Palisades Trail

The Tampa Avenue trailhead is between Wilbur Avenue and Braemore Road, with minimal signage. Climb a short steep paved segment, then descend to a flat area behind some houses, then climb back up gently to contour along the middle of the bluffs. After the initial climb and descent, the bulk of the trail is gentle until you near Reseda Boulevard; there's a modest climb for the last quarter mile or so. The Reseda Boulevard trailhead, just above Beaufait Avenue, is only slightly better marked than the Tampa Avenue trailhead. There is very little shade except that provided by the bluffs themselves - so near zero mid-day. There are good views over the Porter Ranch neighborhood and into the San Fernando Valley to the south. Although this appears to be part of the Wilbur-Tampa Park, it is undeveloped except for the trail. The developed portion appears to be just south of the Tampa Avenue trailhead. A short hike along Tampa Avenue connects to the Upper Limekiln Canyon Trail, while just south on Reseda Boulevard and through Eddleston Park connects to the Aliso Canyon Trail. I think the elevation profile derived here overstates the climb and descent for much of the trail, due to the steep terrain that the trail contours along. Another program, working from GPS data rather than topographic map data, estimates about 160 feet of total climb in the round trip, 3x less than shown here. In particular, the climb at the Reseda Boulevard end is nowhere near as steep as the elevation profile shows. The other program estimates a maximum of 6%, with most of the trail below 2%.