According to the sign: “Site of the Old Los Angeles Zoo. This Griffith Park canyon area served as the City’s Zoo from its founding in 1912 to 1965, when the Los Angeles Zoo moved to its current location about two miles north of where you are currently standing. Many of the walls, grottos, and other enclosures you see today were built in the 1930s by County Relief workers and Works Progress Administration (WPA) crews. Once bears, lions, monkeys, macaws, goats, elephants, reptiles, and turtles, among others, lived here and the sounds of their growls, roars, calls, and clamor filled this canyon. Although these historic enclosures are no longer appropriate for housing animals, they can be home to memories of family visits to the Griffith Park Zoo, as well as an opportunity to better understand developments in the zoological sciences. Please enjoy and respect the buildings, walls, and habitats you will discover today.” (The last line is nearly obscured with graffiti.)
Old Zoo concert! (There are rumors that they filmed part of Anchorman here as well.)
Due to my inability to memorize and interpret a map, we got lost while trying to find the old zoo. But we still had a lovely hike that ended in a nice view. (We did eventually end up going back to an Internet connection to reevaluate the map and finally found the zoo.)
Beautiful downtown Glendale.