DAY 180: Bronson Canyon (The Bat Caves)

DAY 180: Bronson Canyon (The Bat Caves)

Date: Saturday May 14, 2011

Miles: ~3.0

Elevation Gain: ~700 Feet

Time: 2 Hours

Difficulty: Less than a half mile of easy strides to the Bat Caves; Also, a wide road with constant incline in the other direction...

Reward: BATMAN!

Description: Explore the wide open caves and rock formations at Bronson Canyon

Where: Los Angeles, CA

Directions:From the 101 Freeway in Ventura County, head south toward Los Angeles.  Exit 9A at Vine and stay straight onto Franklin.  About a mile up, turn left on Bronson and follow that around to Canyon.  Turn left on Canyon, drive over the speed bumps and park in the very last parking lot before the gate.  If the lot is full, park in the lot an eight of a mile back.

We parked  in the smaller lot by this sign; Camp Hollywood Land.  Not knowing where the caves were, we followed the road beyond the locked gate, and hiked forever!  If you want to see the caves, the trailhead is actually just before this last parking lot.  Look for the turn off in the picture below:

 Trailhead to Batman

 ~50 Foot elevation gain, and you are there...

 These caves have been used on many Hollywood sets

There are many trails back here.  You can follow the road up and around and summit the top of the caves.  There is a sharp hill to the other side for a nice view of the Hollywood Sign.  Have fun and becareful; the dirt is loose in some places...

 The Road to the top

Prior to discovering the Batcaves, we hiked halfway up the mountain along the road.  There is a small stream back here and many interesting tree formations on the lower portion before you reach the desert like mountain.  According to signs from the street, you can't reach the Hollywood sign from this canyon.  However, another hiker mentioned a canyon named ~Beechwood, or something, one hillside over from here and you can reach the sign.  I will look into this for another time.  Meanwhile, we did not reach the top here or take any of the alternate single track trails.  There is much to explore up here:

At this point, I knew we had gone the wrong way because I read that the Batcaves were a simple hike and this road just kept going higher.  If I wasn't with my nieces and Ayden, I may have continued.  We also had an LA Galaxy Soccer game to get to, so we turned around, found the Batcaves, ate at Mac Donalds and watched David Beckham score a goal in the 87th minute...


***
Friday: DAY 179
--Short hike in Wildwood Park.  I hiked from the main entrance and looped around some of the footpaths that I have not conquered yet.  I still have many more trails here leading to the "underground" (off map sections).  Easy Friday from a long Thursday hike; maybe 3 miles just to keep the legs active.