Walking Los Angeles. Erin Mahoney Harris

Walking Los Angeles

atop the roof. The UCLA Store occupies the first floor of the building and offers just about anything a student would need to purchase, from groceries to clothing to plush toys to books. The union also offers various casual-dining options.

Head back the way you came on Bruin Walk, past Ackerman Union, and return toward Kerckhoff Hall. Built in 1931, this is the only building on campus in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style. Continue straight ahead up the steps, and then turn right. Cross through the outdoor dining patio between Kerckhoff Hall and Moore Hall, which is on your left.

Turn left on Portola Plaza; the Mathematical Sciences Building is on your right. You are now entering the more technical side of campus, which is not nearly as picturesque as the humanities section in terms of architecture.

Continue straight on Portola Plaza, passing Kinsey Pavilion on your left. This building houses several lecture halls and is notable for the pretty mosaics in muted colors that adorn the top of its facade. Past Kinsey, you’ll come to an open plaza with a beautiful inverted fountain in the center. A fairly new complex, the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, is located on the east side of the fountain.

Continue past the Ostin Music Center and then cut down the path on your right, which passes between a toddler play area and Franz Hall and takes you down to Charles E. Young Drive.

Turn right on Young Drive. As you approach the intersection with Manning Drive, you’ll pass a pleasant, drought-tolerant rock garden on your right and see the large redbrick-and-glass Terasaki Life Sciences Building up ahead on your left.

Just before reaching Tiverton Drive, you’ll see a ramp leading into the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, on your left. Follow the ramp down into the gardens. Note: At the time of writing, this was a newly built entrance to the gardens, which were still undergoing major improvements thanks to a $5 million gift from UCLA alumnus and philanthropist Morton La Kretz.

Take the time to explore the gardens at your leisure, or perhaps simply sit and relax in the green shade on one of the many benches. This oasis features plant life from all over the world, including many species of tropical and subtropical flora. The topography of UCLA’s botanical gardens is a remnant of the ravine that used to run across the entire campus. Today, a water pump feeds the river that flows down the center of the gardens.

Moore Hall

After spending some time in the gardens, exit back out onto Young Drive.

Turn right on Young Drive and retrace your steps along the perimeter of the campus. After crossing Westholme, you’ll notice the barnlike structure of the Faculty Center on your right.

Just past Murphy Hall, turn right on Dickson Court (instead of continuing straight, which would take you back to the sculpture garden) on a path that will take you past the School of Law on your left.

Turn left to continue on Young Drive, following it all the way back to the intersection with Hilgard Avenue, where you began.

UCLA Campus in Westwood

Points of Interest

Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden Charles E. Young Drive E., Los Angeles, CA 90095; 310-443-7000, tinyurl.com/murphysculpturegarden

Bunche Hall 11282 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Royce Hall 340 Royce Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095; 310-825-2101, roycehall.org

Fowler Museum at UCLA 308 Charles E. Young Drive N., Los Angeles, CA 90024; 310-825-4361, fowler.ucla.edu

Ackerman Union/UCLA Store 308 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095; 310-825-7711, asucla.edu/student-union

Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden 777 Tiverton Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095; 310-825-1260, botgard.ucla.edu. Please call ahead to make sure the gardens are open at the time of your walk.

10 Central Culver City

Helms Bakery made the official bread of the 1932 Olympics.

Boundaries: Venice Blvd., La Cienega Blvd., Baldwin Hills, Overland Ave.

DISTANCE: 3.5 miles

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

PARKING: Metered parking is available on Washington Blvd.

NEAREST METRO STATION: Expo Line (Culver City)

Culver City flew under the radar for a long time, playing the role of a fairly quiet residential suburb with a perfectly serviceable downtown district and a handful of decent restaurants. But how things have changed: downtown Culver City is now a thriving dining destination, and the excellent selection of eateries has spilled over into the historic Art Deco buildings of the old Helms Bakery complex. This walk takes in Culver City’s hippest corridors, as well as one of the city’s finest parks, which offers breathtaking views of the LA Basin on a clear day.

Walk Description

Start on Helms Avenue north of Washington Boulevard. This section of the street has been turned into a pedestrian-only plaza as part of the revitalization of the Helms Bakery District, a collection of great restaurants and upscale furniture stores housed in the 1930s-era Art Deco warehouse buildings of what used to be Helms Bakery. The large neon sign atop the structure has been restored and is now a famous local landmark, shining bright and colorful at night as it flashes the words HELMS OLYMPIC BREAD.

Turn right on Washington Boulevard. As you approach National Boulevard, you’ll pass Surfas Culinary District, which stocks all manner of specialty and hard-to-find cooking supplies and ingredients and offers free cooking demos in the on-site test kitchen. In short, it’s a foodie’s dream come true. There’s even an on-site café where you can grab a quick and tasty lunch or sweet, buttery pastry. And if you look across the street to the left, you’ll notice an interesting mural of a girl in a colorful dress standing in front of a black-and-white creature holding flowers. Titled The Guardian, this artwork was a collaboration between street artists Bumblebee and Zio Ziegler.

Continue across National Boulevard, passing the Culver City Metro Expo Line station on your right. As you continue to head southwest on Washington, you’ll pass a new creative office development on the left, its parking structure adorned with another colorful mural.

If you haven’t already crossed

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