SoCal Sights | Est. 2022

From 133 Steps to 500+: LA’s Secret Stairs and Easy Walk Loops

Walker ascending historic Los Angeles hillside stairs

Los Angeles has dozens of publicly accessible historic staircases tucked into its hillside neighborhoods, and the best starting points are the Music Box Steps, Micheltorena Stairs, Bunker Hill Steps, and Murphy’s Ranch. Some are gated or partly closed, so check access before you go. Below you’ll find a curated list, three walk loops, and the maps you need to plan your own outing.

TL;DR:

  • Many of LA’s historic staircases date to the 1920s and were originally built to connect hillside homes to trolley lines, now mostly abandoned or overgrown.
  • The best starting points include the Music Box Steps, Micheltorena Stairs, Bunker Hill Steps, and Murphy’s Ranch, but access can vary with gates or closures.
  • Walk loops typically range from 1.5 to 3.5 miles, with routes suitable for quick outings or more strenuous half-day adventures; check current statuses before heading to Murphy’s Ranch.
  • Proper footwear, water, and neighborhood etiquette are essential, especially since these stairs run through residential areas with limited lighting and uneven surfaces.
  • Trustworthy guides and downloadable maps from Charles Fleming’s Secret Stairs and local resources help plan safe, enjoyable explorations of these hidden city landmarks.

Table of Contents

What are LA’s secret stairs, exactly?

The phrase “secret stairs” comes largely from journalist Charles Fleming, whose guidebook mapped out the city’s forgotten public staircases neighborhood by neighborhood. These aren’t secret in the sense of being hidden or off limits. They’re public rights of way, built into the hills nearly a century ago, that most Angelenos drive right past without noticing. Fleming has cataloged roughly half of the stairs he identified as still accessible today, with plenty of others gated, overgrown, or swallowed by private landscaping. That’s the tension that makes this hobby interesting: you’re chasing a piece of civic history that the city itself has half forgotten.

Top secret stairs to visit in LA

Some of these you can knock out in fifteen minutes. Others will leave your legs shaking. Here’s where to start.

  1. Music Box Steps (Silver Lake). These 133 steps earned their fame from Laurel and Hardy’s Oscar-winning short film The Music Box, and a plaque near the top commemorates the connection. It’s steep but short, and the surrounding streets are lined with 1920s bungalows worth a slow look.
  2. Micheltorena Stairs (Silver Lake). A colorful, mosaic-tiled staircase that neighbors maintain themselves, painted in bright rainbow patterns. It’s one of the most photographed stairs in the city and an easy add-on to a Music Box walk.
  3. Bunker Hill Steps (Downtown LA). Modeled loosely on the Spanish Steps in Rome, this modern staircase cuts through the financial district with a waterfall feature running down the center. Fully public, well-lit, and stroller-friendly if you take the adjacent escalator.
  4. Murphy’s Ranch (Pacific Palisades). This is the outlier on the list: a former Nazi sympathizer compound turned graffiti-covered ruin inside Rustic Canyon, reachable by a stairway that Fleming cites as the longest referenced in his research, with over five hundred steps. Expect a steep dirt approach trail before you even reach the stairs, and know that fire damage has periodically closed sections of the park.
  5. Castellammare Stairs (Pacific Palisades). A quieter coastal staircase with sweeping Pacific views, tucked between beach homes above the Pacific Coast Highway. Fewer crowds than the Silver Lake stairs, and a good sunset spot.
  6. Eldred Street Stairs (Mount Washington). Widely cited as one of the steepest public streets in the country, with a staircase running alongside it that locals use as an informal fitness circuit.
  7. Prospect Stairs (Silver Lake). A short, unassuming connector stair that locals use daily and tourists rarely find, good for rounding out a neighborhood loop.
  8. Baxter Street Stairs (Echo Park). Tucked beside one of the steepest paved streets in LA, this staircase rewards the climb with a clear view toward Downtown.

Suggested walks and loops that string stairs together

You don’t need a whole day to feel like you’ve explored somewhere new. Most stair routes run 1.5 to 3.5 miles, which puts them squarely in microadventure territory rather than full hike commitment.

