Our Favorite Hikes in Los Angeles

Check out the Top 5 Best Hikes in LA!

The dog days of shot girl summer are here, and we are having a busy, bustling time over at Bikes and Hikes LA! Since the launch of our brand new Hollywood Sign EXPRESS Hike, we’ve been busy bees! Now that the 4th of July long weekend has passed and we’re settling into the long, warm, summer days, you’re probably ready for any excuse to relax, unwind, detox, and escape– without it being a major production. Fortunately, you’re in the right place– Los Angeles, of course! LA is the best place to be (for many reasons!) but in particular, if you’re looking for a soul-cleansing, day-making, relaxing hike. Bikes and Hikes LA is here to give you our insider guide of our favorite hikes in Los Angeles- and we’ll give you the extra-special treat of a PRIVATE HIKE TOUR on any of these, or any other hikes in LA you’d like to conquer! Best of all, all of these hikes are LOCAL- no need to splash out on a destination weekend away, a luxury hotel, or an exorbitantly expensive rental car- treat yourself, instead, to a luxury weekend LA staycation – right here in your own back yard! And now, we present: our favorite hikes in LA!

The Griffith Observatory Hike – Hollywood Hills and beyond!

Griffith Park is our favorite place in Los Angeles, full stop. It’s pretty incredible, to have the world’s third-largest urban park (one that’s five, yes, that’s right, FIVE TIMES larger than Central Park!) RIGHT! SMACK! in the heart of the city! With over 4,200 acres of rolling hills, hiking paths, and biking trails to discover, Griffith Park is trulky the gift that keeps on giving for Angelinos looking for a quick retreat into nature. There are INFINITE hikes you can take in this park, but we especially love that hiking in Griffith Park packs the double feature of beautiful, panoramic views of all of LA County with up-close and personal views of the gorgeous Hollywood Sign!! The other cherry on top of the Griffith Park sundae? The world-famous, cinematic, stunning Griffith Observatory, of course! The Observatory is the grand finale of our Griffith Park Hike Tour, offering jaw-dropping, panoramic views of Los Angeles, the perfect addition to your Instagram feed. Now that California has reopened, we are so excited to announce that the Griffith Observatory is also open again, from Friday through Sunday! We offer two daily public Griffith Observatory hike tours and infinite custom private hike tours to the Griffith Observatory. We’re so glad to welcome you back,

The Official Hollywood Sign Hike- and now, the Official Hollywood Sign EXPRESS Hike!

Okay, are you really surprised that this one made the list? It’s no secret that we love the Hollywood Sign, and we love to show it off to everybody who comes to Los Angeles! We pioneered the *OFFICIAL HOLLYWOOD SIGN HIKE* years ago, taking you CLOSER TO THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN than any other company in Los Angeles! You literally cannot get ANY closer to the Hollywood Sign. We’ll keep you on your toes with our fascinating Tinseltown Tales, hilarious anecdotes from your expert guides, and hopefully make you laugh along the way, too. This summer, we’ve unrolled its newer, faster younger sibling: The OFFICIAL Hollywood Sign EXPRESS Hike! Our regular Hollywood Sign Hike is a 2.5 hour, 4 mile hike tour to the Hollywood Sign. It’s wonderful tour for guests looking for the quintessential Los Angeles experience, complete with exercise, views, and smiles for days. For the go-getters in your group, however, we’ve designed a brand new experience that boasts all of the highlights of our official Hollywood Sign Hike in HALF of the time! Our new express hike allows you to take photos, hike up to the top of the Hollywood Sign, hike back down, and enjoy the rest of your day- simple as that! Book your official Hollywood Sign Hike here, and book your Hollywood Sign Express Hike here!

Los Leones Canyon- A Beachside Secret

This author is a former hiking tour guide crazy for all things beach, and Los Leones Canyon in Santa Monica combines my two favorite things into one beautiful afternoon activity. Los Leones is tucked away in the beautiful, rolling hills of the Santa Monica Mountains, just inland of the Pacific Ocean (ever heard of it?), adjacent to the Pacific Coast Highway, and behind Malibu’s esteemed Getty Villa Museum. A hike through Los Leones argues possibly the BEST views in LA. You’ll feel completely sequestered from reality and the hustle and bustle of LA as soon as you begin and hike through the brush, rocks, and rolling footpaths of the trail. As you ascend, you’ll find yourself surrounded by gorgeous villas, views out to the glittering skyscrapers of Downtown Los Angeles, and miles upon infinite miles of the magnificent Pacific Ocean. There are multiple trails at Los Leones Canyon, so you can hike for as long or as briefly as you’d like. Better yet? Call up Bikes and Hikes La and allow us to curate a private Santa Monica / Malibu hiking tour for you. The beach is calling…

Runyon Canyon – See and Be Seen!

Okay, so if you were to just have one weekend in LA and wanted to fit in a quick hike surrounded by really good looking people…like we’re talking Zoolander-level, really, really ridiculously good looking people…in the heart of Hollywood, in the height of the hills (in fact, is that “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield playing somewhere in the heavens? Are we on a reality show right now?) you have to hike in Runyon Canyon. Runyon is located right in the middle of Hollywood, moments away from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and is chock full of celebrities, stars-in-the-making, and athleisure swaddled Angelinos taking a hike through the Hollywood Hills. Runyon also has multiple paths, and is equally as excellent for a casual hike and catchup with your BFF, as it is for a military grade, intense cardio strength workout. Our FAVORITE way to experience Runyon, however, is to book our private sunrise Runyon Canyon Hike Tour (or any time of day, really) and allow one of our wonderful, fully vaccinated tour guides to become your new LA bestie. We’ll hike, walk, chat, point out the surrounding celebrity homes, and play it cool if we bump into an A-Lister or two on our tour. This Hollywood Hills Hike is a must-do…for anybody who’s anybody, in this town! Book your Runyon Canyon Hike Tour here.

Temescal Canyon – A Breath of Much-Needed Fresh Air

Last, but certainly not least, you knew we weren’t going to wrap up this hiking blog post without another beachy hike. Temescal Canyon, located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on the West Side of Los Angeles is this author’s favorite spot to snag a quick sunset hike at the end of a windswept, beachy day in Santa Monica or Malibu. Temescal is a dreamy hike- the twisty trees, the lush wildflowers, the curious rock formations, the rigorous paths, and of course…the ample views of both the oceans and the mountains allow you to truly escape the LA cityscape and immerse yourself in the natural beauty of Los Angeles. A myriad of hiking trails and paths at Temescal allow you to design a hike of your own speed, distance, and level of difficulty, and you’ll want to keep coming back to re-experience it all over again. Now that group tours are a thing again, we’re so excited to continue launching group hike tours, company retreats, and office picnics for our private group Temescal Canyon Hike Tour. Drop us a line to customize your private Temescal Canyon or Santa Monica Hike Tour, and mention that you read this blog post- the author will be pleased as punch, and we’ll work with you to create the hike tour of your dreams by the ocean.

What are some of your favorite places to hike in LA? Where would you like to do a private hike with Bikes and Hikes LA? What are you going to do in LA this weekend? Drop us a line at [email protected] to let us know all of your ideas. We can’t wait to keep hiking with you this summer! Stay tuned for more lists of our favorite places to hike, bike, and experience Los Angeles.