Trail Review: Deervale/Stone Canyon Trail
Parking: Free street parking around trailhead.
Distance: 2 miles Out & Back.
At just about 2 miles round trip, this trail is pretty short but we happened to be looking for something short on this particular weekend. It turns out that it wasn't the best choice for a few reasons, which I'll get into by the end.
The trail starts in between two residential properties in Sherman Oaks. There was plenty of street parking along Crisp Canyon Road, even though it is one of those narrow and steep roads you see in hillside communities in Los Angeles.
Right off the bat, you'll have a pretty steep section that'll get the blood pumping. There is one other section about three quarters of the way up that is also really steep. Other than those two sections, the incline isn't too difficult.
Your best views surprisingly come toward the beginning and in the middle of the hike. The park looks out onto the valley and so you get some pretty decent views on the way up (if you turn around and look behind you).
There were also some cute little features along the trail including a "cairn city" and a painted guitar hanging out in the grass.
There's also plenty of wildflowers along the path. The downside of all of those wildflowers though? There were SO MANY bugs. And not just bugs, but bees. In fact, we didn't realize it until we were literally standing next to it, but one of the trees on the trail had a full on beehive in it with what looked like hundreds of bees sitting on top of each other. It was a little unnerving.
With the uphill portion being only about a mile, you'll hit the end of the park and the trail pretty quickly. The view of the valley is actually obscured by trees at the top so your only view up here is a canyon to the west with some nice houses. The trail ends at a residential street farther up the hillside from where you started and you'll find yourself in another part of the neighborhood. This is where you would turn around.
Now this is what happened to us. We started our descent, but about a quarter of the way down, another set of hikers with a dog came up the trail and said that a rattle snake just slithered across the path not too far down. It was agitated and making rattling sounds. So instead of continuing our way down, we ended up going back up to the top of the trail and walking through the hillside neighborhood back to the car. It ended up making our hike a bit longer, adding about an extra mile to the whole thing.
In the end, with the bees and bugs and rattlesnake, this trail didn't leave the best impression with us. It seemed like a decent option for locals but there are better trails to drive to.
Bottom Line: A short trail that seems like a decent workout spot for locals but not really worth the drive for others.
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