By The trailhead is in O’Melveny Park located in Granada Hills. This 672-acre park is the second largest public park in L.A. after Griffith Park. We met up with my friend and his pups at the parking lot at 7:15 am. There were lots of spaces to choose from. You can also park on the street if the lot is full.
Take the main large path from the parking lot to begin the hike. Stay on your right and stay on the main road. You will pass through a picnic area and a restroom facility on your right. The park is clean and well maintained. Enjoy the nice stroll through the park because it will be all uphill soon.
I want to point out two things about this picture.
You can’t tell from this picture but it was muddy. It rained the day before so I expected a bit of muddy condition but oh boy! I was in for a surprise. And the second thing is, as I was going through the pictures for this write-up, I found Xena in most of the pictures with her head down like this one. No wonder she got sick! She must have eaten a ton of grass that day! She was sick for days. A serious case of identity crisis that day.
I got stuck at one point and couldn’t move forward. My hiking shoes felt like 30 lbs each. I’ve noticed that in muddy conditions my trail running shoes have better traction than my hiking shoes. I have the same issue with both Keen and Salomon.
Does anyone else experience this too, or are my hiking shoes just really bad in the mud? Xena doesn’t have any problem walking in the mud. My friend had to pull me out. From that point on, I tried to walk on the grass. Where are my poles when I need them? Oh, they are in the car.
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As we gained elevation and the sun rose, the trail condition got better. So I took some photos of the beautiful surrounding. So green!
Stay on the main trail and it will take you to Mission Point. The last part is a steep uphill but it’s short. I found the view from Mission Point anticlimactic. It was nice but nothing we haven’t seen so far. We came across unexpected horseback riders though. That was kind of cool.
We took a short water break and came down. I had another friend and her group to meet up with. They were hiking there too and they spotted us from a hill. With my bucket hat and bright pink backpack, we are hard to be missed. 😉 They had a perfect picnic spot on the top of a hill. Five adults with 6 dogs. Pups had a wonderful time running around with each other. In Xena’s case, she enjoyed playing fetch in tall grass. What an awesome place to hike with dogs!
Fun Fact:
Originally this park was known as the “C.J. Ranch”. It was purchased in 1941 by attorney John O’Melveny of the respected large law firm O’Melveny and Meyers and used to grow citrus and graze cattle.
Good to Know:
- Hike Date: 3.12.16
- Trailhead: 17300 Sesnon Blvd., Granada Hills, CA 91344
- Distance: 5.1 miles RT
- Elevation Gain: 1,337 ft
- Restrooms available near the trailhead
Get Our Latest Comprehensive Dog-friendly Trail List Here. Enjoy!
Happy Hiking!
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Hiking Girl with Dog 
😊
Right back at ya! 🙂
I’m sorry Xena got so sick. I hope he’s ok now. As for mud on hiking shoes, I know that here it depends on how much clay is in the mud. Soil that is high in clay is extremely sticky and will coat shoes badly, resulting in big heavy weights to carry around! Is it all kinds of mud that stick to your shoes or just certain places? Anyway, I loved the pictures and your narration as usual. Hopefully Xena will have her head up more often next walk. 🙂
Oh yes, Xena’s fine now. Thanks, Jane! We did this hike in March. 🙂 She tried to eat tall grass again on next hike but I put a stop to it right away. No self control! 😡 As for the muddy situation, yes, high in clay! What I don’t get is it seems to build up on my shoes more than to others. Or.. it could be just that I am more bothered by it and it’s my perception that others don’t experience the same issue as much. Thanks for your comment because I was really curious!