A staircase in Mount Washington. Photo copyright 2016 by Anna Boudinot.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Los Angeles had extensive railway transportation.
Trains, trolleys, streetcars: Los Angeles was a growing city and needed public transit to get everyone where they needed to go. The Pacific Electric "Red Car" and the Los Angeles Railway "Yellow Car" originated in 1901, whisking passengers along routes far more extensive than today's Metro. The two rail lines combined carried around 355 million passengers annually (compared to today’s Metro rail lines, which carry around 100 million annually), yet by the 1950s they had completely shut down. Vast theories exist as to why this happened, but clearly in their heyday they were a way of life for millions of people. In the 1920s the Red Car held the title as the largest electric rail system in the world.
Los Angeles Metro is making continual albeit glacial progress in an expensive and decades-long project to create new rail lines in Los Angeles County (and their plans for the future never seem to end). The trains are sleek, clean, and efficient, but not always conveniently located. That wasn’t the case back in the day. In the early to mid-1900s, it was common to find some type of trolley or railway essentially outside your front door. Part of this was due to the sheer number of public transit options, and part of this was due to staircases cut into the sides of hilly residential areas.
As Los Angeles’ population increased, neighborhoods such as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Highland Park, and Hollywood climbed into the surrounding hills. Since many people didn’t have cars, and they would be impractical to drive down the winding roads anyway, over 400 public staircases were built into the hillsides. This allowed residents easy access to the main thoroughfares where the trains and trolleys ran. The amazing thing is, many of these staircases are still there, and many of them are still kept in relatively good condition by the city.
A staircase in Glassell Park. Photo copyright 2020 by Anna Boudinot.
There’s no telling how many dozens or hundreds of avid stair climbing Angelenos keep records of their favorite staircases, but a gentleman named Charles Fleming is probably the person who keeps the best records. His book, Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles, is well worth the $17. You can buy it on Amazon or support a local bookstore like Stories or Skylight, both of which generally keep it in stock. Fleming painstakingly mapped out the locations of 275 public staircases from Pasadena to the Palisades, dozens of which appear in this book’s 42 “walks.” I put “walks” in quotes because often I find these routes to be more like hikes – they do, after all, include steep uphill climbs.
The hikes or walks or whatever you want to call them are neatly arranged by neighborhood. Fleming introduces each with the duration, distance, number of steps, and a difficulty rating on a scale of 1-5. Paying homage to the origins of the staircases, he also includes the modern-day bus route one might take to get to the trailhead (stairhead?). The routes are composed of two or more staircases each, and usually allow for a generous stroll along streets you wouldn’t normally find yourself on. With each walk, Fleming also carefully notes local history, architecture, flora, and at least one spot to eat. The book was published in 2010 and some of the information is outdated (RIP, Silver Lake Coffee Table), but nothing too disorienting.
A staircase in Glassell Park. Photo copyright 2020 by Anna Boudinot.
Another element worth mentioning is Fleming’s colorful (and sometimes not very complimentary) descriptions of the surroundings. Fleming hates to see a neglected staircase and will unabashedly inform you if you are about to encounter graffiti or barking dogs. I cringed when I read his description of walk #28, which he recommends that “women walking alone” avoid due to the “hoboes.” Best let the fellas follow that path alone; the sight of homeless people won’t compromise their rugged sensibilities.
Sarcasm aside, I am grateful to this book for leading me into parts of town I would never have explored otherwise, and for giving me a glimpse of what life was like in Los Angeles 100 years ago. Those who don’t buy paper books might be interested in the “Secret Stairs-Silver Lake 1” app for iPhone, which is $1.99 and covers five of the Silver Lake walks. Other resources such as We Like LA, CBS LA, and the Los Angeles Times offer a few stair routes online, while a Meetup group can take you on a guided stair climb. However you approach it, the hidden staircases of Los Angeles are a local treasure you can enjoy any day of the year, even those many days that will pass before the Metro lines are all finished.
For real Los Angeles hikes (no stairs included), check out these trails.