The year is 1775. In October, forty soldiers and 240 civilians under the command of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza set out from the presidio at Tubac, AZ to colonize present-day San Jose. In January 1776, they pass through the future pueblo of Los Angeles and camp along the river at a place called El Portezuelo. Later, one soldier, Corporal Jose Vicente Feliz, will receive a land grant that includes El Portezuelo. Eventually it will become known as Rancho Los Feliz and ultimately, Griffith Park.
Fast forward to 2012. With a technical assistance grant from the National Park Service Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance (NPS-RTCA) program, Friends of Griffith Park has embarked on a project to improve Griffith Park’s Anza Trail. We’re excited to be serving as Project Cooperator for a primary planning team that includes the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and NPS-RTCA.
The outcome will be a link in a well-defined Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail stretching from Nogales, AZ to the San Francisco Bay. Along the trail, the National Park Service envisions that visitors will “experience landscapes similar to those the expedition saw; learn the stories of the expedition, its members, and descendants… and appreciate the extent of the accomplishments of Juan Bautista de Anza and his colonizers.”
Part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative
Elevating prospects for success is the project’s recent mention in President Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” (AGO) Fifty-State Report. The report highlights two projects in every state as local grassroots conservation efforts of significant value. In California, one of them is trail improvements along the Los Angeles River including Griffith Park and the Anza Trail. This inclusion helps position the project as a priority endeavor for the State and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Current trail conditions, challenges and opportunities
Horseback riders, hikers and runners routinely enjoy Griffith Park’s segment of the Anza Trail – a distance of approximately 4 miles. It can be accessed at the Park’s northwest entrance, opposite the Equestrian Center or at the southeast terminus near the Pony/Train Ride concession at the Park’s Los Feliz entrance. In some places it passes through remnants of oak woodland communities and is shaded by heritage oaks and ancient sycamores. Elsewhere it skirts picnic grounds and the Wilson-Harding Golf Course offering views of the Park’s foothills. Be forewarned that some sections of the trail are less than ideal and that problems with upkeep and freeway noise will affect enjoyment.
Friends of Griffith Park is seeking to improve the overall trail experience. Beyond resolving maintenance issues and making necessary repairs, potential improvements may include adding interpretative signage to promote the trail’s educational value, creating signage to call attention to its heritage trees and plants, improving the landscape, adding noise mitigation measures and promoting connectivity to other Anza Trail units. We are at the beginning stage of the planning process, but if we do our work well, the Anza Trail will one day become a rewarding experience in the discovery and enjoyment of Griffith Park.
Anza might have gone through Atwater on his 1774 expedition. I’m pretty sure he stopped at the paraje on the arroyo seco, when Jose maria verdugo called La Zanja. Zanja at that time had a larger meaning than it does now, and included a natural water corridor like the Arroyo Seco. anza wrote that he followed the river, but he did not wade across it, in 1774.
H. E. Bolton in different books 1. Said Anza went upriver in 1776 after crossing the LA River. 2. Camped in what looks like Burbank on the map that he drew for Outposts of Empire. Anza, et al crossed the Los Angeles River on February 21, 1776. The only way they could have gone “upriver” after crossing the LA River is to have taken El Camino Viejo — E.O.C. Ord drew it on Plan de la Ciudad de Los Anges in 1849 — and gone around Arroyo de los Reyes (Now Echo Park Lake), to about Marion and what is today’s Sunset and then over to Ivanhoe Canyon and then a little jog over to the place marked “Portezuelo” on 19th century surveys. That portezuelo, almost certainly Anza and Font’s portezuelo, is the Silver Ridge shopping plaza now. Then, down Rowena and then into Griffith Park. Phil Valdez, Jr. argued it was at Universal Studios based on Ron Quinn’s essay but apparently neither knew that there was no road through the Santa Monica Mountains until at best 1858, when Butterfield Stage Coach built a road. The old road went over a ridge of mountains, about where the Wonder View Trail is today. So Anza went through Griffith Park on February 22, 1776, passing by Toluca Lake. El Portezuelo was a paraje, a stopping place to graze cattle. The John C Ferraro site is very near water or was in 1776, when the river contained real water, and Font said there was little water at the site — both Universal Studios (Ron Quinn and Phil Valdez, Jr.) and the John C. Ferraro campgrounds were near LOTS of water in 1776.
Where is the official Anza trail marker? Is it on the map?
I know of one at the bike path in Atwater. They’re hard to spot and I’ve never seen them on a map, although they may exist.
Can you show me exactly where I can find the Anza Trail?
It’s really hard to describe the actual trail. We do know there’s a marker in Atwater Village identifying the trail, but if you don’t know what it looks like, you’ll probably walk right by.
There’s also signage along the trail in Crystal Springs… if you walk between the fence marking the golf course, and picnic area (starting just east of the Visitor Center) eventually you’ll come to an intersection going north south paralleling the 5 FWY. There’s signage at the native garden next to the golf course so it’s much easier to spot… https://friendsofgriffithpark.org/the-anza-trail-in-griffith-park/
also… https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/griffith-park-explorer-segment-4-anza-autry-main