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Los
Angeles River Parks
Egret Park
Elysian Valley Gateway
Park
Great Heron Gates at
Rattlesnake
Park
Oso Park
Steelhead Park
Los Angeles River Greenway
Los
Angeles River
Visitor Center
The Los Angeles River Visitor Center is an exhibit hall
that celebrates the eleven miles of natural river where
reeds, willows, mulefat and native riparian plants have
returned. The exhibit describes the history of the Los
Angeles River, its current status, and a vision for
the river’s future.
The
Visitor Center is located in the California Building
at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. It is open
Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. On
weekends the exhibit is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m., however, the exhibit may be closed to the public
during private events at the River Center. The exhibit
is self-guided.
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River
Park Projects
The Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy and Mountains
Recreation and Conservation Authority are actively
involved in creating new parks along the Los Angeles
River and its tributaries. Planned improvements for
a park at the confluence of the Los Angeles River and
the Arroyo Seco include picnicking facilities, native
landscaping, a water feature, and amenities for bicyclers
and pedestrians. In Lincoln Heights, plans are underway
to create a park that would provide access to the Arroyo
Seco Bikeway.
Along
Compton Creek, an area of Los Angeles that is largely
devoid of park space, planned improvements include native
riparian landscaping, habitat restoration, and construction
of an outdoor amphitheater. In the San Fernando Valley,
plans are in the works to create a natural stream on
the banks of Tujunga Wash. The project will divert water
from the wash, transporting it up to the western bank
to create a mile-long meandering stream with native
riparian habitat.
Just
downstream from the Great Heron Gates in Elysian Valley,
a five-acre property provides over 700 feet of river
frontage adjacent to a natural streambed portion of
the Los Angeles River. This large parcel will be developed
as a public park with a variety of activities and restoration
of native habitat. Adjacent to the Arroyo Seco in South
Pasadena, the Conservancy is working with the City of
South Pasadena to transform a neglected lot into usable
park space and habitat. The park will retain a natural
character, utilizing native arroyo stone for seating
and other amenities.
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History
The Los Angeles River, formed by a large watershed that
drains the Santa Susana Mountains, the San Fernando
Valley, and the San Gabriel Mountains, played an important
part in the geological formation of the Los Angeles
basin. Areas adjacent to the river comprised riparian
ecosystems with a myriad of native plant and animal
species. The rivers’ periodic floods provided
rich sedimentary deposits across the floodplains. Today,
no part of the Los Angeles River remains in a native
state; every reach of the river has been altered and
engineered. No longer able to recharge the earth it
passes over, the Los Angeles River discharges its water
unimpeded and unused into the Pacific Ocean.
The
Los Angeles River provided food, water, shelter and
sustenance to human beings for thousands of years. Before
the first Spanish explorers arrived with Portolás’
1769 expedition, the river sustained a thriving population
of indigenous peoples. The Tongva dwelt in a large settlement
along the river’s banks. This settlement, known
as Yangna, was a movable village near the river, relocating
as the river flooded or dried up with the changing seasons
and dry or wet years. The Tongva called the river otcho’o,
pa-hyt or wenoot and utilized it daily by harvesting
reeds to provide material for housing and clothing,
hunting and fishing on its shores, and using its water.
Father Crespí, writing in his journal during
the 1769 Portola expedition, named the river El Rio
de Porciuncula de Los Angeles. After Spanish settlement
and the establishment of El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora,
la Reina de los Angeles (the Town of Our Lady, the Queen
of the Angels) in 1781, the Tongva were forcibly relocated
to the San Gabriel Mission.
The
Los Angeles River was critical to the founding of Los
Angeles, and the town became a thriving farming community,
growing corn, wheat, grapes and orchard fruits irrigated
by the Los Angeles River and its tributary streams.
Because the river’s flows varied from a gentle
trickle to violent, debris-laden floods, the Los Angeles
River never cut a deep channel like many other rivers.
The river flowed over a wide area of braided channels
and meanders and changed its path to the Pacific Ocean.
As Los Angeles grew, development occurred all along
the river’s natural floodplain. Numerous catastrophic
floods caused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stabilize
the river in the late 1930s by constructing concrete
walls to contain flood waters.
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Creating
A Healthy Environment
After decades of ignoring the river, an intense planning
effort has begun to revitalize the Los Angeles River
and its surroundings. Parks and greenways have been
developed through a concerted effort by citizens' groups,
local governments, and state agencies. A primary goal
of the park development is the reestablishment of wetlands
and wildlife habitat and development of areas for recreational
uses. Several vacant lots and brownfield sites have
already been converted to parks, located in some of
Los Angeles’ most underserved communities. Many
more parks are planned along the Los Angeles River Greenway.
The location of new parks along the river’s edge
will aid in cleansing urban stormwater runoff, create
additional wildlife habitat near the water, and improve
air quality for nearby residents and Greenway users.
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