Think of it as nirvana with a concrete face, that otherworldly edifice northwest of where the 405 and 101 freeways intersect: the Sepulveda Dam.
Maybe you recognize it from the movies "The Italian Job" and "Escape From New York," or from music videos and car commercials. Rising 57 feet above the streambed and perched on an embankment that stretches over two miles, it was built in 1941 on the Los Angeles River.
What lies beyond is the San Fernando Valley's quintessential playground, a place where generations of Angelenos have found their fields of dreams. The sprawling Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area is full of surprises beyond ballgames and bikes, boarding and blading, walking and jogging.
Want to take in -- or take up -- cricket? Spend a meditative moment at a Japanese garden? Take to the water with oar in hand, or simply cast a line? Draw back an arrow and aim for the bull's-eye? Settle in at the controls of a model airplane?
This is your place.
Whether it's a pastoral hike through a wildlife reserve or a romp with your retriever in a dog park, the region brims with possibilities, breathing personality and life into the dam itself.
In an age of state and city budget cutbacks, the area -- which includes Balboa Park, Hjelte Sports Center and Encino, Balboa and Woodley Lakes golf courses -- is surprisingly well maintained. However, since Lake Balboa is filled with reclaimed water from the nearby Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, swimming is not permitted and the water has a slight but not unbearable odor. Also, be forewarned, at Anthony C. Beilenson Park (Lake Balboa Park), the soccer fields and the golf courses attract big crowds on the weekends, so it's best to arrive early.
Apart from the rare instances of flooding, the area is bustling with activity. Here's a sampling of the area's activities:
Heaven for skater kids
When the city of L.A. opened Pedlow Skate Park in February 2001, local skate rats got a facility to call their own, the first in the mid-Valley area since Skatercross in Reseda closed in the early '80s. Pedlow's location in the Sepulveda Basin seems only appropriate, since the banks of Sepulveda Dam and the Encino Velodrome served as outlaw skate spots in the late '70s.
