In the mid 1990’s my husband and I were fortunate enough to purchase our home in Hollywoodland. My husband a dedicated runner and myself a fan of hiking the surrounding hills with our german shepherd, took great joy in discovering our new neighborhood.

We had tried to access the trails on the east side of Hollywoodland through the private property of the stables which was discouraged due to the disruption to the horses and stable activities. After a while we found out about a local footpath off of Hollyridge that connected to a fire road leading up from a park maintenance shed to the Sunset Ranch trails. From there, one could hike to the stable trail entrance up to the connecting hiking trails that lead west to the Hollywood sign and east to the Griffith Park Observatory.

Aside from having to maneuver around land mines left by the horses, and occasionally having to wait for a group of horses and riders coming or leaving the stables, we felt so lucky to have found this unofficial gateway to the Hollywoodland Gifted Parkland that is now part of Griffith Park.

Unfortunately a couple years later, the private land that contained the footpath connecting to the maintenance shed fire road, was developed and we lost our access point.
Today, the old fire road and maintenance shed can still be seen right above the lovely home that was built over the old footpath (see picture).

Not to be put out from accessing our gifted parkland, members from our neighborhood associations asked the City if it was possible to create a new path to replace the previous local access point.

However, trusting our City officials to properly research, vet and mitigate a new access point proved to be a foolhardy endeavor. Not only was proper environmental review and public notification not conducted, Park records relating to a project/ approval or funds designated to create a new trailhead have yet to be found despite the magnitude of this project. Constructing the new trailhead was no easy task, requiring heavy duty earthmoving equipment to transform a former steep sloped, park hillside (see picture) into a generously proportioned connecting trailhead.
The City’s later announcement and promotion this year designating this trailhead as a public access point brought the existing safety issues to a critical point. Given Hollywoodland’s substandard infrastructure, narrow, winding streets, lack of continuous sidewalks for pedestrian traffic and little parking, the volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic has created an unmanageable public safety situation affecting both residents and visitors. Further negative impacts to the parks sensitive ecosystem have been seen as what was

once designated as a dormant end of the park to protect the wildlife corridors among other things, is now overrun daily with throngs of visitors.
The City’s short term solution to our safety problems was to have residents of the most heavily impacted areas, accept the hassle of permit parking. Desperate for any type of relief, this cost and inconvenience was readily adopted. While PPD’s provided some relief from the most dangerous gridlock situations, the volume of vehicular and pedestrian traffic continues to grow escalating public safety concerns on the substandard infrastructure. Furthermore, shifting the gridlock below the PPD zone on Beachwood continues to present a problem for emergency access into Hollywoodland.

Had the City approached creating a new trailhead with the appropriate due process much of the resulting safety problems and park impacts could have been identified and addressed. As residents the burden is now solely on our shoulders as we wait for the City to address these issues. As much as my husband and I would regret losing the local access to Griffth Park, until the safety concerns are truly mitigated, the easiest and most cost effective solution is to close the Beachwood trailhead.

DIFFERENCES WITHIN A 20 YEAR TIME PERIOD