The San Gabriel mountain range that hems in the northern edge of Pasadena and all of urban LA, is part of the Angeles Crest. Its creeks, canyons and campgrounds provide quick city getaways year-round. It’s particularly pretty during the spring wildflower season and gets lovely fall color.
Note that visiting the Angeles National Forest requires a National Forest Adventure Pass, which you can buy online.
17.13 MILES
With eyes on both the galaxy above and palm-flanked boulevards below, the Griffith Observatory hovers above LA like a hulking spacecraft. This is one of…
27.34 MILES
What started as a simple berry farm is now a sprawling 160-acre operation with rides, live shows and lovable Peanuts characters roaming the grounds. Knott…
Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
8.65 MILES
One of the most delightful, inspirational spots in LA, the Huntington is rightly a highlight of any trip to California thanks to a world-class mix of art,…
17.59 MILES
From the instant it opened in September 2015, the Broad (rhymes with 'road') became a must-visit for contemporary-art fans. It houses the world-class…
27.33 MILES
In its billion-dollar, in-the-clouds perch, high above the city grit and grime, the Getty Center presents triple delights: a stellar art collection …
19.29 MILES
Dodge dinosaurs, hang with Homer Simpson and morph into a Minion on the sometimes hair-raising, always entertaining attractions at Universal Studios…
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
17.2 MILES
LA is unlike any other city, and this cathedral is unlike any other cathedral. Seat of the US's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese (some five million…
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
21.95 MILES
The depth and wealth of the collection at the largest museum in the western US is stunning. LACMA holds all the major players – Rembrandt, Cézanne,…
1.51 MILES
As you drive into the Angeles National Forest take the Red Box Rd turn-off, which, 5 miles later, dead ends atop 5715ft Mt Wilson. Operating since 1904,…
6.36 MILES
This supposedly haunted hotel built in 1925 sports elaborate Mayan Revival–style detail and once housed a speakeasy where Hollywood celebs knocked 'em…
3. Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden
6.61 MILES
It’s easy to spend hours amid the global vegetation, waterfalls, spring-fed lake and historic buildings of this fantastic, rambling, 127-acre park…
4. California Institute of Technology
8.51 MILES
With 34 Nobel laureates among its faculty and alumni (not to mention that it's the fictional setting of TV's The Big Bang Theory), it’s no surprise that…
5. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
8.65 MILES
One of the most delightful, inspirational spots in LA, the Huntington is rightly a highlight of any trip to California thanks to a world-class mix of art,…
8.71 MILES
Pasadena's 1927 city hall is on the National Register of Historic Places and a prime example of California Mediterranean-style architecture.
7. Mack & Jackie Robinson Memorial
8.78 MILES
This pair of giant heads depicts the Robinson brothers, groundbreaking athletes who spent their formative years here in Pasadena. Jackie (1919–72) gained…
8.78 MILES
Operated by Caltech, JPL is NASA’s main center for robotic exploration of the solar system. It's about 7 miles north of the main Caltech campus. It’s best…