The Goddess Mercado Folklorico in Los Angeles by Mary Cummins March 8, 2025

 

The Goddess Mercado, Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera, los angeles, california, east la civic center, international womens day

The Goddess Mercado folklorico event today March 8, 2025 at the East LA Civic Center in Los Angeles, California for International Women's day. Lots of vendors of handicrafts, food and a Farmer's Market. Folklorico dance lessons, Zumba, cooking classes, government information booths. 

110 Freeway Walk Figueroa tunnels to 5 freeway and Spiral Stairs by Mary Cummins LA Bucket List

 

figueroa tunnels, walkway, way, mary cummins, los angeles, california, 110 freeway, figueroa, pedestrian tunnel, golden state freeway, 5 freeway, hike, explore, la bucket list

Directions to the walk:

Starting point 1 right in front of Solano Canyon Community Garden at 545 Solano Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012 34.07516358924873, -118.23170559978784. Park at Casanova St and Solana Ave intersection. On Solano Ave go north then make a right at the corner at the park. You'll see the 110 N freeway right in front of you. Go east right about 50 feet to enter the east side of pedestrian tunnel. Once out of the tunnel go up the stairs then make a right to another set of stairs in the photo above.

Starting point 2 near Solano Avenue Elementary school 615 Solano Ave near intersection of Amador Pl and Solano.  34.07579829634919, -118.23272841282824 There is a public walkway to the walk directly adjacent to the school parking lot, see photo below. Take that to end, go left under freeway then left again and you'll see the pedestrian tunnel entrance 34°04'31.9"N 118°13'54.2"W , 34.075540, -118.231710 You don't have to go through the pedestrian tunnel. The beginning of walk is directly to the left up the stairs in the photo above.

After you go up the stairs there will be a fence with a huge human sized hole in it. Go through that to the right or north east. Walk 1800 ft or 1/3 mile north east along the pathway which abuts the 110 S. This takes you to the spiral staircase where the 110 N splits to the 5 N. Enjoy the views of Los Angeles, LA River and mountains. You can walk farther on the 110 walkway either way. 

There will be large holes in the fence along the way. Go through the holes and you can get directly above and behind the facades of the Figueroa tunnels over the 110 N. Be careful not to slip or you'll end up on the 110 fwy run over by 100 cars. There is nothing that prevents people from falling and it's steep dirt. You can see the graffiti behind the facades. Be careful because there are homeless encampments in the bushes. Some don't like strangers walking around there. Don't take this walk at night. Don't do the walk after rains as the walkway floods and is a huge wet muddy mess.

Map of the walk: Click to see larger. 

figueroa tunnels, walkway, way, mary cummins, los angeles, california, 110 freeway, figueroa, pedestrian tunnel, golden state freeway, 5 freeway, hike, explore, la bucket list

About the walk: 

The Figueroa Street tunnels  are a set of four four-lane tunnels that carry northbound traffic on State Route 110 (the Arroyo Seco Parkway) through Elysian Park in Los Angeles, California, United States. From south to north, the four tunnels measure 755, 461, 130, and 405 feet. They opened between 1931 and 1943. 

The tunnels were designed by engineer Merrill Butler, who was responsible for many iconic Los Angeles River bridges - notably the Sixth Street Viaduct and the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge. The tunnels featured Art Deco patterns, ornamental street lamps, reflective tiling (similar to the 2nd Street Tunnel), and above all eight openings, a stylized Seal of Los Angeles.

The walkway was a WPA project. The entire walkway spans about one mile from Stadium Way at the east end of Chinatown to North San Fernando Road at the juncture between Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park. I only walked 1/3 of the walkway. Below are photos from that walk.

Video of the walk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MplYftI2SCM

Under 110 S looking at school playground

Spiral stairs at the 110 and 5 split

Entrance to Solano Canyon Community Garden

Looking at Figueroa tunnel on 110 N at the 5 split from the spiral stairs

Behind the facade of the Figueroa tunnel over the 110 North spiral stairs upper left

Under the 110 S looking toward 110 N right before pedestrian tunnel

Walk along 110 S

Entrance to pedestrian tunnel under 110 N from north side near the school

Entrance/exit of the pedestrian tunnel

Beginning of walk near school and pedestrian tunnel looking south

Entrance to walkway to the walk between school and school parking lot

110 N on the south side near the community garden

Behind the facade of top of Figueroa tunnel looking north

Inside community park which is locked

Beginning of the walk up the stairs along the 110 N. 

110 N Figueroa tunnel with LA River in the background

Go through this hole to get to the walkway

Behind the facade of the Figueroa tunnel looking north

Related articles

The 110 Walkway https://losangelesexplorersguild.com/2021/11/12/the-110-walkway/

Pershing Square Holiday Ice Rink Ice Skating in Downtown Los Angeles by Mary Cummins

Ice skating at Pershing Square Holiday Ice Rink in downtown Los Angeles, California at 532 S Olive St. After all these years I decided to embrace being a Christmas baby and wore this Santa hat. Such a beautiful day today! I had a blast! #marycummins #iceskating #pershingsquareiceskating #losangeles #california #pershingsquare #downtownlosangeles Link to the ice skating rink to make reservations https://holidayicerinkdowntownla.com/ There is street parking and private parking lots besides the parking lot located directly under the park. 

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWKL_tlhIk

 Ice skating at Pershing Square. After all these years I decided to embrace being a Christmas baby and wore this Santa hat. Such a beautiful day today! I had a blast! Pershing Square - Downtown Los Angeles , #marycummins #iceskating #pershingsquareiceskating #losangeles #california #pershingsquare #downtownlosangeles

St Vincent Court in Downtown Los Angeles by Mary Cummins

 

St Vincent's Court aka St Vincent's Place is located at St Vincent Court between Broadway and Olive at 7th Street. It's a small dead end street. It was originally part of St Vincent College which was established in 1865. In 1868 it was decided to turn the street into a fake European village with Italian, French, Swiss, Chinese, English store fronts. Today it has tiny shops and restaurants. It's also the entrance to St Vincent Jewelry building. It's a California Historic Landmark #567.