Franklin Canyon Ranch

While hiking through this park I made the comment to John that Hollywood does not have to travel far when producing movies. There are plenty of natural settings around the immediate area which afford the perfect scenery for many movies, especially westerns. I found out later, from a park brochure, that Franklin Canyon has been an active filming location since the 1930s and still is today. It Happened One Night, The Silence of the Lambs, the Andy Griffith Show, and more were filmed in this park. There are several hiking trails within the canyon, we chose one which took us to the top. It  was a bit steep and sort of  a challenge, but we kept going thinking we would stop before reaching the top. There were quite a few other hikers besides us out on the same trail enjoying the warm day There were also plenty of birds and wildflowers to enjoy along the way. I was even surprised to hear the song of the  whip-poor will, which is not a common bird out west.

 At the top of the canyon we had a beautiful view of Beverly Hills, which has an occasional mansion tucked away in its hills. There are plenty of beautiful areas around Los Angeles to build a home with such a view.The big question is whether one wants to take the chance of living with forest fires or mud slides.

We took  Mulholland Drive out of the park. Along this road there is a scenic overlook for Universal Studios, which is the very tall building in the foreground of the picture below.

Along Mulholland Drive we also stopped at an overlook for the Hollywood Bowl, and from there we were also able to see the Hollywood sign far off in the hills. It was at this place where we found some interesting information on Los Angeles. The town began as one pueblo- it lacked a good harbor, coal, iron, timber or water, all necessary items to start a town. Eventually it was oranges, oil, movies and tourism that spurred its economic growth. By the 20th century railroads were built, the harbor was dredged and water piped in.