Secret Walks #31: Paradise Falls, 3 miles

West on the 101 from Studio City to Thousand Oaks is Wildwood Park, 14 trails weaving through 17 miles of the land where the Chumash lived until the beginning of the 1800s. I like a good urban hike loaded with history, but the 3 miles of trails we took this morning had more than enough flora, fauna, stairways, gullies, lizards, flies, stream-hopping, and views for me to give it a big thumbs-up for serious hikers. Note to Charles Fleming, author of Secret Walks: this hike could easily qualify for Secret Stairs, considering the hundreds of lumber, rail tie, and log staircases Barbara and I gasped our way up. Not your casual Sunday stroll, for sure, and not for anyone with vertigo, but the views from the cactus trail to the wooded walk along the stream, the teepee rest stop mid-hike, and the star of the show—Paradise Falls, made our sweaty collapse into the car at the end worth it. Bring lots of water!