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A group of homeowners and Griffith Park preservationists have filed court papers to reverse the city of Los Angeles’ decision to block an access point to one of the most direct hiking trails to the famous Hollywood sign.

The Beachwood Drive gate is now off-limits if you’re trekking to the Hollywood sign. (Credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The dispute centers on the decision by city officials to close the Beachwood Drive gate on April 18, which cut off an access point to the popular Hollyridge Trail. The city cited a court order issued in February in an ongoing battle with Sunset Ranch Hollywood Stables, a privately owned horseback-riding facility in Griffith Park.

The suit filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the Friends of Griffith Park, Los Feliz Oaks Homeowners Assn. and the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust said that closing the Beachwood Drive gate altogether, save for those driving to and from the ranch, blocked entry to public parkland and amounted to an illegal gift of government property to a private group.

In court papers, the groups question why the city did not consider other routes that would keep pedestrian access without interfering with the horseback-riding facility.

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