Baldwin Hills (mountain range)

For the community in these hills, see Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles.

Baldwin Hills
Location of the Baldwin Hills in California
Highest point
Elevation	156 m (512 ft)
Geography
Country	United States
State	California
District	Los Angeles County
Range coordinates	33°59′43″N 118°21′50″W
Topo map	USGS Inglewood

The Baldwin Hills are a low mountain range surrounded by and rising above the Los Angeles Basin plain in central Los Angeles County, California. The Pacific Ocean is to the west, the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, Downtown Los Angeles to the northeast, and the Palos Verdes Hills to the south - with all easily viewed from the Baldwin Hills.

Geography

The headwaters of the urban river known as Ballona Creek are in the Santa Monica Mountains, such as above Beverly Hills and flows along the north base of Baldwin Hills through an active geological watergap, on the way to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica Bay. La Cienega Boulevard goes through a pass in the ridge of the Baldwin Hills between Inglewood and Culver City, and northeast of Los Angeles International Airport. La Cienega Boulevard is a parkway road passing alongside open space of large private corporate lands with oil wells of the Inglewood Oil Field in the southern Baldwin Hills.

View of the eastern Baldwin Hills and Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area Park, from the western Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Park.

1927 Los Angeles Times map shows (1) the proposed extension of a 100-foot-wide La Brea Avenue between Jefferson Street through the Baldwin Hills toward Inglewood.

History

• Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera - eastern area
• Sanchez Adobe de Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera. The adobe was once the center of the rancho. In the 1920s, an addition was built linking the structures and the building was converted into a larger clubhouse for the Sunset Golf Course.
• Rancho Rincon de los Bueyes - western area
• The hills are the location of the Baldwin Hills Dam failure and subsequent 1963 Baldwin Hills Reservoir flooding disaster.

Recreation

• Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area - recreation, such as walking, picnicking, and birdwatching fits in with preservation of the open-space lands and native habitats: entrance on South La Cienega Boulevard.
• official Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Park website - entrance on Jefferson Boulevard; trail map
• Norman O Houston Park website
• Jim Gilliam Recreation Center website

See also

• Baldwin Hills
• Blair Hills, Culver City
• Culver Crest
• Fox Hills, Culver City
• Ladera Heights
• Leimert Park
• Ranchos of California
• View Park-Windsor Hills
• West Los Angeles College

External links

• Official Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area website
• The Baldwin Hills Conservancy
• Baldwin Hills dam history