Two Echo Park Stair Climbs Make Expert's Top 10

Looking for a great weekend climb? The Los Angeles Times recently enlisted Charles Fleming, a Times editor and author of Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles, to list some of his favorite hidden stairways in Los Angeles.

It will probably come as no surprise to Echo Park climbers that two local--and legal--climbs made the list.

That's even though a number of staircases in Echo Park and Silver Lake are closed to the public.

Here are the winners:

#4 -- Baxter Street, Echo Park: 231 steps (on a remote hillside, beginning near 1501 Baxter St. and ending at 2101 Park Drive)

#6 -- Avalon East Stairway, Echo Park: 192 steps (two blocks away from Baxter Street, starting at 1550 Avalon St. and ending at 1893 Lucretia Ave.)

Mount Washington's Eldred Street Stairs (starting at 4864 Eldred Street) came in at number 7.

The highest ranked local climb is in Monterey Hills. At number 3, The Bushnell-Pullman stairways offers two stair climbs combined in an L-shape. According to the Times, you'll "start at 5417 Bushnell Way and climb to the bottom of the Pullman Stairway at 5401 Monterey Road."

It's probably no surprise to stair lovers that the much-traveled Murphy Ranch Trail in the Santa Monica Canyon was number 1.