Griffith Park

For me, the thrill of L.A.'s night life has nothing to do with A-list parties at Soho House and everything to do with dusty tracks and coyote calls. Twice a week for the last 25 years, I have been placing my feet along well-pummeled routes in Griffith Park right about the time most people are settling onto the couch to watch "Jeopardy!" Even blindfolded on a dark night, I could make my way up trails nicknamed Razor Back and Cardiac Hill for their challenging terrain. The pitch of the trail, the occasional rocky chute to climb and the whiffs of sage and eucalyptus would easily guide me along the roughly 21/2-mile uphill route to the top of Mt. Hollywood, where thousands of pulsing lights create an indelible 360-degree snapshot of L.A. after dark.

Come for the cupcakes, stay for the play. The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival offers tasty concessions, but its onstage revels serve up plenty of eye candy. The three-show summer festival from the intrepid Independent Shakespeare Co. features “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “The Winter's Tale,” both now playing, as well as “A Comedy of Errors,” which opens Aug. 2. With its troupe's lack of pretention and strong vocal skills, ISC manages to be fresh without gimmickry, loose without becoming (too)

Smack in the middle of Los Angeles, feasting on deer and roaming the chaparral-covered slopes, a mountain lion prowls Griffith Park. Yes, there had been sporadic rumors over the years of the 140-pound beasts lurking in the shadows of populated hillsides near the park's attractions, but wildlife biologists had discounted them because of the improbability of the animals crossing the freeways to get there. For the first time, however, scientists now have photographic evidence of a lion inhabiting the park.

A man reported being attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park last week, wildlife officials said. The man, who was lying down near the Travel Town area Wednesday night, reported waking up to find a coyote biting his foot, but he was not seriously injured, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. The attack was the second reported in less than a month in the 4,210-acre, chaparral-covered park. Wildlife authorities learned from Los Angeles County health officials last week that another person had been bitten in the park in late August.

Cruller, cruller, burning bright; In a strip mall late at night; What immortal pastry Could better harden arteries? As summits go, the gathering in Griffith Park on Sunday wasn't exactly Camp David. Then again, Los Angeles has a well-documented love affair with doughnuts. Our food blogs venerate the "unsung heroes of doughnutry," which is not a word but should be. Our iconic, 30-foot-tall doughnut atop Randy's has appeared in films and is viewed as a standard in the arm of urban design known as novelty architecture.

Los Angeles city dwellers once enjoyed a sanctuary of gnarled oaks, serene pools and exotic ferns on Griffith Park's southwestern edge. But four decades of neglect have left the 20-acre Fern Dell retreat a shabby relic of its former self, which is why a band of park lovers is now trying to restore it to its early Hollywood heyday. "Fern Dell is in pretty bad shape, but it is not too late to save it," said Bernadette Soter, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Friends of Griffith Park . The volunteer group has launched a campaign to rejuvenate the 95-year-old stream-fed garden spot, restoring its 17 footbridges, ripping out thickets of invasive ivy and bamboo, and beefing up security.

Concerned about the safety of park visitors, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge on Monday erected the first of dozens of signs urging the public not to feed the wildlife in Griffith Park. The decision was prompted after two visitors were bitten by coyotes in separate incidents in September, officials said. The two attacks initially sparked a controversial eradication effort in which hunters shot and killed eight coyotes in the 4,210-acre park. The eradication effort ended after two days.

A man's body was discovered in Griffith Park early today, Los Angeles police said. A preliminary investigation revealed that the unidentified man had been killed by another person, but no further details were available. His body was found at 5:07 a.m. at 2650 N. Vermont Ave., Sgt. J. J. Cerniglia said.

The city's Recreation and Parks Department is reopening a number of Griffith Park facilities and trails that had been closed after the May 9 fire.