Walking the Venice Canals, Footbridge to Footbridge

The Venice Canals make a residential grid in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. You will find them a few blocks from the beach, with Santa Monica to the north, Marina del Rey to the south, and, just to the west, the Pacific Ocean and the boardwalk at Venice Beach. Six canals run through the neighborhood. Together they cover about one and a half miles, with a width of about fifty feet and a center depth of about five feet. Nine footbridges give walkers a way from one bank to the other.

Kinney's Venice in America

On July 4, 1905, Abbot Kinney opened Venice in America before a crowd of 40,000. Work on Venice in America had started in 1904. Venice in America was a few square miles of canals, bridges, and private homes, a reference to Venezia, the great Italian Renaissance city. Electric trolleys carried families from downtown Los Angeles and from Santa Monica for gondola rides on the canals. Lit canals, gondoliers, and arched bridges drew wide publicity, and that notice helped sell lots.

Born in 1850 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he grew up in Washington, DC. He left for Europe at 16. He spent a year at the University of Heidelberg, then two more years at the Sorbonne in Paris and traveling through Switzerland and Italy. Someone suggested Los Angeles, because the climate might help his asthma. His first important project was Ocean Park, and with his partner Francis Ryan he built the playground that became the Santa Monica Pier and boardwalk. Time spent in European capital cities later influenced the plans he carried to Los Angeles.

The Canals That Survived

A second group of investors built the New Amsterdam canals to the south. Sherman and Howland, two canals that remain, carry the names of those builders. Most early homes there were small one story cottages meant for summer use. Kinney's own canals carried another set of names: Aldebaran, Altair, Cabrillo, Coral, Grand, Lion, and Venus.

In 1929, a number of canals were filled so paved roads could take their place. The count fell from thirteen to six, and before the fill the canal area was about three or four times the size it covers now. Lion Canal became Windward Avenue. The gondolas were replaced by sedans and coupes. At Pacific and Windward Avenues, the traffic circle sits on the old Venice Lagoon. Coral Canal became Main Street and Canal Street, Cabrillo Canal became Cabrillo Avenue, Venus Canal became San Juan Avenue, Altair Canal became Altair Street, Aldebaran Canal became Market Street, and Grand Canal became Grand Boulevard.

Restored and Listed

The Venice Canal Historic District is listed on the Historic Places Register of the City of Los Angeles and on the National Register of Historic Places, reference number 82002193. By 1940, sidewalks along the canals that remained had deteriorated and were no longer in public use. For more than forty years after that, the district was in poor condition.

In 1992 the canals were drained and renovated. The water enters the canals through sea gates in the Marina del Rey breakwater via the Ballona Lagoon, and again in Washington Boulevard. At low tide the gates open so that most of the water can drain. At high tide the gates close and trap water for about three days before the canals are refreshed.

Walking the Loop

The canals lie with Venice Boulevard on the north side and Washington Boulevard on the south side. The east to west canals are Carroll, Linnie, Howland, and Sherman. Eastern Canal and Grand Canal are the pair that run north to south. The waterways once reached north to Westminster Avenue and east to Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

You can enter from the west, off Pacific Avenue and off Strongs Drive, and you can also enter along Venice Boulevard and Washington Boulevard. Dell Avenue crosses four bridges as it moves from south to north. Nine footbridges give pedestrian access inside the canals. Grand Canal meets the Ballona Lagoon and is crossed by four pedestrian bridges. Other bridges for people on foot sit at Carroll Court and Court D, at Linnie Avenue and Howland Canal, and at Holly Court and Sherman Canal.

Sidewalks beside the canals are narrow, so please walk a bike and carry a skateboard. If you want a few bridges and a few canals, allow at least 45 minutes. A longer walk or a run can follow more of the grid, and a shorter walk can cover less.

Toward Venice Beach

Which footbridge gets your photo? Pictures are welcome on the bridges and along the canals, so pick the span you like. Canal residents decorate the bridges for the Winter Holidays and for Valentine's Day. Near the north entrance to the canals, Kinney stands above modern Venice as a four story mural at the corner of Venice Boulevard and Pacific Avenue. The Venice Beach Boardwalk lies a few blocks west, toward the Pacific Ocean.