Secret Walks: A Walking Guide to the Hidden Trails of Los Angeles is a sequel to the popular Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles, and features another collection of exciting urban walks through parks, canyons, and neighborhoods unknown and unseen by most Angelinos. Each walk is rated for duration, distance, and difficulty, and is accompanied by a map. The walks, like those in Secret Stairs, are filled with fascinating factoids about historical landmarks—the original Bat Cave from Batman, the lake where Opie learned to fish on The Andy Griffith Show, or the storage barn for one of L.A.’s oldest wineries. The book also highlights the people who made the landmarks famous: the infamous water engineer William Mulholland; the convicted murderer and philanthropist Colonel Griffith J. Griffith; Charles Lummis, who walked from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to take a job on the L.A. Times; and tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney, who dug canals to drain the marshes south of Santa Monica and create his American “Venice.” Written in the entertainingly informed style that has made Secret Stairs a Los Angeles Times best-seller, Secret Walks is the perfect book for the walker eager to explore but tired of the crowds at Runyon Canyon or Temescal Park.

Containing walks and detailed maps from throughout the city, Secret Stairs highlights the charms and quirks of a unique feature of the Los Angeles landscape, and chronicles the geographical, architectural, and historical aspects of the city’s staircases, as well as of the neighborhoods in which the steps are located. From strolling through the classic La Loma neighborhood in Pasadena to walking the Sunset Junction Loop in Silver Lake, to taking the Beachwood Canyon hike through “Hollywoodland” to enjoying the magnificent ocean views from the Castellammare district in Pacific Palisades, Secret Stairs takes you on a tour of the staircases all across the City of Angels. The circular walks, rated for duration and difficulty, deliver tales of historic homes and their fascinating inhabitants, bits of unusual local trivia, and stories of the neighborhoods surrounding the stairs. That’s where William Faulkner was living when he wrote the screenplay for To Have and Have Not; that house was designed by Neutra; over there is a Schindler; that’s where Woody Guthrie lived, where Anais Nin died, and where Thelma Todd was murdered . . . Despite the fact that one of these staircases starred in an Oscar-winning short film—Laurel and Hardy’s The Music Box, from 1932—these civic treasures have been virtually unknown to most of the city’s residents and visitors. Now, Secret Stairs puts these hidden stairways back on the map, while introducing urban hikers to exciting new “trails” all around the city of Los Angeles.

Revised and Updated in September 2020! The hills of the East Bay contain one of the finest and densest urban hiking environments in the state of California—more than 400 paved pathways and public staircases lattice up and down the slopes of Berkeley and Oakland alone. Rising high above the city centers, with towering views of the San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge, and San Francisco itself, these elegant civic walking trails—many of them shaded in oaks and redwoods, and many unknown even to local residents—present a unique landscape for both the casual walker and dedicated hiker. Charles Fleming, the Southern California author whose bestselling 2010 walking guide Secret Stairs turned the hidden public staircases of Los Angeles into popular hiking trails, now turns his eyes northward. For Secret Stairs: East Bay, Fleming has designed more than 30 individual hiking loops. Linking multiple staircases into one-to two-hour self-guided strolls, these urban treks will delight the tourist, newly arrived Berkeley undergraduate, and veteran Bay Area resident alike. The circular walks, each calibrated by length, difficulty, and duration—and each accompanied by a detailed, easy-to-follow map—are sprinkled with fascinating facts about the historic staircases, the historic homes around them, and the famous Bay Area characters who gave them their names. Walk the walks of Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and John Muir! Climb Berkeley’s massive Fred Herbert and Tamalpais Paths, hike Easter Way, and summit Sunset Trail! Mount Oakland’s Oakmore stairs, then tackle the hills of Upper Rockridge and Crocker Highlands via the public staircases. And do it all within easy walking distance from BART or bus stops, free parking, and excellent Bay Area cafés.

Secret Walks & Staircases in Santa Cruz is a guidebook to interesting walks in Santa Cruz California ranging from one mile to more than six miles. The vibrant route descriptions reveal the location of dozens of unmarked stairways and hidden passageways in this California Central Coast town. The featured walks lead to scenic vistas, historic structures, and natural areas. There are 44 detailed maps to aid the user. The more than 130 photographs include over 75 way-finding pictures and numerous photos of plants and animals likely to be seen by the walker. All walks are rated by distance and elevation gain. Useful data are provided about the effectiveness of pedestrian safety infrastructure such as median islands and flashing beacons.

"If you don't think for yourself, then you're admitting that your theory of happiness is the dog asleep in the sun." -Sinclair Lewis, The Trail of the Hawk The Trail of the Hawk (1915) is a coming-of-age novel that describes the struggles of Carl Ericson as he tries to reconcile his desire for adventure with societal expectations. In classic Lewis style, the author explores the effects of immigration, convention, entrepreneurship, love, maturity, and passion in a style that is simultaneously humorous and wise.

A collection of urban walks through the parks, canyons, and neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Each walk is rated for duration, distance, and difficulty, and is accompanied by a map.

"This book looks at Hogan's swing more closely than anything has ever done, and McLean's aim is to describe clearly and concisely its key components. What's more, this book will give you the opportunity, via its rare photographs, to look at and observe Ben Hogan yourself. And along the way McLean will show you how you can integrate Hogan's mechanics into your own game. The key to this book, what makes it like no other, are the three series of film stills of Hogan at his very best in the last 1940s before his terrible car accdident and how McLean uses them to show the details and the important motions of Hogan's entire golf swing"--Provided by publisher.