Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles (Revised September 2020)

I've done several of the hikes. They are very unique and I've enjoyed them all, I've not found anything like this in any other book. For the most part things are very accurate. I would say the maps are not very good.

Update 5/2/16: I would recommend skipping hike 28 in Atwater Village. First the map is not really correct as specifies taking Glendale Bl to Riverside, this is not correct, taking the stairs puts you on Hyperion. The reason why this is important is because we were walking from hike 27 and wanted to pick the trail up mid-way. We were looking for a stair at Glendale instead if Hyperion. But the main reason to skip it is because once you cross over the five freeway both the north bike path and pedestrian bridge over the LA River are welded shut. You have to go south to Glendale/Hyperion.
Update 9/9/19: Looks like the bike path on 28 north has reopened so I can recommend doing it now. I've done almost all the hikes now. Additional comments is that there are incorrect addresses of where to turn in places and some questionable descriptions (mostly in Hollywood). You'll need to read both the descriptions and look at the maps carefully, perhaps plot the route on a mapping program. Also things have changed since I got my book, like the Southwest Museum appears to be open all Saturdays and the tunnel entrance is open when the museum is and the trail up to it is closed.

What a nice book. I live in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, and a friend suggested this book to me. I realized I had read a novel by the author a few years ago that I really enjoyed, "The Ivory Coast" a jazz/noir set in Vegas, so I picked up a copy. Now I'm planning to take the walks written about in the book. Wow. As a kid, one of my favorite "Three Stooges" was shot on a stair street. They had a job delivering ice, and Curly has a huge block of ice in tongs, and when he gets to the top, he's holding a little ice cube. What I love about L. A. is how much history and mystery exists here, particularly on the east side, and parts of Hollywood. Because it was run down over here for so long, large swaths of the east side weren't touched when all of the money moved in a little west, and few of those monstrous developments occurred; there are still little nuggets and gems you can find. My only quibble is that I would have loved pictures of the stair street, but on the other hand, the descriptions are great, and leaving the mystery makes me want to go there myself. Which I plan to.

I'd lived in LA for four years when I discovered this book, and I only wish I'd found the Secret Stairs of Los Angeles book sooner! Once you go on one of these walks, you will be hooked and excited to complete all 42 walks! The book has given me a fresh perspective on and appreciation for Los Angeles, even my own neighborhood! Most of the walks are on the east side of the city - Los Feliz, Silverlake and Echo Park. If you have a friend moving to LA, this is a great housewarming gift. This book has become a great excuse to get together with friends to take on a new walk together. I love Charles Fleming's writing too, he highlights a great mixture of history and quirky observations on each walk.

I liked the idea of finding hidden and little-known gems in Los Angeles. The city sprawls across so many miles that it is easy to miss on some of the little known sites in the city. That leads us to SECRET STAIRS A WALKING GUIDE TO THE HISTORIC STAIRCASES OF LOS ANGELES. It's definitely an interesting concept to find the secret staircases of the city. Unfortunately, I found the book to be flawed on a few levels. Each Stair Walk begins with not too detailed map obviously created for the book. The maps are basic and list main streets and just a small area.

Basically, you are left to reading the book on where to start and where to turn left or right. It seems a bit archaic in this era of smart phones and GPS devices. The author does mention historic sites and points of interest on the each "walk." The amazing thing is that there are no pictures at all of the actual stairs or the points of interest. Visual cues would make the directions so much easier. Here is a book that cries out for pictures. I planned to do some exploring on my own and just figured the book would not be detailed enough.

It is a great concept and I will look for other books one hidden Los Angeles but SECRET STAIRS isn't top of my list.

If you live in Los Angeles and like to *hike*, this book is for you! While L.A. has much park land and hiking trails, it's fun to mix things up and enjoy an "urban" hike that is both a good work-out and good for sightseeing, especially if you're into architecture. I've lived in Los Angeles for most of my life and never even KNEW many of this hidden staircases even existed! The author has made all the stair walks into loops (easy return to your car or public transporation -- the author lists what bus routes each walk is on!) And the book explains what you're seeing along the way. The stairs can often be quite challenging! But the book takes you both up and down for a varied work-out. The author lists the times the walks will take, which I find to be generous (I can usually finish them in 10 minutes less than he estimates). My one criticism would be that sometimes the directions are a bit confusing, but then again, many of these stairs are in the hills and other twisty and turn-y parts of Los Angeles, and directions in general in these areas are confusing! This book would make a wonderful gift for any active Angeleno.

This book is an excellent guide to interesting walks in the older parts of L.A. I've tried the Pasadena La Loma walk and am looking forward to the others. The map, while not to scale, and the written guide are easy to follow. Pretty soon you can differentiate the public stairs from any private stairs at street level as they were constructed in a uniform manner.
The only alteration in this walk over the las few years is that it is not as shady as described. Many of the homeowners have removed older growth and replaced it with drought resistant plants. I would advise an early walk of warm or hot days.

This is an amazing book. If you live in Los Angeles and like to walk and see new things, you will love it too. I have done all 42 walks in this book. I have many walking and hiking books but this is the only one where I have done every route listed. Also this book is 8 years old but not much has changed, I found only a few trouble spots in the whole book, and they were easily circumvented.

There's so much to explore in Los Angeles, but you miss a lot of it because you're in a car. You just pass everything quickly thinking you'll explore that area some day, but that day never comes. I'm not one of the anti-car activists that hates cars or thinks that we shouldn't have them, but it's nice to get out and take a walk, especially in the early evening when it's cooler. Secret Stairs is nice because it shows a whole network of paths and staircases that are scattered throughout the city (and surrounding areas) that you miss when you drive by on a car. The wife and I have been taking a lot of these walks and enjoyed seeing new areas and getting a glute workout at the same time (seriously, some of these stairs are LONG and STEEP). Overall a great experience. Beats hiking runyon for the 80,000th time.

Low quality maps. I was expecting better.

This well-organized book takes LA walkers to some cool haunts, particularly the piano stairway made famous in the Laurel and Hardy movie. These many stairways remind walkers how dependent on trolleys and streetcars LA residents used to be as opposed to the cars and super-highways of today.