Beachwood Canyon

Unfortunately my boyfriend and my experience wasnt the greatest… it was pouring rain.
But google the «hidden stairs of LA» and it will take you on a full circle tour of the stairs and old Hollywoodland.

This is a beautiful neighborhood with a very old infrastructure. Being a resident of this fragile neighborhood is wonderful. I’m happy to share this with respectful visitors. Parking is an issue so take an über or the shuttle from downtown Hollywood if you don’t want to get a ticket. Keep in mind there are no restrooms. And please don’t litter, we have had a lot of trash left behind lately. We want to keep it nice for everyone! Thanks!!!

Saw these sets of stairs on Unilocal and we drove here to get some exercise and check it out.
Multi-​tasks: see the city view and the Hollywood Sign while getting your work out: P
There’s about six set of stoned staircases.
The first set of stairs starts in the street of Beachwood Drive (left side of the neighborhood)
Actual address is 2800 N. Beachwood Drive.
However, there are other starting points and you can even start from the Belden Drive to Woodshire Drive depending where you want to park.
I would suggest checking out these websites:
Overall, great work-​out with non-​stop views!

Definitely one of my favorite things that I’ve ever done in LA!
Do yourself a favor and google «Beachwood Canyon secret stairs» and download the PDF to your phone before you go. It’s a perfect step-​by-​step on how to find each staircase and has interesting historical tidbits about the neighborhood and certain houses. I am legitimately a terrible «hiker» and the thought of 800+ stairs going uphill was extremely terrifying. But luckily, some of these stairs go down and the trek takes you on a perfect loop around this absolutely gorgeous neighborhood.
Give yourself some time to take in the views of the Hollywood sign, the reservoir, and even the awesome houses. Parking was easy to find near the café and it was free! How often do you get easy and free parking anywhere in LA? Go now!!!

A great urban hike. Followed these directions (
) which were near perfect for navigating. Went after work on a Monday and more or less had the stairs and neighborhood to ourselves. No problems with parking near the gate (by the café), and the walk from the gate to where the hike starts and ends is pretty short. The option to extend the hike around the reservoir is great; it’s a good mix of paved elevation change with rocky/​sand jogging trails. Highly recommended!

I feel that many of the photos on Unilocal and some of the reviews are a mix between the Beachwood Canyon staircase hike and the other trail hikes (like Hollyridge trail and the Hollywood Reservoir). It all kind of blends in, but note that Beachwood Canyon is less of a hike and more of a neighborhood scavenger hunt. And it’s the BEST one out there!
I recommend checking out the post on xplorela. There are precise directions for locating each staircase (there are six) and I found it a little too hard to navigate with only the map. You will be twisted around and up and down the canyon, going from the west side of Beachwood Dr to the east side. You will see beautiful houses (some are extremely rare treats!) and you will notice that you are the only one walking around. It’s very quiet and quite peaceful. I ran into a handful of people and most were all friendly locals.
I didn’t have much trouble finding parking along Beachwood, but warn that many of the streets past Beachwood Market are permit only. I was lucky to find a spot in front of the market.
As long as you’re only doing the staircases, I would say it’s an easy-​moderate hike. It’s mostly paved so you don’t have to wear much hiking gear. Probably wise to have water, but you’re mostly in shade so the temp is nice. It is about 800 steps in total but maybe half of those were uphill (if using the xplorela directions). The hike takes maybe an hour in total. I got sidetracked on the reservoir hike, so it was a bit longer for me! Such a fun adventure!

So because my friend and I are pretty directionally-​challenged we never actually found the Beachwood Canyon stairs, but we did get a great little hike. We essentially started at the entrance of Beachwood Canyon neighborhood/​Hollywoodland which is ADORABLE, and just followed the neighborhood streets up, up, and up!
This neighborhood really must be one of LA’s best-​kept secrets because I hadn’t even heard of it until I found these Unilocal reviews. The little village is really precious with an impromptu library, a café, and beautiful castle-​like houses.
If you just keep walking uphill (we veered right pretty much the whole way until we took a left into the part of the neighborhood where you can’t park) you will eventually come across an incredible view of the Hollywood sign — perfect opportunity for pictures, and not overrun with tourists. Eventually the trail leads to one of the Runyon Canyon trails, so if you want to extend your hike across the hills you could.
Be ready for your legs and booty to burn — lots of uphill!

I really enjoyed this walk.
There are 6 flights of stairs total. Start at Beachwood & N 2800 on the west side & zig zag through the neighborhood.
Some awesome views of the Hollywood sign. Pretty landscape & homes.
Narrow streets but minimal traffic.
Fun workout, great workout for the quads & glutes!

My husband and I recently discovered the Beachwood Canyon’s «Secret Stairs». We love to hike, so during our most recent visit to LA, we decided to try a different hiking place (since we usually hit up Griffith Park). We found Beachwood Canyon nearby, and decided to try the whole «Secret Stairs» hiking itinerary.
For about an hour, we hiked up and down the neighborhood within the Hollywood Hills /​Los Feliz. This neighborhood is also known as Hollywood Land, where many tourists would drive by in those shuttle buses /​vans, and see where some of our celebrities live, and catch a glimpse of the Hollywood Sign up close. :)
Sure enough, we were able to see great views of the Hollywood Sign, catch some views of Lake Hollywood Reservoir, and much more!
We climbed over 800+ stairs, got know this historic site (the stairs themselves), and hike with our dog too! :) Your calves will get a huge work out.
You can park in the neighborhood (but only in certain areas). Most of the streets require visitor parking permits, so keep your eye out for the signs. There is strict parking enforcement, as we saw someone get towed as we were leaving Beachwood Canyon! :)
Have fun~
For more of my fun photos, see here:

Awesome place to get a good work out. Those are some killer stairs. They’re great. I get a really good cardio and my legs a great work out. I really like this place. I, most definitely, would go back any time… any thing that helps me keep in shape and good health, to me is the best!

I love to explore places where I’ve never been before. Originally, I planned to go to Runyon Canyon State Park with my sis and his bf, but they got stuck in traffic, so we didn’t make it. Anyway, we discovered Beachwood Canyon as an alternative hiking place on Unilocal.Got some nice shots @ this beautiful neighborhood, the slightly hidden Beachwood stairs, and especially the HOLLYWOOD sign. No need to drive far. This is a nice place to be. Worth it!

Great workout. Its not crowded at all, if you take the map that’s on here it’s accurate to where the stairs are located.
If recommend this to anyone looking to climb stairs and walk a distance.
I completed all stairs and I must say my legs were a bit shaky by the end.

Beautiful hike! Very peaceful since it seem to not be super crowded as compared to Runyon. You can get really close to the Hollywood sign for some selfies :). Sometimes you can catch a couple people horseback riding which is pretty cool. The view of the city is priceless.

This place is great. Not exactly a place though… an adventure. I would suggest googling some kind of map before going. We found 2 flights of stairs then a dirt hiking trail by the water. We went on a Sunday morning around 9 and there was no one there. On the way back there were a few people. There are lots of stairs so you will be getting a workout. We saw a coyote and a lot of big homes. This place was fun, we will be going back with a map.

Amazing! There are SOOOOO many stairs going up and down up and down! It’s awesome to be able to experience Hollywood back in the day. Seeing signs that say «Hollywoodland» just makes it that much more real! There are amazing views of the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory! You can even see views of the Hollywood Reservoir! Did you know there was one? I didn’t until I went on this! You can even walk around the reservoir while looking at the Hollywood sign! Beautiful and definitely worth it! Along the way there are amazing houses you wish you could afford including some that look like castles!

SECRET STAIRS!!! now you know!
a charming, secret hike up and down through hollywoodland via several sets of shady staircases with some windy interludes along the canyon where you can take a gander at some cool casas!
the mister and i took advantage of the unseasonably cool july day to engage in some urban exploration with our doglet here, and we were completely pleased with our unexpected venture.
according to the information i had (see link below), the hike is a level 4 in terms of difficulty, but we didn’t find it very challenging (though ascending the stairs just put a bit of a burn on). the information also stated that the hike is 2.6 miles and will take an hour. like i said, it didn’t feel very challenging, and we were sure it was less than an hour, but lo and behold, when we checked out clock upon returning to our car, an hour had indeed elapsed.

