Various aspects of the trail have existed for decades[2] but the trail was considered “complete” when the bridge over La Cienega Blvd. was opened in 2020.[3]
Park to Playa Trail segments (roughly east to west):
Access gates
Image
Name
Description
Address
Stocker Corridor
Park to Playa trailhead, including fruit park,[4] 1.4-mile (2.3 km) dirt trail
Intersection of Stocker Street and Presidio Drive.[5]
Norman O. Houston Park
A 10-acre park opened 1981, named for Norman O. Houston, the park has a 0.8 mi (1.3 km) loop track and workout equipment.[6][7]
Established 1983 as Baldwin Hills SRA,[9] Kenneth Hahn is a 400-acre (1.6 km2) major regional park built on the site of the 1965 Baldwin Hills Dam disaster. Trails to navigate through the park include La Brea Loop Trail to the maintenance road to the Bowl Loop (aka Janice’s Green Valley), or the Five Points Trail to the Boy Scouts Trail to the Bowl Loop.[10] Amenities at Kenneth Hahn include “two fishing lakes, picnic areas, an archery range, parking for 478 cars, spectacular city views, and an Olympic Forest, with ponds and paths that twist down the hillside.”[11]
Although it crosses La Cienega, it is not readily accessible on foot due to the "steady whoosh of nearby La Cienega [car] traffic."[11] Pedestrians can get to the bridge from multiple routes through the adjacent parks.[16]
Opened 2017,[17] formerly a Culver City primary school campus, now one of a network of 10 urban nature centers run by Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation. The site offers edible plantings and a demonstration kitchen, classes for kids, outdoor fitness equipment, a butterfly dome and an apiary.[18]
5950 Stoneview Drive, 90232
Blair Hills Corridor
Blair Hills Corridor is a connecting trail along ridgetop of the Blair Hills neighborhood of Culver City.[19]
Culver City Park, opened 1980,[21] offers an "excellent scenic vista." Authors of a 1987 cycle-touring guide "highly recommended" a Ballona Creek Bike Path detour into the heights of this park long before Park to Playa Trail was conceived. Their directions were to "take Duquesne Avenue east across Jefferson Boulevard and proceed uphill…about one mile from the creek exit point. At the top of the route, stop and enjoy one of the most spectacular, unobstructed views of the greater Los Angeles Basin available in the South Bay Area. Note that this [detour] has some steep uphill along an unshaded route."[22]
^Forgione, Mary, and Matt Pawlik. "50 SIMPLY FABULOUS HIKES; make this Your Bucket List for all Southern California Hiking has to Offer." Los Angeles Times, Mar 14, 2021.
^Cottrell, Wayne D. (2015). Best bike rides Los Angeles: the greatest recreational rides in the metro area. Helena, Mont.: Falcon Guides. pp. 209–220. ISBN978-1-4930-0384-6.
^ abFaris, Gerald (1988-03-26). "300-Acre Wilderness at Home in Midst of Oil Wells, Power Lines, Traffic". Los Angeles Times. pp. I18.