Silver Lake Meadows — Attraction in Los Angeles

My typical runs are on Downtown sidewalks and piloting through less trafficked back roads. And before that, my idea of a run was 1 hour on a treadmill. So knowing where I'm coming from here's how my counter clockwise Silver Lake Reservoir run broke down:

-=- No lot. It wasn't "Silverlake Farmer's Market" crazy because that one is just impossible. There's plenty of parking, but you have to parallel along the path or in the narrow neighborhood roads. Welcome to LA.

-=- It's a majority dirt path which was surprising to my knees at first, but you get used to it. My shoes don't forgive me though. It rained a day ago and there were dirt puddles along the trail.

-=- I'm a speedy runner, so I often get caught behind others. This doesn't work well when the dirt path narrows. Up that stride, Soldier!

-=- 2 aforementioned hills: 1 was steep cement and the other was a zig zaggy run for the finish. The downhills that followed were bad for the knees but were less declined. Thank God I ran counter-clockwise.

Summary: Intermediate 2 mile dirt run with: runner, canine and occasional stroller traffic. I love it. I love that a place like...

Sadly, I was pretty disappointed with this walk. I had been recommended to check it out by numerous people, but left feeling like I had not gotten the most out of my time here. The Meadows themselves were...ok. Not the best upkeep, with a lot of patchiness and uneven grass. Supposedly it was also dog free, but I saw numerous people with their dogs next to them on the grass. I don't really care about that, but be noted.

The meadows are surrounded by a walking path around the reservoir, but the whole reservoir is guarded by a very tall fence that makes it difficult to really see the water and made it feel.....less welcoming. The actual walking path is quite close to the road, so a relaxing walk/run was often interrupted by cars zooming by.

Perhaps my expectations were just too high, but I was hoping for something more than what was offered here. I could see how if you live directly in the neighborhood it would be a nice way to spend an afternoon with some friends, but coming from up in the Valley, it left a lot...

Hey, let’s make a great open green space and then say no dogs. Dogs get the fenced-in mini dirt plot right on the road. That sounds like a great idea doesn’t it?? Having lived in several truly ‘dog-friendly’ cities internationally and in the US, calling Silver Lake dog friendly really is a joke. There’s almost no shade to walk on the streets and trails are in native areas with coyotes and mountain lions. But the one safe and spacious green area is fenced off from my well behaved dog. Thanks LA. Fail.

If you love your dog and like to walk places and let them off lead without getting boxed in and trampled with other dogs, don’t move here. Oh and don’t even get me started on the beaches. One off lead area in all of SoCal (two if you...