UCLA Recreation:
2131 John Wooden Center
(310) 825-3701 http://www.recreation.ucla.edu
Your academic fee payment entitles you to use all UCLA Recreational Facilities, including the John Wooden Center at 221 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90095-1612 (310) 206-8307. See www.recreation.ucla.edu for information on all recreational athletics: facilities, intramural/club sports, and all the classes offered by the Cultural and Recreational Affairs office (upstairs in Wooden), ranging from aerobics to ballroom dancing to windsurfing.
UCLA Recreation is responsible for all campus recreational facilities, activities and services. Programs cover the competitive, informal, social, cultural and instructional aspects of recreational activities.
Club Sports and Recreation Associations: improve skills and explore special interests through clubs and associations. Includes everything from archery to chess, water polo and rugby to table tennis and soccer, Bruin Masters swim to golf. Club dues may apply.
Intramural Sports: offers team, dual and individual sports in tournament or league play. More than 2,200 teams and 16,000 participants compete. Nominal fees charged.
Recreation Classes and Adventure Trips: are available in a broad range of interests, from fitness, aquatics and sports, to music and arts; from rock climbing and backpacking to kayaking and surfing. Check the website for activities and schedules, fees may apply.
Open Recreation: Students have access to open recreation in multiple venues on campus. Please check the website for options and times.
John Wooden Center: 3 gyms for basketball, volleyball and badminton, and gymnastics; a Strength and Conditioning Zone with state of the art equipment; 4 hardwood floor studios for group classes and activities; a rock wall; handball; racquetball and squash courts; locker rooms with showers and saunas; a games lounge and more.
Drake Track Stadium and Fields: includes North Athletic Field, Intramural Field, and a nine-lane 400-meter track with javelin, triple jump, long jump, and infield events area.
Student Activities Center: gymnasium, locker rooms with showers, meeting rooms, and an outdoor swimming pool.
Sycamore Park: available for daytime use, 6 tennis courts and a golf chipping area and putting green. Call for reservations – (310) 206-8307.
Sunset Canyon Recreation Center: features a 50-meter pool with diving facilities, a 25- yard family pool, a sand volleyball court, picnic and barbeque areas, an outdoor amphitheater, 8 lighted tennis courts, 2 sport courts and a challenge (ropes) course.
Marina Aquatic Center: scenic home base to multiple water sports, includes dock access, equipment rentals, locker room and showers, and barbeque and fire pit.
Gyms and Health Clubs:
24-Hour Fitness
9911 W. Pico Blvd., LA (310) 553-7600.
Bally’s Total Fitness
1914 Bundy, West L.A. (310) 820-7571
LA Fitness Sports Club
10921 Wilshire Blvd. (at comer of Gayley), (310) 209-5002
YMCA
11311 LaGrange Ave., W. L.A. (310) 477-1511 plus additional locations (www.ymca.org)
YWCA
2019 14th St., Santa Monica (310) 452-3881
Outdoor Recreation Areas:
Santa Monica Bike Path:
Great beach path from Palisades to Redondo Beach.
Will Rogers State Park
Pacific Palisades. This is a great place to go for a picnic, play frisbee, or go hiking.
Griffith Park
Los Feliz. A huge park with trees, stables, a golf course, a zoo, and a planetarium. Located at the Hollywood sign!
Leo Carrillo Beach
About 45 minutes north on the Pacific Coast Highway. There are large rock formations that, at one spot, form a cave you can walk through. You can also come here to watch the fish spawn at night during the summer.
Santa Monica and Venice Beaches
These are popular beaches with tourists and locals alike. From here…just go west!
Topanga State Park
Topanga Canyon. Perhaps the best nearby wilderness for hiking. Take Pacific Coast Highway to Topanga Canyon road.
Gardens Arboretum
Arcadia. Peacocks run free through the gardens. There are lots of nice lagoons around. (310) 446-8251
Descanso Gardens
La Canada http://www.descansogardens.org/site/#
Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Gardens
On campus, between the Biomed library and Hilgard Ave.
Huntington Library Museum and Gardens
Pasadena http://www.huntington.org/
Big Bear Lake
This is a beautiful resort area in the San Bernardino mountains about three hours East. Go boating in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter.
Catalina Island
Perfect for a day trip, or even overnight. It consists of the small town of Avalon built in the 1930′s and is mostly unchanged. Parasailing, glass bottom boats, skin diving are available. To get there:
Catalina Cruises (Long Beach) (800) 228-2546
Catalina Express (Long Beach or San Pedro) (310) 519-1212
Channel Islands
Comprising five of the eight California Channel Islands, Channel Islands National Park is home to a wide variety of nationally and internationally significant natural and cultural resources. Over 2,000 species of plants and animals can be found within the park. However only four mammals are endemic to the islands. One hundred and forty-five of these species are unique to the islands and found nowhere else in the world. Marine life ranges from microscopic plankton to the endangered blue whale, the largest animal to live on earth. Archeological and cultural resources span a period of more than 10,000 years. The park consists of 249,353 acres, half of which are under the ocean, and include the islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara.