L.A. Staircase is One of the 'World's Coolest,' Says Travel Magazine

Photo: Fire Monkey Fish/Flickr/Creative Commons License

It doesn't look like a rollercoaster, such as the one in Germany, nor does it offer a hip design experience in a New York City computer store, yet the humble Music Box Steps in Los Angeles are one of the city's most recognizable. And perhaps that's why Leisure + Travel magazine this month featured it as one of the "World's Coolest Staircases."

The steps are named after a Academy Award-winning Laurel and Hardy short film from 1932 called "The Music Box." The two are trying to deliver a piano and have to lug it up the 131 steps -- of course with humorous and disastrous results. Here's a clip:

Found in the Silver Lake neighborhood, these steps make up just one of the estimated 500 or so staircases in Los Angeles leftover from the city's public transit era. Whether it's the "coolest" is up to you (the film history certainly helps makes the case), but the staircases around the city make for a great reason to do some urban hiking while intimately exploring unique neighborhoods. Last summer, SoCal Wanderer produced a video about hiking city staircases with additional written information on how to find more staircases and hiking tours. Watch that here.