Tujunga Wash Greenway

{{Short description|Cycling route in California, US}}

{{Infobox cycling path

| name = Tujunga Wash Bike Path

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| photo = File:Great Wall of Los Angeles from Burbank Blv.jpg

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| caption = Mural: “Great Wall of Los Angeles”

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| length_mi = 2.5

| location = San Fernando Valley

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| trailheads = South: Tujunga Wash and Oxnard Street
North: Tujunga Wash and Vanowen Street

| use = Active transportation, road biking, walking, dogs on leash

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| difficulty = Easy

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| surface = asphalt, concrete, gravel

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The Tujunga Wash Greenway and Bike Path is a trail and stormwater mitigation project in the Valley Village and Valley Glen neighborhoods of California’s San Fernando Valley.{{Cite web |title=Tujunga Wash Greenway and Stream Restoration Project |url=https://mrca.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MRCA.TWash-brochure-.pdf |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority}}

Tujunga Wash is a tributary of the Los Angeles River; Tujunga has its own tributary, Pacoima Wash. The wash was channelized for flood control by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s.

Created between 2007 and 2012,{{Cite web |title=Corps and LA County break ground for Tujunga Wash restoration |url=https://www.spd.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/487017/corps-and-la-county-break-ground-for-tujunga-wash-restoration/https://www.spd.usace.army.mil/Home/Article/487017/corps-and-la-county-break-ground-for-tujunga-wash-restoration/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=USACE South Pacific Division |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} the {{convert|2.5|mile|adj=on}}-long greenbelt extends from Oxnard Street in the south to Vanowen Street in the north.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-29 |title=Tujunga Wash Greenway |url=https://rposd.lacounty.gov/portfolio/tujunga-wash-greenway/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240513171155/https://rposd.lacounty.gov/portfolio/tujunga-wash-greenway/ |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Los Angeles County - RPOSD |language=en-US}} It “takes urban runoff from the flood control channel and creates a new stream with some of the natural characteristics from the Tujunga Wash, while native plants in the streambed help clean the water and establish habitat for animals such as birds, frogs and lizards.”{{Cite web |date=2017-07-10 |title=Tujunga Wash Greenway Restoration Project |url=https://ourwaterla.org/tujunga-wash-greenway-restoration-project/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=OURWATERLA |language=en-US}} The naturalized side channel within the greenway is a bioswale that recharges groundwater with an average of {{convert|350000|gal|L|sp=us}} annually.{{Cite web |title=ASLA: Tujunga Greenway |url=https://www.asla.org/uploadedFiles/CMS/Advocacy/Federal_Government_Affairs/Stormwater_Case_Studies/Stormwater%20Case%20014%20Tujunga%20Wash%20Greenway,%20Los%20Angeles,%20CA.pdf}} The {{convert|15|acre|m2|adj=on}} riparian habitat lies within a {{convert|50|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid|sp=us}} greenbelt.[https://greatervalleyglencouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1_PPD-623_Identity-Action-Plan-History.pdf Greater Valley Glen Council - Neighborhood History], p. 10

Designed to attract both “migratory birds and pedestrians,”{{Cite web |last=Brasuell |first=James |date=2012-02-06 |title=Part of Tujunga Wash to Get Army Corps of Engineers Makeover |url=https://la.curbed.com/2012/2/6/10398668/part-of-tujunga-wash-to-get-army-corps-of-engineers-makeover |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Curbed LA |language=en}} the Los Angeles Times said the beautification project “combines art and nature,”{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Charles |date=2014-07-25 |title=Art and nature along the Tujunga Wash in the Valley |url=https://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-walks-tujunga-wash-html-htmlstory.html |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} with the art aspect being the sculpted metal gates at the bike path entrances and the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural that’s been called “a California history lesson in sixth-tenths of a mile.”{{Cite book |last=Fleming |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Fleming (author)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/912325615 |title=Secret walks : a walking guide to the hidden trails of Los Angeles |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-59580-821-9 | publisher=Santa Monica Press|location=Solana Beach, California |oclc=91232561}}

The Class I bike path runs for {{Convert|.5|mi}} from Oxnard Street to Burbank Boulevard between the neighborhoods of the Van Nuys and North Hollywood. The road surface is mix of concrete, asphalt and gravel.

At its southern terminus of Chandler Boulevard the Tujunga Wash Bike Path intersects with the {{convert|14|mile|adj=on}} G Line Bikeway.

There are access points at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street, as well as Fallbrook Avenue, Lassen Street, Coldwater Canyon Drive, Nordhoff Street, Saticoy Street, and DeSoto Avenue.{{Cite web |title=Tujunga Greenbelt - North Hollywood, CA - Mor Air Inc. |url=https://morairinc.com/north-hollywood-ca/tujunga-greenbelt/ |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Mor Air - 24 Hour HVAC Company |language=en-US}} One local guide advises, “There are crossings every quarter-mile or so, except for about one mile in between Coldwater Canyon and Busch Motorway, where there are no crossings until it hits Saticoy Street.”