Fryman Canyon/ Franklin Canyon Crazy 8

Walk off the beer and burgers from the Fourth of July with a unique figure eight trail through two popular LA parks! Fire road, single track, & streets loop through and connect Fryman Canyon and Franklin Canyon- both gorgeous swaths of urban wilderness that are extremely popular with Angelenos, as well as location shoots for TV and movies.

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/c/5/7/event_36271831.jpeg

Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: Approx. 9 Miles
Elevation Gain: Approx. 500 Ft. (multiple times)

Located in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains on the north side of Mulholland Drive, 122-acre Fryman Canyon Park offers spectacular views and access to the Betty B. Dearing Cross Mountain Trail. The park is abundant with native chaparral, year-round springs, and deeply-wooded canyons. Franklin Canyon Park rests on 605 acres near the center of Los Angeles between the San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills. Within the park boundaries are chaparral, grasslands and oak woodlands, a three-acre lake, a duck pond, expansive picnic grounds, and over five miles of hiking trails. The lake and pond serve as permanent and seasonal home for birds in the Pacific flyway.

The park has a history steeped in the forces that created the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles—oil and water. In 1914, William Mulholland and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) began construction of a reservoir in upper Franklin Canyon to distribute water newly brought from the Owens Valley. The family of oil baron Edward L. Doheny used the canyon as a summer retreat and a place to graze and water their cattle. The Doheny family built the Spanish style home in lower Franklin Canyon in 1935.

During the 1970's the canyon was set for development when conservationist Sooky Goldman and Congressman Howard Berman encouraged the Department of Water and Power and the National Park Service to make Franklin Canyon a park. The National Park Service purchased the Franklin Canyon Ranch in 1981 as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Additionally the park has been used as a location for scenes from Platoon, Road House, JAG, NCIS, Doogie Houser, MD, The Blob, Silence of the Lambs, Combat and many more shows and movies (about 25 each year). Franklin Canyon is the scene for the opening of The Andy Griffith Show, with little Ronnie Howard and his TV dad heading to the fishing hole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BmurO7ZW_Q

The park also served as album covers for Simon and Garfunkle and the Rolling Stones.

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We'll be meeting on nearby side streets thus avoiding the usual parking fees at Willacre Park and utilizing a different trail than usual. STOP at the stop signs- cameras have been installed that will immortalize transgressors and send them a hefty fine.

Directions:

From the 101 Freeway, exit Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Travel south almost one mile and turn right at the light onto Laurel Terrace Dr. Drive westbound to Viewcrest Rd., the third street on the left. There should be ample side street parking in the area and we'll meet at Laurel Terrace Dr and the beginning of Viewcrest Rd.