Tree People - Rainforest, Franklin Canyon, Beverly Hills & Bel Air - Tarzan Jungle

Along the Wodog Nature Trail in Franklin Canyon

Day 251: Saturday July 23, 2011

Tree People - Rainforest, Franklin Canyon, Beverly Hills & Bel Air - Tarzan Jungle

8.0 miles +800 feet

Directions:

From the 101 Freeway in Studio City, exit on Cold Water Canyon and head south for a few miles.  At the 6-way intersection at Mulholland drive, make a sharp right turn into the Tree People Parking Lot.  For more information, please visit their website:  www.TreePeople.org

Inspired by yesterday's hike and drive home, the wife and I decided to bring our Golden Retriever, Sammi, back to this area for further exploration.  We began at the Tree People:

 Along the wood chip "Oak Trail" you will pass an amphitheater

(check the website for book readings & showtimes)

 there are pamphlets along the trail with maps

 we turned left at a junction (Betty B Dearing Trail) and followed it up

At the peak, there was an option go go lower; instead we looped back

(google maps shows the trails)

 

 Rather than going back to the car, we followed the Betty B trail to Iredell St

 Cross the street and the trail picks back up about 100 feet down

(I remembered this street from yesterday; lets connect the dots)

 about a half mile in, the rainforest rests below...

 watch out for snakes...

 (Officially made it further than were I hiked to yesterday)

 The Rainforest, the not so tropical rainforest

I'm still mesmerized by this place.  Who would of thunk that the City of L.A. had a rainforest just 3 miles from CBS Studios.  Huh!  --We turned back to the Tree People and ate lunch.  So far, my total mileage was about 4.0 miles  +350 feet; but we are not done.  At that same 6-way intersection, we drove across to the "no outlet", which turns into Franklin Canyon.  For maps and details, please visit:

Franklin Canyon Map

 We parked our car and walked around the lake

 There are legit hiking trails leading into the forest; next time...

After about an hour of adventure, we headed back out.  You could spend an entire day in Franklin Canyon if you wanted too.  There was a back way out, to Beverly Drive.  Amazing!  I had no idea I could connect to Beverly Hills from the 101 side.  In fact, Coldwater Canyon turns into Beverly Drive at this park:

 

 Quaint playground here for the kids

 Fountain across the street trickles out a little stream

 Jog around the small track...

So, we called my dad and told him where we were.  In the 1960's, my grandpa moved his family to Bel-Air.  My dad lived nearby this park for about 4-years; long enough to graduate high school in Cali.  Then, they all moved back to Ohio and my dad went to Ohio State, where he met my mom.

If you take Beverly down to Sunset, you turn right past all the Star homes and then turn right into the Bel Air homes.  All the way back...

 My Father's old House on Hamner Drive

The quickest way to get here is to exit the 405 on Mulholland Drive, exit #61.  Take Mulholland east for about a mile and then turn right on Roscomare.  About a mile up on the right will be Hamner.  My dad's house is on the right.  Cool- but at the end of the street, an even more bizarre finding.  Hamner turns into Nalin and then ends into nothing.  Only about 3 miles from the 405:

The old Tarzan Jungle!

 

My dad explained that decades ago, the filmed Tarzan in this open Space.  --We hiked past the fence and down the hill to a small orchard.  We didn't go any further.  The thick jungle below looks intimidating.  What a find though and one day, I will be back!