Just north of Downtown Los Angeles, around Dodger Stadium, Elysian Park feels like the city pressing pause. Established on April 5, 1886, it is Los Angeles’ oldest park, and at more than 600 acres it is also one of its largest — a rolling landscape of hills, meadows and tree-lined roads at 929 Academy Road, open every day from sunrise to sunset.
Come for a walk and stay for the variety. Scenic winding trails cross California chaparral, shady oak groves and forests of black walnut trees, while the City lists a bike path, a hiking trail, a jogging path and horseshoe pits among the park’s features. There are hidden meadows for picnicking, playgrounds for children, and room for disc golf, basketball, soccer, tennis and youth baseball — all minutes from downtown, yet wonderfully quiet once you climb into the hills.
Do not miss the Chavez Ravine Arboretum, the park’s living tree collection on Chavez Ravine Road. The Friends of Elysian Park describe trees some 140 years old, with exotic specimens rarely found outside their native homes, and the City’s tree diagram labels palms, cedars, oaks and many more along the paths. It is a gentle, shady stroll that feels like a world tour in a single afternoon.
Pack a picnic, bring a camera for the hilltop views, and look out for Grace E. Simons Lodge and Montecillo de Leo Politi Park tucked inside the grounds. Elysian Park is not a polished theme attraction — it is something better: Los Angeles’ original green escape, still welcoming everyone, free and open, after 140 years.
Photo: Fizzy+lifting, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
