A short, steep loop on Silver Lake's public stairways off Sunset Blvd: the 177 painted Micheltorena Stairs with downtown views, the Descanso staircase, and the 133 Music Box Steps where Laurel and Hardy hauled a piano in their Oscar-winning 1932 short. End in the cafes around Sunset Junction or extend to the Silver Lake Reservoir.
Best time: Morning or late afternoon; the stairs are steep and there is little shade
The route, stop by stop
- 1Micheltorena Stairs
177 steps painted in rainbow colours, from Sunset Blvd up to Micheltorena St and Winslow Dr; look back for the downtown skyline (Weekend Sherpa). 15 min.
- 2Descanso Drive staircase
The Descanso staircase drops from Descanso Dr down to Larissa Dr (Weekend Sherpa). 10 min.
- 3Music Box Steps
133 steps, marked by a sign, used in Laurel and Hardy's The Music Box (1932), which won the first Academy Award for live-action comedy short (Weekend Sherpa; Wikipedia). 15 min.
- 4Laurel and Hardy Park
Small triangular park at the foot of the steps; from its south end take narrow Garcia Walk and Vendome St back to Sunset (Weekend Sherpa). 10 min.
- 5Sunset Triangle Plaza
Pedestrian plaza at Sunset Junction, surrounded by places to eat (Weekend Sherpa). 20 min.
- 6Silver Lake Reservoir
Optional extension: the two basins of the Silver Lake Reservoir Complex (Ivanhoe and Silver Lake) (Wikipedia); Weekend Sherpa suggests it for extra mileage. 30 min.
More walks in Los Angeles
- Broadway: the Historic Core and its movie palaces
- El Pueblo, Union Station and Chinatown
- Little Tokyo and the Arts District
- Bunker Hill: library, steps, Angels Flight and Grand Avenue
- Griffith Park: Fern Dell up to the Observatory, down to the Greek
- Hollywood Boulevard beyond the stars: movie palaces and old Hollywood
- Venice canals, Abbot Kinney and the boardwalk to Santa Monica Pier
- Old Pasadena to the Colorado Street Bridge