Visiting the post-makeover Echo Park Lake

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The statue known as the Lady of the Lake is actually titled “Nuestra Reina de Los Angeles.” She stands watch as visitors return to the newly renovated park. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Jeamy Diaz, 17, walks her golden retriever, Chester, 4, on the path that circles the lake. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Mosquito fish swim in the cleaned waters of the lake. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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The calm waters of the urban pond reflect the palm trees that line the park pathways. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Justine Macasadia, 21, of San Diego, and Shaun de Guzman, 27, of Los Angeles visit the park on a recent Friday. During renovations, chain-link fencing kept visitors away. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Water plants emerge from Echo Park Lake. The lake had been famous for its lotus festival, but the plants had been dying off. Hundreds of new lotuses were planted after the lake was drained and cleaned in the renovation. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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The 1930s sculpture by Ada Mae Sharpless was moved to a new spot on the east side of the lake near the boathouse. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Baby ducks rest in the shade. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Luis Garcia and his girlfriend, Susy Sandoval, stroll through the park as the lotus plants begin to blossom. The plants are temporarily covered by netting to protect them from hungry birds. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Melanie Reyes, 22, rests underneath a tree as she talks with a friend. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Lotus seed pods rise above the waters at Echo Park Lake. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Nikola Kirigin, 4, watches the ducklings at Echo Park Lake (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Blooms return to Echo Park Lake. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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The lake is again filled with plant life. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Visitors can spy various species that live or come to rest at Echo Park Lake. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Billy Cuddy, left, Wendy Sung and Kitty, a Chihuahua mix, walk through the park as a balloon salesman plies his trade behind them. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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The boathouse, which dates from the 1890s, is poised to begin renting paddle boats again for cruising the lake and will soon include a cafe, park representatives say. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Erika Brown, 25, left, shares a beautiful L.A. day at the reopened park with Lindsay Weldon, 26. The park is just north of downtown Los Angeles. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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Restored pre-1900 Eastlake, Queen Anne and Victorian homes are nestled near Echo Park Lake along Carroll Avenue. A walk along the streets east of the park is an architectural history tour. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

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The renovation of the park cost about $45 million. It reopened June 15. (Cheryl A. Guerrero / Los Angeles Times)

By Charles Fleming

July 19, 2013 3:41 PM PT

For the last two years, Echo Park Lake has been hidden behind chain link and plastic tarp. Now, after a makeover, the fountains are flowing, the water is clear, the lotuses are back and people are using the park. The space is the urban gem its designers imagined more than a century ago, when nearby Angelino Heights was one of the city’s premier addresses.

1. Start walking from the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Park Avenue, and find your way to the wide paved pathway that circles the lake. Head left, going clockwise around the water, and appreciate the lake’s signature lotus blossoms, restored “Lady of the Lake” statue and fine downtown views.

2. The boat house, which dates from the 1890s, is poised to begin renting paddle boats again for cruising the lake and will soon host a cafe, park representatives say. Meanwhile, enjoy a picnic on one of the benches or the sloping hillside nearby.

3. For a tour of the city’s best collection of Victorian-era residences, leave the lake and turn left at the corner of Bellevue Avenue. Then turn left again a few blocks ahead, on West Edgeware Road.

PHOTOS: The views of Echo Park Lake

4. Turn right onto Carroll Avenue and begin enjoying the amazing Victorian, Eastlake and Queen Anne homes along two blocks of restored pre-1900 homes. Note the period hitching posts and marble blocks that served as steps into parked carriages and cabriolets.

5. Turn left onto East Edgeware Road and left again a block later on Kellam Avenue for another two blocks of great houses.

6. Turn left a final time back onto West Edgeware, and return to Bellevue and Echo Park avenues.

7. Back at the lake, continue heading clockwise around the water.

Charles Fleming is the author of “Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles” and “Secret Stairs East Bay: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Berkeley and Oakland.”

[email protected]

The stats

Distance: 1 mile, or 3 miles
Duration: 30 minutes, or 1.5 hours
Difficulty: 2 on a scale of 1 to 5
Details: Dogs on leash OK. Metro bus line 92 stop. Wheelchair accessible.

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