For those who like their hiking a bit more urban … and involving more staircases, then you’ll be happy to know that the team behind the Big Parade is back again, and gearing up for a 2-day, 35 mile walk through Los Angeles, including 101 public staircases.

Eldred Street staircase in Highland Park

The event kicks off Friday morning with an 11 mile pre-walk featuring 25 staircases, while the Parade proper starts on Saturday morning at Angels’ Flight in downtown, and ends on Sunday afternoon at the Hollywood Sign. Yes – camping is involved, at the Silver Lake Recreation Center, but walkers are welcome to hop in and out of the route as their time allows them. Along the way, parade participants will get to know L.A. on a more personal level, visiting historic markers, landmarks, and shops along the route. You know, the stuff we all miss when we’re driving through, muttering to ourselves about the traffic.

For more information, head on over to the Big Parade website. If you’re planning on only doing a section of the route, you’ll want to follow their Twitter account to keep tabs on where the group is marching. And if you want to get a better idea of how the whole thing works, read a first-hand account from the LAist from last year’s Parade!

Image by craig1black on Flickr.

Tags: Hiking, l.a., Los Angeles, the big parade, urban hiking