Distance: 3 miles RT mostly on pavement
Elevation gain: 300 ft.
Directions to Trail Head: The trailhead is in front of Elysian Heights School located on Baxter St. between Echo Park Ave. and Valentine St.
From the south - 101 northbound, exit Glendale Blvd and head north on Echo Park Ave. Note that Echo Park Ave. splits after a block or so - stay to the left continuing on Echo Park Ave. and follow it north to Baxter, turn right and park on the street.
From the north - 101 southbound, exit Alvarado Blvd. (Route 2) going north. Go to Sunset Blvd. (the sixth street on your right), turn right and in about 0.5 mi., turn left on Echo Park Ave. and follow it north. Note that Echo Park Ave. splits after a block or so - stay to the left continuing on Echo Park Ave. and follow it north to Baxter St., turn right and park on the street.
Restrooms: Only available at the picnic area at the north end of Echo Park park accessible from Park St. which is the northern boundary of the park. NOTE: For those wishing to stop BEFORE the hike, people coming from the south are already on Echo Park Ave. which runs adjacent to the park. People coming from the north might want to detour to the park by turning right on Echo Park Ave. instead of left as per above instructions.
The Hike: Basically a clockwise loop.
1. Starting from the school, we walk east on Baxter past Valentine and Avon to our first stairway - the Baxter St. Stairs - 231 steps. This takes us UP to Park Dr. which gives us a view of the downtown sky-scrapers and the western portion of Elysian Park. From here we can see Mt. Hollywood and Mt. Lee with the Hollywood sign and the western edge of Elysian Park spreading out below us. We turn right and continue on Park Dr. in a southerly direction.
2. At the second street leading downhill (Duane) we turn right which swings downhill to the left briefly becoming Avon St. Avon becomes Morton at the intersection with Lucretia at which point we turn right and look just to the right of the house at 1891 Lucretia for our second stairway the Avalon-east Stairs - 192 steps DOWN to Echo Park Ave.
3. We turn right and walk north on Echo Park Ave. continuing past Duane St. until we reach Ewing St. Turning left, we gamely march UP Ewing street eventually reaching Preston Ave. We are not yet on top of this hill, so after resting a bit, we continue UP the Ewing-east Stairs - 25 steps, a narrow stairway starting just across Preston until we crest the top of the hill. We then continue DOWN to Vestal Ave. and turn left.
4. We follow Vestal south until it makes a sharp turn to the left at Avalon St. On our immediate right, the Avalon-west Stairs - 125 steps looms. After climbing UP it, we reach Lemoyne St. and turn right.
5. We follow Lemoyne north until we reach a clear place with a narrow paved road that descends DOWN the hill to the left. There is new construction just beyond this point, and the address on the house across the street is 1958 Lemoyne. Carefully descend this steep road which eventually turns to dirt and which ultimately dumps us onto Lake Shore Ave. where across the street, are the Ewing-west Stairs of 128 steps which takes us UP to Alvarado St. where we turn right.
6. We walk north on Alvarado one short block to Fargo St. Fargo happens to be the 3rd steepest street in Los Angeles (28th St. in San Pedro is the steepest, and a road on Mt. Washington is second). Because of the steepness, the sidewalk on Fargo St. is occasionally interrupted by stairs - the Fargo Stairs - 17 steps total. At the bottom of Fargo is Allesandro St. which after turning right, we follow northerly past Baxter St. to a small cul de sac named Cove St. Be sure and look across Allesandro St. to see one solution to the hill-side garbage collection problem.
7. Turning right, we walk a short distance up to our last stairway, the Cove St. Stairs - 198 steps which brings us back UP to Alvarado. Going up these stairs helps you to appreciate what hill-side/stairway living must be like. Turning right, we follow Alvarado south past Cerro Gordo (which enters Alvarado from the left) to Baxter St.
8. Turning left, we follow Baxter St. back to our cars. This will require coming downhill from Alvarado, then up and over the next hill, not an easy stroll.
Refreshments will be served at the picnic tables located at the north end of Echo Park park. Backtrack south down Echo Park Ave., then turn right on Park St. and park along the street.
While at the park, be sure and notice the big white building on the NE corner of Glendale Blvd. and Park St. This is the Angeles Temple, home of Aimee Semple McPherson’s International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Be sure and take an after-hike stroll around the park.
Getting Home: 101 Freeway on-ramps are available going north and south off of Glendale Blvd. Exit the park by driving west on Park St., then turn left on Glendale Blvd., and follow the big green signs.
Google Earth Photo - Echo Park Stairs
GPS Data:
RT = 2.4 miles
Elevation gain = 350 ft.
