This is a spot that I am always thankful for whenever I make a visit, usually about once per month. It's so close by to Burbank and North Hollywood, and is incredibly lowkey. The parking is ample and spacious, and I've never once been there and thought, "This is busy."
My partner is an artist and grew up with horses, so we usually spend some time down watching the horses and their riders when we're able.
In the shadow of Griffith Park, it's nice to experience open green grass in such a casual, cozy atmosphere. The river flows beside the park, with the 5 running north-south(ish) on the other side of the river.
The river corridor creates an important protective ecological buffer for a shocking number of species. In this stretch, I have observed:
- Bufflehead
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Black-necked stilt
- Mallard
- American Coot
- American Wigeon
- Townsend's Warbler
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Western Bluebird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Cooper's Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
As well as the typical fare for LA parks: juncoes, finches, sparrows, titmice, ravens, crows.
There's direct water access down to the river here, which I imagine could also be productive for getting into some carp fishing, if you have the proper gear. There's unfortunately a good amount of refuse here that makes wading ill-advised for fly fishing, but I do think you could follow the wall.
The black-necked stilt colony that hangs around here are docile and very beautiful. If you're gentle in your approach, they often will let you get relatively close, maybe within 30 odd feet, at which point you can really get an appreciation for their fun shape, subtle variations in plumage, and overall group size. The shallows provide excellent forage.
This spot is also great for mockingbirds and bluebirds in particular. They're most abundant in the spring and very vocal. Especially early in the morning, the bluebirds are really nice to see - Griffith Park and the immediate area along the river corrider have been good to me for reliably seeing bluebirds from 7-9 AM.
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