Secret Walks #8: The Old Zoo, 2.5 miles

I know it was a good hike when I get home sweaty, dusty, and a little bit smarter about L.A. history. Barbara and I began our walk near the 1926 merry-go-round in the center of 3,000 acre Griffith Park. Winding trails, shaded bowers, and a series of wooden steps took us up to the Fern Canyon Trail Amphitheater, then down to joggers, runners, and dog-walkers along East Trail. It was so quiet in the hills that the only reminder we were smack dab in the middle of L.A. was the distant roar of traffic from Interstate 5 in the east. East Trail wound us to a narrow dirt path along a dry creek bed, down to Crystal Springs Picnic area and the old Los Angeles Zoo. Opened in 1912 at the site of Griffith J. Griffiths' former ostrich farm, the zoo's original 15 animal population grew in the 1920s with a donation of animals used in the movies. The WPA expanded the zoo in the 1930s, and although it was well-constructed and well attended, the small cages and cramped conditions led to its close in 1966 when the new zoo opened. The standing old structures and beat up cages are open to the public and would make a hell of a location for a Halloween Haunted House—or a weird family picnic. Get there early to nab a parking space.