Will Rogers State Historic Park and Hiking Trails

Beautiful historic park in Pacific Palisades with a bunch of nice hikes.

What: Will Rogers State Historic Park
Where:  1501 Will Rogers State Park Rd, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
 
The Will Rogers State Historic Park is part of LA history. The park is named after the immensely popular Will Rogers of mid-1930s Hollywood fame, who came to own 359 acres of what is now modern-day Pacific Palisades.
 
Part of what he owned was a ranch house on this land, and that same house is now open for the public (during times when it’s safe to gather indoors, that is) for tours.
 
In addition to house tours, visitors to the park are able to go on awesome hiking trails with ocean views, take horse riding lessons and rides on the trails, have picnics, play polo, check out the visitor’s center, take pictures, or just enjoy nature in general.
I mean, this place is beautiful. There’s no way around it. A lot could be said about the nature (or lack of it) in a big city like Los Angeles, so you have to appreciate these little pockets where you get some green and a little bit of space. Pockets where you aren’t faced with bumper-to-bumper traffic and honking angry drivers and instead the sound of horses plodding around and nature-y stuff like that. No one wants to see a future where there’s less nature and places like Will Rogers, so maybe you can do stuff like figuring out easy ways to go green to help out. Or not. It’s up to you, but man is this place worth it.
 

When is it open?

Open daily–including holidays. The parking lot is open from 8:00 A.M. all the way to sunset.

How much is parking?

Parking Fee: $12.00 per car
Senior Parking: $11.00 per car
Large Buses (25 – 100): $125.00
Small Buses (10 – 24 or fewer): $50.00

Are dogs allowed?

Dogs are allowed in the historic park area and Inspiration Loop.

Dogs are not allowed on the Backbone, Temescal or Rustic Canyon Trails, however. Don’t make the park rangers intervene!

Hiking Trails

Inspiration Point Loop

This hiking trail is a 2.1 mile loop with about a 354 foot elevation gain of moderate difficulty. It should take about an hour, and it has a really nice view of the Pacific Ocean with a bunch of benches at the top.

Rivas Canyon Trail

The Rivas Canyon Trail is a 4.6 mile (roundtrip) hike with a 954 foot elevation gain of moderate difficulty.

Driving instructions

Go down Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades and then the park is located right off the street at 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road.

More info

For more information, check out the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s official website for Will Rogers State Historic Park.

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