Secret Stairs #6: Hermon and Highland Park, 3 miles, 386 steps.

We've been greeted by dogs, cats, and loud parrots on previous hikes, but the crowing rooster was a first. The steepest staircase, 126 up and 140 down, led to...nowhere! Also pictured: Arroyo Seco Parkway riverbed that once held a 1890 elevated wooden cycleway to speed bicyclists from Pasadena to downtown L.A. The lack of water in the riverbed is reminiscent of Mark Twain saying he fell into a California river once and "came up all dusty."