–8-​year old Allen: «Let’s play on the stairs! Okay, let’s use this cardboard to slide down!!»
–15-​year old Allen: «Why the f*ck do places gotta have stairs?! Make it one story gah-​damnit. Ugh.»
–24-​year old Allen: «Uh, yeah, let’s take the elevator. I don’t do stairs unless they’re moving.»
–30-​year old Allen: «Secret stairs? YES. Let’s go. It’ll be fun, healthy, and a great way to explore!»
It’s funny how things come around full circle, eh? I imagine the circle will go back around the other way and by the age of 50, I will start gradually hating stairs again. But for now, WOOOO STAIRS!
This entry really needs to be called the «Beachwood Canyon Stairs»… Unilocal. It seems to be geared more towards the stairs than any hiking trails in the area. With that said, thanks Unilocal,for helping me find these secret stairs!
Such a fun «urban hike»! You don’t get all dusty or sunburned (lots of shade), but you do get a pretty decent workout. Plus you get to explore the historical Hollywoodland homes and CASTLES, with some great views of the Hollywood sign, the Observatory, and Downtown L.A. One thing I did notice with all these Hollywood Hills homes: These people have some pretty BALLER front doors. That must be the thing up there. Coz I was totally judging people based on their doors. And mailboxes.
I will tell you this, DO NOT TRY TO WING THIS THING. Take it from experience, it doesn’t work. And your confused pacing around these neighborhoods will make you look like a tweeker in search of your next meth fix. The stairs are not continuous nor easy to find. All the stairs are broken up in random places and you have to trek to each set of stairs. Some are beautiful old, stone stairs, and some are newer, whatever stairs. Google the term «Beachwood Canyon Secret Stairs» and the first entry is this amazing PDF document that explains EXACTLY where to go, STEP-​BY-​STEP, and even gives some historical info. An invaluable resource! You might want to print it out or save it to your phone, coz signal is super-​shoddy up in that area. I could’t even get signal at Beachwood Café during brunch before the hike. GET IT TOGETHER AT&T.
Some highlights I’ll tell you about: Bougainvilleas EVERYWHERE. Beautiful homes that you kind of wanna break into and take over, except the ones that look like they’re balancing on two little poles, in which EFF THAT. A dirt, fire access road right next to Moby’s «Wolf’s Lair» home that sports an amazing view of Lake Hollywood and that also leads to hiking trails for an extended hike. Gorgeous stone. And 861 steps of GLORY.
And if you follow that PDF document I referenced, your urban hike will lead you all the way back down to where you came from. No need to take Über back, coz you know, we don’t walk in L.A.

Great stair workout where you get to lookie –loo at the rich houses in the Hollywood Hills. Check out the route– google Secret Stairs Beachwood Canyon. 2.6 miles. Some of the staircases are almost hidden– they are beautiful old staircases. Great views of the Hollywood sign, the Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles, When you get to Durand Dr and the big white Wolf’s Lair estate, go further up the road a couple houses past the Zen-​ish house to see a wonderful doorway arch that frames a fantastic view of the Hollywood sign. Optional 3.3 miles more if you take the dirt road down to Lake Hollywood and go around the flat path

This place is truly a hidden gem. Starting off at 2800 N Beachwood on the left there are some gorgeous stone steps which even has a plaque. After that you can go on an adventurous hike through the hills. We found another set of stairs on Belden and took it to Durand Dr. We headed both on Duran and somehow ended up at the beautiful vista point (you’ll see a few signs for scenic view up ahead). Also you can download «the secret stairs of LA“iphone app for $ 1.99 it had a map to this trail which wasn’t a great one but it helped.
From there you are so close to the Hollywood sign it feels like you can touch it! You then come across the beautiful Hollywood lake with the green park below. We found a trail through the hills and somehow got onto Crescent Dr. And found our way back. You will also catch sites of the Griffith observatory, downtown la, the wilshire corridor and the ocean too! Basically a 360 view of the city.
You don’t have to worry about the headaches of parking and crowds like you do at Runyon. Friendliest people all around and even celebrities too! Saw «Kenneth» of 30 Rock jogging by and he smiled and waved hello.
A work out, adventure and gorgeous sites all bundled together! I will definitely try a different route next time.

Good stair climbing work out in a beautiful neighborhood. In total there are over 800 steps. Beautiful houses, greenery and views of downtown and the Hollywood sign.
We found street parking but I would recommend arriving before 9:30 on a Sunday. Some stairs need sweeping. I’m glad my friends took me this hidden gem.
The stairs are suitable for kids 4 and older, too.