Secret Stairs #1: Pasadena—La Loma Road, 2.7 miles, 996 steps.

996!!! We began at the far west end of Pasadena where Colorado Blvd. intersects Route 66 at Figueroa Street. Important, because way back when, the Red Car trolley line along Figueroa ran south to downtown Los Angeles and thus, the need for the steep network of staircases for residents living high in the hills to get down to the streetcar. Serenaded by birds and shaded by the pine, palm, ficus, laurel, oak, sycamore, and juniper trees planted throughout this clean and quiet 1940s neighborhood, it had the feel of hiking through a mountain village. The three stairways pictured are connected, a 383 step climb to the top.