The hook
A little lake just uphill from downtown grows the largest bed of lotus flowers in the country, with pedal boats shaped like swans gliding past the skyline.
01Why it's worth it
Echo Park Lake began as a reservoir in the 1860s and became a beloved city park, and its signature has been here for more than a century: a huge bed of pink lotus, said to have been planted in the 1920s by missionaries from the nearby Angelus Temple with seeds from China, now the largest lotus bed in the United States. Each July the neighborhood throws the Lotus Festival around them, with dragon-boat races and Pacific Asian food and music. The rest of the year it's a simple, lovely urban lake, palm trees and a fountain, the downtown towers rising behind it, and a fleet of swan-shaped pedal boats you can rent to go out among the reflections. It's one of the most photographed and most easygoing spots in the city.
02How to experience it
It's in the Echo Park neighborhood just northwest of downtown, about six hours from the Bay. Free to walk the loop; the swan boats rent by the hour. Come in summer to catch the lotus in bloom and, in July, the festival. It pairs with the Time Travel Mart and the Echo Park bars and cafes nearby.