Culver City Stairs


The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook California State Park is located just southwest of downtown Culver City. To some Los Angeles area residents, the site is more commonly known as the Culver City Stairs. This outdoor staircase is designed into the trails leading up to a view of the greater Los Angeles area. The street address for the park is 6300 Hetzler Road, Culver City, California 90232.

History

The state of California purchased the property in 2000, then closed it to the public in the middle of 2006 to construct the trails and visitor center. The visitor center was created by the San Diego-based Safdie Rabines Architects, whose goal in designing the overlook was to “encompass non-traditional park demographics and environments.” The duo's work has graced Southern California educational and civic projects like UC San Diego’s Eleanor Roosevelt College, the student center at UCLA, and the Otay Mesa Library. The park reopened in April 2009 with the 282 unique, irregular steps made from recycled concrete found on the park.

Details

The tallest single step measures approximately 20 inches. The average step height is 10.5 inches, and the shortest is 3.5 inches. An information sign posted at the trail entrance near the intersection of Jefferson Blvd. and Hetzler Rd. states that the staircase is 715 feet. In the center of the 13-foot landing between the 247th and 248th steps is a bronze marker stating the elevation, surrounded by two semi-circular engravings:
Step by step, your climb expands
the cityscape a thousandfold,
framing it ever more broadly with hillside and sky.
375
FEET ABOVE
SEA LEVEL
Concrete = cement + sand + aggregate + water
= sidewalks + freeways + buildings + waterways +
What would L.A. be without concrete?

Races

Beginning in 2014, Aztlan Athletics has held annual races up the stairs. The current record from this officially timed race was set in 2015 by Leony Mendez at 2:09.