Secret Stairs #4: Glassell Park South—Taylor Yard, 3.2 miles, 401 steps

Last week's rain-out had us eager to get back on the trail, this time to a "where are we?" neighborhood across the 5, miles east of Elysian Park and Dodger Stadium. Barbara dubbed the first half of this walk "Chihuahua Heights" for the yappers (and occasional balls of fluff) guarding the yards of nondescript stucco houses with security barred doors and windows. Sidewalks created in 1928 led us to the two staircases on the walk. The first was135 steps tiered into a rare walk-street accessible only by foot. The second staircase, straight-up, was a real gasper, 133 steps to the top and a view facing west to the Observatory, the speck of white in the distance. But the payoff as we climbed higher into the hills—and what got this hike a star in my Secret Stairs book—was the discovery of Elyria Canyon, a Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Parkland with trails winding along slopes of green grass, trees readying for spring, and signs warning of rattlesnakes and poison oak. A stress-buster provided by Mother Nature, hidden in plain sight in the middle of Los Angeles. So. Very. Pretty.