Amir's Garden. Photo copyright 2018 by Anna Boudinot.

Runyon Canyon was my first Los Angeles love.

I had just moved to Los Angeles from Chicago -- before that I had lived in New York -- and the concept of being able to go outside 365 days a year was completely foreign to me. A coworker of mine mentioned a free yoga class in Runyon Canyon and I was immediately intrigued. Soon I was participating in that yoga class several times a week and hiking in Runyon as well.

At a certain point I noticed something that made me a little uneasy: Runyon Canyon was kind of a scene. There were a lot of gorgeous Hollywood types with trim bodies and very expensive workout clothes packing those Runyon Canyon trails, making me look downright frumpy in my gym shorts from the clearance rack at Target and my baggy, worn-out, Radiohead t-shirts. How did I react? Did I conform? Did I turn into a fabulous Hollywood princess? I am proud to report to my Chicago and New York friends that I did not. I held strong to my belief that it's okay to look grubby while exercising, and I found a park across town where I felt more at home: Griffith Park.

Griffith Park, my second Los Angeles love, is part of the Santa Monica Mountain range and was, in 1882, the site of an ostrich farm owned by Griffith J. Griffith. Griffith was a former journalist who later made his fortune in the mining industry. In 1896, Griffith donated 3105 acres of the land to the City of Los Angeles. He was imprisoned for shooting his wife in 1903, and the city didn't want to have very much to do with him after that; he tried to donate money to build an amphitheater, an observatory, and girls' and boys' camps but the city initially refused his money. (In the end, his estate was bequeathed to the city.) Today Griffith Park encompasses 4310 acres -- roughly six times the size of New York's Central Park -- and does indeed have an amphitheater, an observatory, a boys' camp, and a girls' camp. It also includes more than 53 miles of hiking trails, a golf course, a zoo, and some of the most stunning views of Los Angeles.

While the hiking trail from Fern Dell to the Observatory is one of my favorite things to do in LA, that trail can get crowded on weekends and isn't something I would consider a "hidden gem" of Los Angeles. For a truly breathtaking Griffith Park experience, visit Amir's Garden.

Amir's Garden was a true labor of love. Iranian Immigrant and avid hiker Amir Dialameh conceived the idea of the garden after a brush fire destroyed the site in 1971. After getting permission from the Department of Parks and Recreation, he began landscaping a five-acre area on the eastern side of Griffith Park. He cleared 200 burned tree stumps by hand, built terraces into the hillside, and painstakingly fortified the area with trees and plants. He also created secluded spots among the garden's five acres with benches and picnic tables; the garden is a romantic destination for dates. He created planters and other aspects of the garden with discarded and/or donated material such as telephone poles and corrugated metal he salvaged from the old Los Angeles Zoo. From 1971 through the time of his death in 2003, Mr. Dialameh and a team of volunteers toiled to make the garden into the verdant oasis it is today, filled with winding trails, lush plant life, and amazing vistas of Los Angeles, Glendale, and the San Gabriel Mountains. Amir's Garden also serves as a fire break: the water-bearing plants that grow there, such as jade, have been known to stop wildfires in their tracks.

Getting to Amir's Garden isn't exactly intuitive, especially if you aren't familiar with the east side of Griffith Park, but this handy guide from Modern Hiker provides a map as well as photographs of the trailhead. From the parking lot at the base, it is a moderately strenuous half-mile climb but well worth the effort. If you're feeling adventurous you can continue your upward trajectory past the garden to Toyon Canyon, a former landfill that was repurposed in 2013 as a grassy meadow with hiking and equestrian trails. The climb to Amir's Garden, then further upwards to Toyon Canyon, all the way across the canyon, and down the other side back to the parking lot will take about 60 minutes not counting time to enjoy the garden.

For a preview of what lies in store, watch Los Angeles darling Huell Howser's piece.

Whether you're wearing $200 worth of designer workout gear or just a ratty t-shirt from a concert you went to in 1999, the journey to Amir's Garden will reward you with a true Los Angeles masterpiece. Mr. Dialameh remarked in a 1983 interview, "Only in America can a man build something like this. This country was built by volunteers. I believe everyone should do something for his community.... I built a garden."

While in Griffith Park, check out the old zoo, Bee Rock, and the carousel.

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