Walking Los Angeles. Erin Mahoney Harris
target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_43882569-e995-53c7-9d21-9240eb0ffee2.jpg" alt="image"/> Castillo del Mar. The home’s garage was the site of movie star Thelma Todd’s mysterious death from carbon monoxide poisoning in 1935.
Ascend the staircase on your left just before 17445 Posetano. The long stairway is pleasantly bordered by bougainvillea, succulents, cacti, and wildflowers.
Turn right on Revello Drive at the top of the steps, and follow the road as it curves around to the left.
A Castellammare garden overlooks the ocean.
Bear left onto Tramonto Drive at the intersection. Watch out for cars because this street is a little more heavily traveled and there are no sidewalks. A gorgeous view of the ocean will open on your left as you continue up the road.
Turn right on Quadro Vecchio Drive. In contrast to the predominance of Mediterranean homes in the lower portion of the neighborhood, this street is populated by mostly ranch-style houses, with the exception of a striking modern structure at 266 Quadro Vecchio.
Turn left on Bellino Drive and continue to the intersection of Tramonto Drive.
Turn left on Tramonto and continue back to Revello Drive.
Castellammare in Pacific Palisades
Points of Interest
Bear right to retrace your steps along Revello Drive. Continue all the way back to the last staircase you ascended, which you’ll find on your left just past some towering bamboo.
Head down the stairs and turn right on Posetano Road, continuing to retrace your steps back to Stretto Way.
Bear left to go back down Stretto Way.
Turn left on Castellammare, heading back to your starting point.
2 Northwest Santa Monica
Annenberg splash pad
BOUNDARIES: Pacific Ocean, Montana Ave., Seventh St., Entrada Dr.
DISTANCE: About 3 miles
DIFFICULTY: Strenuous (includes stairways)
PARKING: Free street parking is available on Fourth St., but please read posted signs for parking restrictions.
This walk offers a respectable workout in true Santa Monica style. Starting at the popular Santa Monica stairs on the northern border of the beach city, the route then drops down to the beach for a sun-drenched stroll to the popular Annenberg Community Beach House.
Note: While most of the walks in this book are designed to cover as much new ground as possible, this one returns to the starting point by more or less the same route. However, because most of that route overlooks the ocean or traverses the beach, we figured our readers wouldn’t mind retracing their steps.
Walk Description
Begin at the intersection of Fourth Street and Adelaide Drive, right at the northernmost border of the city of Santa Monica in the exclusive residential neighborhood known as North of Montana.
Directly across the intersection, on the north side of Adelaide, is one of the two sets of Santa Monica stairs, a popular exercise destination for locals. Descend the long, narrow staircase all the way to Entrada Drive.
Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and follow the sidewalk, passing Canyon Charter School, a public elementary school in one of LA’s most exclusive neighborhoods, on your left.
At the intersection with Amalfi Drive, look for the second set of stairs on your right, and ascend. The wooden staircase is wider than the first, making it easier to share with the remarkably fit locals trotting doggedly up and down.
Turn right at the top of the stairs, and follow Adelaide for a little under 0.5 mile down to Ocean Avenue, passing a succession of huge multimillion-dollar homes—the sprawling shingled Craftsman at 236 Adelaide is particularly envy-inducing.
When you reach Ocean Avenue, cross the street to
Turn left to walk through the park. You have your choice of dirt paths: the one closer to the street is shaded by pine trees, while the one on the ocean side is sunnier but offers spectacular views. On the green space between the two paths, you’ll likely see trainers leading fitness classes. The practice is so popular, in fact, that the city of Santa Monica cracked down in recent years, requiring trainers to obtain a permit to conduct sessions in city parks to keep them from being overrun with fitness enthusiasts. You’ll pass through a pretty rose garden across from the intersection with Palisades Avenue and then come to an interesting spherical wooden sculpture just south of the garden.
Shortly thereafter, across from the intersection of Montana Avenue, you’ll reach the staircase that will take you down to the beach on your right. Descend the long stairway, cross the bridge over the Pacific Coast Highway, and then continue down the spiral staircase to a beach parking lot.
Cross the lot toward the beach. On your left, you’ll pass a private beach club and a public swing set.
Turn right when you reach the beach path. Around this point, the path goes from being exclusively for cyclists to being a shared pedestrian/bike path. It’s wise to keep right to make way for passing cyclists.
Continue on the beach path a little under 0.5 mile to
Follow the boardwalk to the right toward the