  • Easy loop (about 1.5 miles, 45 minutes): Start at Bunker Hill Steps downtown, wander through the Grand Park area, and loop back. Metro’s Red Line drops you within a block, so parking isn’t an issue.
  • Moderate Silver Lake loop (about 2.5 miles, 90 minutes): Combine the Music Box Steps with the Micheltorena Stairs, connecting through quiet residential blocks. Park near Sunset Boulevard and budget time for photos.
  • Strenuous Palisades loop (about 3.5 miles, 2 to 2.5 hours): Tackle Murphy’s Ranch from the Rustic Canyon trailhead, then detour toward Castellammare if you have energy left. Bring more water than you think you need. Sections near Murphy’s Ranch have seen closures, so check current status before committing.

Google Maps handles walking directions fine for the easier loops, but for Murphy’s Ranch and Eldred Street, a dedicated hiking app or downloaded offline map avoids wrong turns on unmarked hillside paths.

How the secret stairs happened: a quick history

Most of these staircases date to the 1920s, when Los Angeles built them to connect hillside homes to the Pacific Electric Railway’s Red Car trolley lines. Cars weren’t yet the default, and steep terrain meant stairs were often faster than switchback roads. When the Red Car system shut down in the mid-20th century, many staircases lost their purpose and fell into disrepair, some for decades. The Music Box Steps survived partly because of their film pedigree. Others survived simply because tearing them out cost more than leaving them alone, which is how LA ended up with a scattered network of pre-automobile infrastructure hiding in plain sight.

How the secret stairs happened: a quick history — overview diagram

Access, safety, and neighborhood etiquette

These stairs run through people’s actual neighborhoods, so how you show up matters.

  • Check for gates or posted closures before you drive out, especially at Murphy’s Ranch, since sections open and close depending on fire risk and cleanup status.
  • Wear real shoes, not sandals. Uneven, mossy, or cracked steps are common even on the well-maintained routes.
  • Bring water, particularly for the Palisades and Mount Washington routes, where shade is scarce.
  • Skip solo visits after dark. Many of these stairs sit on quiet residential streets with limited lighting.
  • Keep your voice down, don’t block driveways or gates while taking photos, and pack out anything you bring in.

Pro Tip: If you’re photographing the Music Box Steps, look for the small plaque near the top marking the film connection. It’s easy to miss if you’re focused on catching your breath.

Planning your stair walk: maps, transit, and what to bring

A little prep turns a confusing detour into a smooth afternoon.

  1. Download a free route PDF from Secret Stairs, which maps most of the routes covered here with turn-by-turn detail.
  2. Check parking rules before you go. Silver Lake and Echo Park have permit zones on many residential blocks; Downtown routes near Bunker Hill are easiest by Metro.
  3. Pack water, sunscreen, a phone with charge, and shoes with real tread.
  4. Aim for early morning or late afternoon. Midday sun on exposed stairs like Eldred Street gets brutal fast, and the light for photos is better anyway.

Where to find trustworthy guides and maps

You don’t have to piece this together from scratch.

  • Charles Fleming’s Secret Stairs guidebook and the companion Secret Stairs site remain the most complete mapped resource, with downloadable route PDFs.
  • NBC Los Angeles has covered guided walking tours built around these same routes.
  • National Park Service pages, like the one for Bayside Trail at Cabrillo National Monument, are worth studying as a model for how to lay out distance, elevation, and hazard details before any coastal-adjacent stair walk.
  • Socalsights keeps its own walk-ready itineraries if you want a route already built around your fitness level.

Why these staircases are worth the climb

Secret stairs are the rare LA outing that costs nothing, takes under two hours, and still teaches you something about the city. What strikes me most is how these routes reward attention rather than mileage. You’ll notice architecture, murals, and plaques you’d never catch from a car. My favorite short loop pairs the Music Box Steps with a stop at a nearby Silver Lake coffee spot afterward. It’s low effort, high payoff, and it’s the kind of walk you can talk a skeptical friend into. If you’ve found a staircase not listed here, or you’ve got a good photo from one, Socalsights always wants to hear about it.

— Joshua

Get a ready-made stair walk from Socalsights

Socalsights is the shortcut for readers who’d rather walk than research. Instead of stitching together PDFs, transit schedules, and neighborhood parking rules on your own, our local guides hand you a route that’s already been mapped, timed, and checked for closures.

Socalsights

Each guide pairs the walk itself with practical extras: where to grab coffee near the route, which stretches are stroller-friendly, and what to skip if you’re short on time. If Silver Lake and the Palisades have you hooked, our Los Angeles hiking guide covers longer options for when you want to push past the stairs into full trail territory. Pull up the itinerary landing page, pick a neighborhood, and head out this weekend with a plan already in hand.

Sources

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