I.

LOVE.

Parks!!!

When I learned about the Park to Playa Regional Trail and the connector bridge that would link Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area and Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, I was BEYOND excited. It wasn’t just that the bridge would lead to the other side of La Cienega. The bridge also represented access to parks in different communities in Los Angeles County. I am extremely fortunate to live within a short walking distance to three parks. But the Park to Playa Pedestrian Bridge adds more parks that I could walk to: Stoneview Nature Center, Blair Hills Park, Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, and Culver City Park. And as I take Ballona Creek to the beach, I know that I will also pass or be nearby L.A. City Parks.

The Park to Playa Pedestrian Bridge that goes over La Cienega finally opened on October 29th. I kinda forgot about it but then saw someone post about it on Facebook– which is why I can’t quit social media. I immediately got up and walked to the bridge.

My initial plan was to just cross the bridge and walk back home. But I decided to go up to Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Had it been earlier, I would have done the entire trail. But it was late. So I decided that I would do the trail the following Monday– today– when it was less crowded. Below are pictures from my journey:

The Park to Playa Regional Trail is 13 miles. But my walk from the starting point near Stocker and Presidio to the beach was only 12 miles. Had I meandered around Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, I would have logged another mile. But given the crowd– even at 9:00 a.m. on a Monday– and a lot of people NOT wearing a mask (GRRRR!!!!), I took the slightly shorter trail down to Hetzler Road. I wanted to avoid the crowd.

Once I got to Ballona Creek, it was easy breezy. But it felt long like usual. It’s great for biking but always felt like forever if you were a wogger (walker/jogger) like me. I was very pleasantly surprised that there were not a lot of tents along the route. The one near Overland had a nice and clean set up. Also, the creek and the trails were getting cleaned up. There was a small truck picking up trash along the trail and a couple of trucks cleaning up the sewers near the creek.

Shout out and thanks to Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation, and California State Parks for this ahh-mazing project and much needed bridge, a community connector.

Parks Make Life Better!