Last month I suggested an outing along Mulholland Drive – the 24-mile partition that separates the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles. Its 30-mile extension – Mulholland Highway, offers a non-suburban contrast.
More a country road than a highway, Mulholland Highway passes through the undeveloped and under-appreciated countryside that is the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It traverses an area that contains more than 1,000 plant species and 500 or so species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
Read MoreIt’s a cliché, but still true, Los Angeles is diverse; it has many interrelated parts. Understanding its parts means a better understanding of the whole. Local guides can further your understanding of the parts. They are not difficult to find.
The City of Angels teems with nonprofit organizations whose unpaid members are curious about the history of a particular locale or subject – their enthusiasm and activity reflecting one aspect of the volunteerism that Alexis de Tocqueville considered to be uniquely American.
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