Griffith Park

WHERE TO STAY Lodging options are slim around Griffith Park, perhaps because there are so many rooms in nearby Hollywood. But there are a few spots, including these. Hotel250, also known as the Hollywood Silver Lake Hotel & Suites, 250 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles 90004; (213) 639-1920, http://www.hotel250.com . This former Holiday Inn, set on a hillside south of the 101 Freeway, has 65 rooms, free Wi-Fi, parking and continental breakfast and an unheated outdoor pool.

It's no easy job, being the lungs of Los Angeles. But Griffith Park, the foremost green space in a city notorious for meager parkland and abundant smog, endures bravely, maybe even heroically. Venture into the park, or nearby Elysian Park, or one of the creative neighborhoods in between, and you'll find not only beloved landmarks such as Griffith Observatory and Dodger Stadium, but also happy surprises, such as the time-travel supply shop, or the cafe where cops dine daily to the sound of echoing gunfire, or the Korean greetings that echo at dawn every day atop Mt. Hollywood.

Just above the Greek Theatre, on the edge of a sloping field adjacent to Vermont Avenue, sits a pump. To the layperson ? to this one at any rate ? it looks like a big ugly hunk of metal on wheels, one that bears the signs of age and weather. To those who know about such things, this is a 4-inch, high-head, trailer-mounted, diesel centrifugal booster pump, and it serves an important purpose: to boost water pressure and flow for fire protection in Griffith Park. So, it is noble, this pump, an integral weapon against the potential destruction of the park, including its beloved observatory and the Greek Theatre.

When producers of the ABC game show "Downfall" needed a building from which to hurl dishwashers, gumball machines and other "prizes," they settled on a warehouse on the east side of downtown Los Angeles. The six-story building on Terminal Street, near the corner of 7th and Alameda streets, was among the most popular on-location filming sites in the region in 2010, along with a long-closed hospital in Boyle Heights and a faux Route 66 pit stop on the edge of the Mojave Desert, according to a recent survey by the nonprofit group FilmL.

Griffith Park isn't just the home of Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theatre, the Los Angeles Zoo and train rides. It's also long been a favorite backdrop in films, including "The Terminator," "Back to the Future," "Transformers" and even "The Birth of a Nation. " D.W. Griffith shot battle sequences in the park for his controversial 1915 Civil War epic. But perhaps the most famous film to use Griffith Park is Nicholas Ray's 1955 teen drama "Rebel Without a Cause" starring James Dean.

After surviving two city-ordered delays, the protests of animal welfare advocates and an ongoing lawsuit, the Los Angeles Zoo is on the verge not only of opening its controversial $42-million elephant exhibit but also of getting what that exhibit needs: new elephants. Elephants, that is, that will be new to the zoo. Tina and Jewel are female Asian elephants of un certain age who between them have endured foot problems and dental surgery. They will be on indefinite loan from the San Diego Zoo, both zoos announced Friday.

Man does not live by bread alone, and families can't count on theme parks for all their adventures. Here are 10 relatively unthemed Western destinations, all best enjoyed in the company of a 10-year-old: Cable cars, San Francisco: Of the three routes in operation, the classic Powell-Hyde Line begins at Powell and Market streets near Union Square, climbs Nob Hill, then descends dramatically to end at Aquatic Park, near Ghirardelli Square and...

Daniel M. Finley rode into town barely a month ago, and the new president of the Autry National Center is already fixin' for a showdown with Doc Holliday, the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. The lifesize figures of the OK Corral gunslingers have stood on the Griffith Park museum's lower level since it opened in 1988, in an exhibit representing the famed 1881 shootout in the Arizona Territory town of Tombstone. The problem, Finley says, is that there's no action ? push a button and all you get is an audio account of the gunfight, with lights shining on whichever character is supposed to be speaking.

Director Quentin Tarantino's longtime film editor, who went hiking with her dog amid the extreme heat Monday, was discovered dead early Tuesday morning by searchers in Beachwood Canyon, according to law-enforcement sources. Award-winning film editor Sally Menke, 56, worked on such movies as "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill" and "Jackie Brown. " [Updated at 7:49 a.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly listed Menke's age as 53.] Menke had gone hiking in the morning, and her friends alerted police after she failed to come home.

A brush fire in the Griffith Park area was knocked down Monday evening by Los Angeles firefighters after the blaze had scorched almost 5 acres, officials said. Earlier, water-dropping helicopters had been deployed to help fight the flames that burned near the junction of the 5 and 134 freeways, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. No homes or businesses were threatened as smoke billowed close to the nearby Los Angeles Zoo. According to witnesses, the fire was burning uphill.