Los Angeles Reopens Trails, Golf Courses, Select Retail Stores

Hiking to the Hollywood sign and hitting the links is being allowed Saturday as the California county hardest hit by the coronavirus cautiously reopened some sites to recreation-starved stay-at-homers.

Los Angeles County permitted the reopening of trails and golf courses, but with social distancing restrictions. For those interested in retail therapy, there was even better news as Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday allowed tens of thousands of stores in California to reopen, including florist shops, just in time for Mother’s Day.

The city of Los Angeles also announced it was reopening some public spaces, including sprawling Griffith Park, which includes popular paths to the Hollywood sign.

But mounted police and park rangers would be keeping hikers to small, distant groups wearing face coverings. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti urged “good judgment” and said the city would rely on education and encouragement rather than heavy-handed enforcement.

It was “not our vision to make this like a junior high school dance with people standing too close to each other,” he said.

County beaches could reopen next week with restrictions designed to keep people from thronging the shore and possibly spreading COVID-19.