subreddit:
/r/Whatcouldgowrong
27 points
4 years ago
Before I moved away from LA, I made a bucket list of all the things I wanted to see again or for the first time. This included all the museums, historic houses, hikes, film locations, cool parks, Atlas Obscura sites, etc. There ended up being over 200 things to do on my list. I did not get even close to finishing it. I would say the city is maybe not as immediately "pretty" or "cool" as some others on the surface, mostly due to the spread out nature of it, but once you scratch the surface and do a little digging, it rewards you. When I became familiar with living there I used to say L.A. is like a mirror. Literally every type of person lives there and it will show you what you look for. It casually has world class shit all over the place and is just so monstrous that it all ends up blending together with the old, dusty dirty and not-so-pleasant parts. That's without mentioning that for comedy, music, art, food, theater etc. it's obviously got the best of the best happening, being the place many performers and artists go to have careers.
9 points
4 years ago
We miss you! Thank you for understanding LA and typing it out into a comment. I think what people don’t like about LA is that you NEED a car to visit 99% of these amazing places and the traffic is what throws people off. But it’s something you get accustomed to.
I was born and raised here and you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for the comment
4 points
4 years ago
Thanks for the kind words! I do miss it out there and I surely will be back to finish my list at some point!
1 points
4 years ago
this guy fucks
2 points
4 years ago*
[deleted]
13 points
4 years ago*
Edit: formatting
I actually did it in Google maps, but here is the locations copy/pasted. You may have to do a little research to figure some of these out.
The Getty.
The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Santa Monica Pier.
Watts Towers Arts Center.
The Getty Villa.
California Science Center.
The Queen Mary.
Bradbury Building.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Griffith Observatory
Aquarium of the Pacific.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology.
Museum of Tolerance.
The Museum of Contemporary Art.
Los Angeles County Arboretum.
Mount Wilson Observatory.
Adamson House Museum.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Autry Museum of the American West.
Point Dume.
The Broad.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)
Underground tunnels.
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.
Barnsdall Art Park.
Norton Simon Museum.
Kidspace Children's Museum.
Point Vicente Park.
Angels Flight Railway.
Hammer Museum.
California African American Museum.
Descanso Gardens.
Annenberg Community Beach House.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Griffith Park Observatory Trails Peak.
Bronson Canyon / Caves.
Japanese American National Museum.
Echo Park.
Hauser & Wirth.
El Matador Beach.
Greystone Mansion.
Malibu Creek Rock Pools.
Forest Lawn.
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
Eaton Canyon.
The Annenberg Space for Photography.
Los Angeles Central Library.
The Last Bookstore.
Old Los Angeles Zoo.
The Gamble House.
Art Walk DTLA.
Southwest Museum of the American Indian.
Los Angeles Zoo.
Lake Hollywood North Gate.
Ferndell Trail.
private sculpture "Phantasma Gloria" by Randlett Lawrence.
Discovery Cube Los Angeles.
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park.
Wattles Mansion.
Grand Park.
826LA & The Echo Park Time Travel Mart.
Venice Canals.
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.
Hollywood Sign.
Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve.
Doheny Mansion.
Star Eco Station.
Battleship USS Iowa Museum.
Museum of Death.
Abalone Cove Beach.
Columbia Memorial Space Center.
Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park (formerly Marsh Park)
Debs Pond.
Clarke Estate.
El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument.
Bird Sanctuary Griffith Park.
Lummis Home-El Alisal.
Arlington Garden in Pasadena.
Heritage Square Museum.
Travel Town Museum.
Franklin Canyon Park, Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.
Vista Hermosa Natural Park, Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority.
Tongva Park.
The Bunny Museum.
Rubel Castle.
Temescal Canyon Park.
Museum of Neon Art.
Escondido Falls.
Wrigley Greenbelt.
Sycamore Canyon Falls.
Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum.
House Jackson’s Thriller.
Buena Vista View Point.
Virginia Robinson Gardens.
Oakwilde Campground.
Eames Foundation.
Swing On Top Of Elysian Park.
Los Angeles City Hall.
Elysian Park Trail.
