

Verdugo Mountains - Radio Towers and Tree of Life
Location : Verdugo Mountains, Burbank
Total distance : 7 miles round-trip (out and back)
Elevation gain : About 1,400 ft
Peak elevation : 3,000 ft
Tree Cover : No tree cover. Sunscreen recommended.
Parking : Stough canyon Nature center parking lot
Trailhead : Stough canyon Nature center parking lot, click here
Landmark : Stough canyon Nature center parking lot after crossing DeBell Golf course on E Walnut avenue
Map :
You may zoom in
or move the map
around for
convenience
Satellite map :
You may zoom in
or move the map
around for
convenience
Click to enlarge
topo map picture









Detailed directions : Park your car in the Stough canyon Nature center. Make sure you get there early (preferably 8:30) to get a spot.
At the end of the parking lot you will see the trailhead. At the trailhead you will see a rusted metal board with distances to various destinations.
We are going to the Radio towers which is 3.1 miles from the trailhead. We will continue to the Tree of life aka Wisdom tree which is 0.3 or 0.6 miles from radio towers dependng on which trail you take, skip to the end for more on this.
At 0.5 miles, this is the first fork. Keep right to continue to stay on Stough Canyon Mountain way. Trail on the left is Old youth camp trail.
0.5 miles from the previous fork, keep right to continue on to Verdugo mtwy. Trail on the left is Chandler fire road.
This is the 3rd intersection, 0.5 miles from the previous one. A total distance of 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Keep right to continue onVerdugo mtwy. Trail on the left is La Tuna Canyon trail.
Make sure you do not interact with the Aliens if you happen to see them on the trail. This is their favorite trail and they don't like to be disturbed.
This is the final fork. Radio towers are on the right, Tree of life on the left. If you like to go to both the place, there are 2 ways:
0.3 miles to the tree of life directly from Radio towers as shown in the maps and topo pic above. I should warn you it is steep going down from the radio towers, so I do not advice that, even though that is the one I prefer.
0.6 miles if you come back to the fork and make a left.
Either way, once you are back on Verdugo mtwy, continue until you see the 'Plantation lateral' sign board and make a left. At this point you will see a big tree with 2 benches under it.







This is how the tree looks. You've hiked more than 3.5 miles and deserve a pat on the back. Enjoy the views from the peak. There are plenty of chairs on the way where you can rest.