East Side of the Park
The Broadway entrance to Elysian Park was the original “face” of the park. Largely overlooked in recent years, our organization is pushing to get formal signage and lighting re-installed. Park Row Drive guided 19th century sightseers along a curving road up to Buena Vista point. This road connects with Grand View Drive which wraps around the former reservoir and leads up to Point Grandview. As you keep going, the Drive passes by the 18-hole Chavez Ridge Disc Golf Course and meets up with Angels Point Road. You can branch off onto side trails and roads that lead to: Solano Canyon, Elysian Fields, San Gabriel Panorama and the Helipad. In the palm-lined section of Angels Point Road you’ll hear the “pops” of the Police Academy gun range, then end with a final city view under the giant modernist sculpture at Angels Point.
The same West Side hiking rules apply, but a few trails can be less populated in the East so parties of two or more are suggested.
Broadway Entrance
In the 1890s this entrance, called the “Fremont Gate,” was the park's main entrance. North Broadway was then named Buena Vista Street. In the 1900s streetcars shuttled the public up to this main entrance of Elysian Park. Parts of the gate remain today including the ruins of a Victorian lamppost.
Buena Vista Meadows
Before heading up the hill into the park there is this quiet side area. This open meadow gets more shady and tree-lined as you venture in. At the western edge you can connect to the lower trails of Buena Vista Hill. Near the back would be the initial holes of the proposed Zanja Madrea Disc Golf Course. There is also some discussion with Rec and Parks (RaP) of a fenced in dog play area on the Eastern edge.
Buena Vista Hill
Iconic views of the Arroyo Seco Parkway and the 110 can be glimpsed from Park Row Dr. bridge that spans them. At Buena Vista Point is a forgotten glade with benches to look out across the eastern part of the city. Paved fire roads surround the hill but they are less frequented, recent surveys encountered signs of previous encampment but felt safe in the daytime. To bring more activity to this part of Elysian a 12-hole disc golf course called Zanja Madre is in the works.
Casanova Terraces
In the 1920s “Travelers’ Auto Camps” were built to encourage automobile use and interstate travel. These free campgrounds had bathroom facilities, water and other amenities for families on their journeys. Today the ruins remain as an important piece of Elysian Park history.
Solano Community Garden
This Elysian Park space, established in 1999, was for Solano Canyon residents to have a community garden. The need for locked gates has turned it into a private garden only open to the public for a couple hours on Saturdays.
Radio Hill
The paved road in is lined with California olive trees (which are fruitless). The top of the hill houses communications antennae behind locked gates. This area has been the site of many recent brush fires that threaten homes in Solano Canyon. The “No Trespassing” signs have not been successful at dissuading encampments and have only served to deter hikers and explorers. We want to reactivate this area with a possible native tree nursery at the top and new trails for off-leash dog walking.
Walkway along Arroyo Seco Parkway
Radio Hill would be totally isolated if it weren’t for this connector to Buena Vista Hill. You can access the fenced-in footpath on the Stadium Way side of the hill or opposite the entrance on Amador Street. This is a fairly unused walkway. A recent survey found a couple encampments and some trash but it didn’t impede our hike or feel unsafe.
Carob Grove
Next to the former Reservoir is a small quiet space for picnics. In 2025, inspired by Joseph Beuys’s groundbreaking 7000 Oaks project, the Broad Museum’s “Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar” reforestation project planted 100 California Live Oak trees starting here and winding up Park Row Drive. Each one marked by a boulder.
Elysian Reservoir
Once a lake with boats and recreation for the public, over time this reservoir was closed to the public, and then decommissioned permanently in 2016. The synthetic floating mat covering it today is to comply with EPA guidelines protecting from microbes and sunlight-induced reactions.
Point Grandview
Overlooking downtown and the now-closed reservoir is Point Grandview. It also offers a panoramic view of the bridges across the LA River to the south. To the north you’ll see the tangle of interconnected freeways Los Angeles is so famous for. It’s an incredible vantage point to our sprawling metropolis.
Chavez Ridge Disc Golf Course
An 18-hole certified disc golf course runs from the intersection of Grand View and Park Drives and along Angels Point Road. Disc golf resources stress that this is NOT beginner friendly. It’s ranked as extremely hilly, spans 2 miles of steep ridges, and takes around 2 hours to complete.
Elysian Valley Loop
This trail starts at the intersection of Stadium Way and Angels Point Road. It’s a less populated trail that is filled with native Black Walnut trees and naturally occurring clarkia, monkey flower and more. On the back side of the hill it overlooks the 5 and Elysian Valley. After a few mini-scrambles up and down you reach the end at Angels Point Road. If you take that road back to the start it’s a little under 3 miles.
Elysian Fields
Home to Los Angeles Little League Baseball, that area has mountain views, a children’s playground and shaded picnic areas with grills big enough to roast an entire pig! There is also a large meadow for informal games and picnics.
San Gabriel Panorama
Adjacent to Elysian Fields you can walk out onto this panoramic viewpoint and take in the majesty of the San Gabriel Mountains. Reconnect with Angels Point Road by taking the trail next to the water tower.
The Helipad
Across from the spot where the water tower mini trail exits you’ll see a side trail. Taking that walks you alongside a manmade runoff channel and up to the Helipad. The helipad is a vital resource for L.A. firefighters combatting wildfires, but in its many off hours is used as a hiking destination with views towards the San Gabriels as well as Dodger Stadium and downtown.
Angels Point Road
Is lined with towering Date Palms that can be seen from miles away. This ridgeline road is the main artery for this northern zone of the East Side. If you continue along this road west you’ll end up at Angels Point lookout spot that has the enormous memorial sculpture. (After that, winding north down the road puts you at Stadium Way, where pedestrians could connect to the West Side if there were a safe way to do so.)
Angels View Meadow
This hidden meadow between Angels View vista point and Angels Point (with the large sculpture) is a charming, and quiet private picnic area.
Angels Point
At Angels Point is a 28 ft. tall modernist sculpture by Echo Park artist Peter Shire (honoring our benefactor Grace E. Simons and her husband Frank).
Angels Point Overlook
Arc shaped benches sit atop a rise just above Angels Point. There is a scramble trail up to it and the fromt and a shallower grade trail at the back.
Solano Canyon
Is home to the most modern ammenities in the entirety of Elysian Park. It has an educational children’s playground, soccer field, tennis courts and soon-to-be splash pad. It serves as the starting point for 5 and 10k marathons in the park. The main entrance to this area is at Academy Road. Driving to the end of Solano Canyon Drive will connect you to all three of the major paved roads of Elysian Park: Angels Point Rd., Park Row Dr., and Grand View Dr.
Adaptive Recreation Center
Provides after-school care and summer camps for the local community. The center also offers programs for those with disabilities and special needs. And can be reserved for city and park functions.
Academy Switchback to Helipad
Behind the gated fire road that’s visible from the long meadow along Academy Road (next to the Rec Center) is a switchback leading to the helipad. The lower portions have quiet wooded glades to explore.
Police Academy
It was a gun range in 1925 and it is still going today! The building itself opened in 1935 and the first trained police officers graduated in 1936. The public can visit the diner-style cafe 6am-1pm Monday through Friday. Make sure to see the Rock Garden with its waterfalls and pools as well.
For additional images please visit our Flickr page!
(This section is currently in progress — please excuse any errors pre-finalization.)