The walk features the grassy, tree-lined Tujunga Wash Greenway. It also showcases LA’s longest mural, The Great Wall of Los Angeles, painted on the concrete wall of the Tujunga Wash, which runs alongside Los Angeles Valley College.

Starting Point

Intersection of Burbank Blvd. and Coldwater Canyon Ave., in North Hollywood adjacent to Los Angeles Valley College

Walk Directions

Enter the Tujunga Wash Greenway from Coldwater Canyon Blvd., just north of Burbank Blvd. (on the east side of the wash). Walk upstream/north and look into the channel on your left to check out Los Angeles' longest and one of its finest murals.The Great Wall of Los Angeles.

This half-mile-long mural is the work of Judith Baca and hundreds of collaborators, including well-known local artists Eva Cockcroft and Patssi Valdez. Judith Baca is one of the founders of the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), LA'S leading nonprofit mural organization. She is responsible for thousands of thought-provoking murals throughout Los Angeles.

Great Wall was painted in five sections dating from 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, and 1983. It depicts the history of the Los Angeles area from 20,000 BC to the present day. It showcases many neglected historical incidents important to us all and especially to LA'S communities of color, including the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, the destruction of Chavez Ravine, and various Civil Rights struggles.

The mural is showing a few signs of wear, but it still looks great. The city's Cultural Affairs Department is seeking funding to restore and enhance this monumental piece of art.

When you reach Oxnard Street, you're at the tum-around point for the walk. Look across Oxnard to see if the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy/Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority (SMMC/MRCA) has completed the Tujunga Wash Demonstration Project, which will landscape both sides of the wash, from Oxnard to Victory Blvd. (a little over half a mile). The project is slated to include a side stream somewhat similar to Pasadena's Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park (see Walk 22). The park should open in 2006. If it looks like it's open, cross Oxnard and check it out.

Directions to the Start

Bike
Officially, there is a very short section of bike path along the Tujunga Wash from Chandler Blvd. to Oxnard Street. It's short, discontinuous, circuitous, and, below Burbank Blvd., the width is better suited to pedestrians.

From the Metro Red Line North Hollywood Station, bike west on Chandler Blvd. and turn right (north) on Coldwater Canyon Ave. (or enter the bike path at the comer of Chandler and Coldwater). Go north one block and cross Coldwater Canyon Ave. and Burbank Blvd.

Transit
Take the Metro Red Line to the North Hollywood Station, and then take the Metro bus line 156 to Los Angeles Valley College.

Car
Exit the 101 Freeway at Coldwater Canyon Ave. in Studio City and go north on Coldwater. Turn left on Burbank Blvd., then make an immediate right into LA Valley College. Park on the access road that runs between the college and the Tujunga Wash (or, on most weekends, you can park in the college's parking lot along Burbank Blvd.).

Alternately, exit the 170 Freeway at Burbank Blvd. and go west on Burbank. Immediately past Coldwater, turn right into LA Valley College.

Parks

Valley Glen Community Park

Nearby Dining

Ameci Pizza & Pasta

12450 Burbank Blvd # H

CA 91607-4744

(818) 509-1666

  

Sharky's Mexican Grill

13238 Burbank Blvd

Sherman Oaks, CA 91401-6038

(818) 785-2533

 

Le Sushi

12524 Burbank Boulevard

CA 91607-1504

(818) 763-6600

  

Subway

13321 Burbank Blvd # E

CA 91401-5372

(818) 785-8985

 

Dale's Deli New York Pizza

12500 Oxnard Street

CA 91606-4417

(818) 752-6442