Los Angeles, California: Dry Concrete Riverbed: As Seen in the Movies

Among many, many other films that used this dried out river bed for the movies, maybe the most notable one is the race finale in 1978's Grease!

It may illegal to enter the riverbank anywhere below the bike paths, but try telling that to the graffiti artists, un-permitted filmmakers, and other low life denizens that populate these concrete lowlands. If you do go exploring keep your head on a swivel. The homeless take up residence in adjacent drainage tunnels during the dry summer months. While the chances of a confrontation are low, it's still disconcerting to see someone emerge from behind a grate and head off about their day.

Enjoy the desolate lawless expanse while it it lasts. Plans are to replace the iconic but structurally questionable 6th Street Bridge with a modern cable structure, and local environmental groups are pressuring the city to return the river bed to it's natural, hypodermic needle free state. That might be well and good for endangered waterfowl, but not for taking Grandma's station wagon on a late night joyride.