Laurel Spring is a 2.4-acre sanctuary nestled at the crossroads of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Lookout Mountain Avenue. This is an open space acquisition partnership between Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) and the future home of Laurel Spring Park.

THANK YOU to our generous supporters for helping to remove this wild property from the threat of development. It will remain an open space, a critical wildlife habitat,
and a unique local park for the community.

Wendy Averill
Kenneth & Silvana Blum
Roy Conli & Mary Sherwood Brock
Culley Carlson Foundation
Joann Deutch
Randy Dodge
Doyle/Gould Charitable Fund
Joan Ferris
KC Fox
Gustincic/Baggatta Giving
Gale Anne Hurd
Danny and Laurie Hutton
JFS Giving
Neil and Susan Kelley
John Kerr
Brenda Klemme
Kay Lachter
LCLT Land Trust
Andrew Lasken
Anastasia Lovelis
Michal Meyers' Charitable Fund
MRCA
Graham Nash
Paradise-Kadlec Family
Parker Foundation
Viveca Paulin-Ferrell
Arthur & Patricia Price Foundation
Rosenstein Family Fund
Janna Ross
David Schwartz
Tara Thara
Alonzo Wickers

First, we bought a mountain!

In 2017, Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW) and longtime neighborhood organization, Laurel Canyon Association, successfully completed the purchase of the “Let’s Buy A Mountain” 17-acre mountain ridge for open space and wildlife habitat, nestled in historic Laurel Canyon, in the heart of Los Angeles. The 17 acres are located between Lookout Mountain Avenue and Stanley Hills Drive and were purchased as the result of a non-profit donation campaign and turned over to the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority (MRCA) for land management and permanent preservation.

CLAW’s wildlife camera has repeatedly photographed an un-collared mountain lion on the “Let’s Buy A Mountain” property. The camera remains in place and provides a firsthand look at the myriad of wildlife roaming the now-protected land, all of whom continue to use the watershed as a wildlife corridor. View our nature cam here.

Then we bought its spring!

There was a time when mountain-filtered artesian water flowed out of Laurel Canyon. That water was so pure that an enterprising person actually bottled it in the 1920s and sold it as a health aid to thirsty Angelenos.

Believe it or not, that water continues to flow today emerging on one of the last, large and virtually wild parcels of land at the corner of Lookout Mountain and Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

This pristine property is a lifeline for our local wildlife and a crucial habitat linkage hub. Your support has ensured the preservation of woodland teeming with Southern California black walnut and oak and a perennial stream that is a permanent water source for local wildlife. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recognizes the property as critical to the local ecology. The threatened local mountain lion population relies on sanctuaries such as this one, and its significance reaches beyond our community, contributing to a functional habitat linkage from Laurel Canyon Boulevard to Griffith Park.

Throughout the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, there are a number of high-traffic roads along densely developed areas, such as Laurel Canyon. These conditions make it difficult for wildlife to traverse through the mountains. Laurel Spring holds significance as one of the few areas in this region with suitable habitat on both sides of a high-usage road, providing safer opportunities for wildlife to cross Laurel Canyon.

Map of the property at 2401 Laurel Canyon Boulevard and surrounding wildlife corridors. See key to map below.

In addition to its ecological importance, this land has a rich history

Once the terminus of a trackless trolley from Hollywood, it featured a rustic log cabin compound that was briefly home to rock performer Frank Zappa. While the structures were lost to fire decades ago, the property went on to host a Christmas tree lot and remains a stop on a MTA bus line.

Today, it symbolizes nature's resilience.

How will this unique land be used?

Through its voter-approved Community Facilities District, the MRCA has an established funding source to maintain and enhance the property and will make decisions about access to the land subject to public input. Human use, by definition, will be limited and regulated by the MRCA, just as they do with the other thousands of acres of open space they manage such as nearby Franklin Canyon Park.

The MRCA will responsibly manage public use, ensuring limited access and adhering to standard park rules, including restrictions on camping, smoking, and fires. MRCA rangers will actively enforce these rules, and MRCA will conduct annual brush clearance as mandated by the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

The bottom line is that this wild property is removed from the threat of development. It will remain an open space, a critical wildlife habitat, and a unique local park for the community.