The best traffic-free bike rides in Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park

This path is very curvy, I think on purpose to slow people down.

Trail takes you into vehicle traffic, stay vigilant

Has some bumps here and there nothing too crazy, fun ride

This is a great place to have a quick rest to take in the view over Santa Monica and its famouse pier.

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel has been a cornerstone of Beverly Hills history since it opened in 1928. Built in the Italian Renaissance style, it quickly became a symbol of old Hollywood glamour, drawing in the likes of Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Warren Beatty. Over the decades, it’s served as both a luxury retreat and a cultural landmark—perhaps most famously featured in the 1990 film Pretty Woman. Located at the foot of Rodeo Drive, the hotel has seen nearly a century of celebrity entrances, red carpet moments, and city-changing events. Even if you’re just passing by, its grand façade and storied past make it worth a second look.

A not so steep, but instead long and gradual climb between rows of iconic Los Angeles palm trees.

THE WENDE is an art museum, cultural center, and archive that preserves history of the Cold War era, and brings it to life through exhibitions, scholarship, education, and community engagement. The Glorya Kaufman Community Center, a first-of-its-kind project shaped by the Culver City community, reactivated a disused theater in 2024, transforming the unused site at 10858 Culver Blvd. into a 7,500 sq/ft mixed-use space dedicated to the arts, education, outreach, and networking. All programming and services will be offered to the public free of charge, continuing the Wende Museum’s commitment to encouraging access. Free. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.—5 p.m. https://wendemuseum.org

The Wende is an art museum, cultural center, and archive that preserves history and brings it to life through exhibitions, scholarship, education, and community engagement. Wende is a German word meaning “turning point” or “change” that has come to describe the transformative period around the fall of the Berlin Wall. Founded in 2002, the Wende Museum holds an unparalleled collection of art and artifacts from the Cold War era, which serves as a foundation for programs that illuminate the political and cultural changes of the past, offer opportunities to make sense of a changing present, and inspire active participation in the personal and social changes that will shape the future. Admission is free for all exhibitions and public programs. Tours are normally held at 11:30 a.m. on Fridays and at 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Open: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am—5pm The Wende Museum of the Cold War was founded by Justinian Jampol, a native of Los Angeles and scholar of modern European history, to address the wholesale neglect and rampant destruction of Cold War material culture in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. During the early 1990s, these materials that document an entire cultural history of what life was like in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were rapidly disappearing. Historical landmarks were being torn down, statues vandalized, consumer products discarded, films and photographs left to deteriorate, and archives actively destroyed. The Wende Museum collection originated with items acquired by Jampol in the mid-1990s and quickly expanded in 2000 with a significant donation by activist Alwin Nachtweh and his partner Ulrike Wolf. The museum was incorporated in the State of California in 2002 as 501(c)3. Then in 2004, the museum took a transformative leap forward when Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge, awarded it operational and acquisition funding with a mandate “to make a significant and necessary contribution to the illumination of a fascinating, yet still largely unexamined, era.” With this support, the museum was able to initiate a sweeping campaign to acquire, preserve, and provide access to threatened cultural materials of Cold War Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In 2006, the museum expanded its collecting mission to include documenting personal histories from the era. What began as a grassroots acquisition initiative has quickly grown into a museum and research institution at the forefront of its field. The museum’s collection of more than 100,000 artifacts, archives, and personal histories is recognized as an unparalleled resource for insight into the Eastern perspective of the Cold War. The collection further serves as inspiration for the museum’s educational programming, which explores the complicated legacy of the Cold War and its relevance to contemporary social and political issues. A small portion of the collection is currently on view to the general public at the museum’s headquarters in Culver City. Thanks to the ongoing support of Arcadia, efforts are underway to expand significantly the amount of collection material viewable online. The entire collection is accessible by appointment for research by scholars, students, journalists, artists, and others interested in utilizing the vast array of primary source materials. The museum’s programming, including exhibitions, events, conferences, coursework, film series, and a variety of other activities, is offered locally and at partner institutions throughout the United States and Europe. No other museum or archive is actively acquiring the artifacts that the Wende Museum collects. In fact, many museums in Europe are actually de-accessioning works of art and artifacts from the Cold War era. The Wende Museum will continue to acquire, expanding its efforts to reach ever deeper into smaller and rural communities, focusing particularly on materials that are at risk or on the periphery of traditional archival interests. The museum’s preservation efforts ensure that not only present but also future generations are able to more comprehensively investigate the Cold War era, reevaluate historical interpretations, and make assessments within the context of evolving circumstances. The museum’s emergence and rapid growth has paralleled a dramatic rise in academic, media, and general public interest in the lived experience of the Eastern Bloc. As a result, the museum faces an increased demand for expanded programming and access to its collection. https://wendemuseum.org/visit-the-wende