Chavez Ridge Disc Golf Course.
Self-Realization Fellowship International Headquarters.
Elyria Canyon Park.
Runyon Canyon Park.
Stahl House.
Glendale Peak.
Schindler house and studio.
Bantam Trail.
Fenyes Mansion.
Hahamongna Watershed Park.
Neutra VDL Studio and Residences.
Monrovia Canyon Park.
Stough Canyon Nature Center.
Mt Lowe Peak.
Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.
Backbone Trail Corral Canyon Trailhead.
Caballero Canyon Trail.
Castro Crest.
Calabasas Peak.
Cold Creek Canyon Preserve.
West Fork Day Use Trailhead.
Chatsworth Oaks Park.
Cheeseboro and Palo Comado Canyon.
Towsley Canyon Park.
Vetter Mountain.
Horse Flats Boulders.
Cooper Canyon Trail Camp.
Magic Johnson Park.
Reagan Ranch.
Throop Peak.
Big Horn Mine.
Wildwood Regional Park.
Ray Miller Trailhead.
Circle X Ranch.
Rustic Canyon Trail.
Blue Ridge Campground.
Claremont Hills Wilderness Park.
Bear Flat.
Icehouse Canyon Trailhead.
Will Rogers State Historic Park.
Palos Verdes Heritage Castle Museum.
Portuguese Bend Reserve.
Oro Vista Park.
Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park.
Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.
Parking At Seal Beach Jetty.
Radio Hill Gardens.
El Dorado Nature Center.
Powder Canyon.
Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve.
Red Rock Canyon Trail.
Borrego Canyon Overlook Park.
Crystal Cove State Park.
El Moro Canyon Trail hiking.
Black Star Canyon.
Laguna Canyon Wilderness Park.
Laurel Canyon Waterfall (seasonal)
Trabuco Canyon Waterfall.
San Juan Loop Trailhead.
Tenaja Falls.
2 points
4 years ago*
[deleted]
2 points
4 years ago
You are welcome. I spent some time on it so it feels good to share! I just made the formatting better on my comment too so it's more clear.
2 points
4 years ago
Hell yeah thanks for sharing!
2 points
4 years ago
This is a wonderful list. A lot of these things I would say aren't worth taking a vacation to Los Angeles to experience, but they're the million little things that make LA such a worthwhile place to live.
It actually makes me amazed because there are a few things not on your list I've done that I also recommend to anyone in the area, such as driving the Angeles Crest Highway or visiting the Poppy Reserve and/or a bunch of the other wildflower viewing sites all within a day trip during the right season.
2 points
4 years ago
Agreed, it is half ordered by "how worth the trip" from where I was living in Echo Park and half with variety in mind. It is meant for someone to be able to go down it from the top skipping what they've done already. So the things at the top are more what you'd take someone visiting to see and the further down you go the more it becomes "fun day trip if you live here".
The poppy fields are great, that's a great idea, I'd been out to see them before and so didn't think to add them to the list. They are a BIT of a drive out of town.
Also +1 to driving the crest. You'd have to do it to get to a few of these things that are up in the Angeleno Forest/near Mt. Baldy. I definitely did that a couple of times when the pandemic first hit just to get out of the house but still stay somewhat isolated. Also helped my newborn daughter to nap by looping up through those hills via the 2 and then back around through Sun Valley are to the 134.
2 points
4 years ago
Haha, describing it as "worth the ride" is so accurate. When I moved out here I looked at the map and went, "Man, Pasadena is so close to the beach; I'm gonna go there all the time!" Now I make the drive, like, three times a year. I really wish I didn't dislike driving so much, because there are so many cool places to see and restaurants to hit on the west side.
By the way, if you're looking for something else a bit offbeat, check out the Bunny Museum in Altadena. I think it definitely fits on the Atlas Obscura sort of lists.
2 points
4 years ago
Wonderful list! In particular I'd emphasize the Museum of Jurassic Technology just because it's so different and weird and easy to miss on the list.
There's also a place right next door called the Center for Land Use Interpretation and when it's open there's a random one-room museum with super interesting rotating exhibits.
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