unless you were traveling with small children or hadn’t worked out in a year+.
We parked at the front gate lot (parking note: the lot had lots of spaces, wasn’t even close to full, and then there are lots of other parking areas throughout the grounds) and immediately spotted a sign with a map, nature tips, etc. The map wasn’t super easy to read as trails weren’t delineated from roads, but we decided we had plenty of time and just set off in a general direction. Taking a smaller trail off the main path, we gained a fair amount of elevation at one point, but found that the small path we were on didn’t loop back to anywhere, and we were on an A-​to-​B route where the ‘B’ was the fence against someone’s property. All fine and good, but signage would be nice.
Moving along, we stayed to the main path and looped in and out of some tree-​filled areas, around the small reservoir in the middle of the property, and off and on the main road. There are lots of little coves and small paths to explore that would be especially good for kids. We, even as adults, also enjoyed the wigwam near the nature center and took a fair number of silly pictures in trees, etc.
In total we spent around an hour, hour and a half roaming the grounds, never really breaking a sweat (and if we did it was just because it was sunny).

Great if you enjoy getting a traffic violation ticket in the mail of $ 100 or more. Funny we were told this by someone there who complained about their ticket and guess what, a month later it happened to us too. Pity its beautiful but i guess its just a police trap.

this place is beautiful! and the drive to get there is even more beautiful.
easy hikes, which is perfect for dogs. scenic for hikers.
the only thing is, if you go at sunset, the gates do close. you’ll have to exit from the south gate, which takes a few seconds to open up when you hit the line.
if you’re coming from the north entrance, keep right all the way to exit south all the way to beverly dr.

I find it pretty amusing that most of the low ratings for Franklin Canyon comes from individuals who received tickets from running stop signs. I have been here many times, and never once got a ticket. Probably because I actually stop at the stop signs? If you run a stop sign in a park, you are an A-​hole and you deserve a ticket. Period.
The park itself is actually quite nice, in a law-​laying canyon right between Studio City and Beverly Hills. Comparing it to Runyon Canyon is impossible because Franklin Canyon has far less people-​traffic, a bit more desolate, more interesting trails, and a LOT more wildlife and free, easy parking.
Runyon Canyon is nothing but pure chaos. Tons of people, and parking can be an absolute nightmare. Many times I skipped hiking at Runyon due to no close-​by parking. Runyon is a nightmare.
Franklin Canyon has Myers Lake/​Upper Franklin Reservoir, a small pond, and a trail that goes around both that is a quite nice walk for bird watchers. Wildlife is everywhere, and very easy to spot. All you have to do is wait. There’s many trails that deviate off of Franklin Canyon Drive that I haven’t yet explored, but they look fun.
Even the drive down around the reservoir, and down Lake Drive is very peaceful and nice. Of course this park isn’t anywhere close to «in the middle of nowhere» or anything like hiking a trail in a BLM wilderness area, but for what it is — it is a really nice thing to have and an easy getaway.
My last trip there I sat and watched three coyotes walk past me, so be careful walking your little ankle biters.

Love coming here! So beautiful and it can be as challenging or chill as you want it to be. Has a lot of different trails for different moods and stamina’s. And what I love the most is the shade… lots of trees, lots of shade. When you’re burning up, it feels good.
I would definitely recommend this place to everyone who needs a little nature in their lives =)

Who knew all this nature was here right in LA, right above my digs in Hollywood? Definitely not me, I thought Runyon Canyon was really getting me out into the wilderness, but here we came this afternoon when we just got a new car and wanted to take it for a drive and thought we’d test it on Mulholland and wound up here.
I kept saying commenting on how I couldn’t believe all this ‘outback’ and ‘wilderness’ was right here in our backyard and saying things like «I wonder what kind of woodland creatures are out here, bears?». My husband hates me, his answer was something like, «this is not wilderness, and we are like 5 minutes from Sunset.» Whatever, it really doesn’t feel like you are in LA or even California; it felt like I was in the woods somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Except of course for that building over there and, maybe not those park benches, but you get the point. There are a few lakes and there were a bunch of ducks and some turtles. We took the dogs, but note you have to keep them on the leash, which is good since people are idiots and usually the people who allow their dogs to be off a leash are the very dogs who shouldn’t be left off leash.
There’s obviously parking. We walked up a small hill from the parking lot and wanted to see the lakes but were lost and some random little boy sweeping up brush off the floor by the building at the top of the hill, was so cute and kind and offered to walk us to the water. I’m surprised nobody in the building, like an adult didn’t stop him and be like, hey kid, don’t think you should lead off two adult strangers into the woods, but, hey who needs to be safe in today’s World, right?
It’s not exactly my cup of tea, I like nature and I always want to be outdoors, but I much prefer Runyon’s West trail or the beach, this was a bit too woodsy for me.
Yes I do realize how that sounds.

One of the most beautiful places to got a great hike. As we all know their is a lot of places to go hiking. If you are looking for views and great scenery you have to give this place a try. For all the hiker lovers I would also recommend Runyon Canyon in Studio City.
Franklin Canyon is similar to West Toluca Lake trails. The location is minutes away from Studio City and 101 Freeway from Coldwater Canyon. If you are slower hiker or an avid hiker you will enjoy Franklin Canyon.
Hands down one of the best kept secrets in the Los Angeles area.

Franklin Canyon is a peaceful hidden oasis located in Beverly Hills. It’s 605 acres tucked away in the geographic center of the City of LA.
Since the 1930s the park has been used as a popular film and television backdrop. Remember the lake in the opening credits of the «The Andy Griffith show»? The list of well known movies and TV shows that were filmed at this location is impressive. It’s said that 25 films are shot here annually. It has also been the background for Rolling Stones and Simon and Garfunkel album covers.
It’s a great park to bring the kids. There is a 3 acre lake and a pond that’s filled with ducks, turtles and koi fish. There is also a nature center and an outdoor amphitheater.
As previous Unilocalers have already mentioned, be careful stop at the stop sign located at the entrance. The cost of the citation is $ 175.
There is also 5 miles of hiking trails. Save this place for when you want to take your kids to see some nature or when you’re looking for a serene and causal place to stroll with a friend.