Two Chairs No Waiting 126: Return to Myers Lake

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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:21:44

Two Chairs No Waiting

The body of water called “Myers Lake” on The Andy Griffith Show is actually called the “Upper Franklin Reservoir.”  The reservoir is located in Franklin Canyon Park in Hollywood hill of Beverly Hills.

We talked about this area back on episode 13 of Two Chairs No Waiting back in January 2009.  For some reason that is one of the most downloaded and searched for episodes so I thought it would be a good time to return to Myers Lake.

Franklin Canyon Park is a public park located near Benedict Canyon at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park comprises 605 acres, and is located in what is said to be the geographical center of the city of Los Angeles. The park features a 3-acre lake (a.k.a. Franklin Lake or Myers Lake by Mayberry fans), a duck pond (Heavenly Pond),  and over five miles of hiking trails. The park was used for the opening of The Andy Griffith Show.

The park traces its beginnings to 1914 when William Mulholland and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power built a reservoir in upper Franklin Canyon. The 1930s began the frequent use of the canyon for filming. Today about 25 films are shot there each year.

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Directions

2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, California

From the West Side, head north on Beverly Drive following signs to Coldwater Canyon. Turn left on Coldwater/Beverly Drive and turn left again on Beverly Drive , at Fire Station No. 2. The third right is Franklin Canyon Dr. continue through residential area to park entrance. At the intersection of Franklin Canyon and Lake Drive turn right to go to Franklin Canyon Ranch site or turn left to go to the Sooky Goldman
Nature Center and Franklin Canyon Lake.

From the San Fernando Valley, From the Ventura Freeway (101) or Ventura Blvd. Take Coldwater Canyon Boulevard south to the intersection of Coldwater Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Make a 90 degree right turn onto Franklin Canyon Dr. There is no street sign “Franklin Canyon.” Road signs read “Road Closed 800 Feet” “Sunset to Sunrise”; this is the park entrance. Do NOT make a “U-Turn” for this will bring you onto Mulholland Drive instead of Franklin Canyon. Stay on paved surface to reach the Sooky Goldman Nature Center and continue south of the lake for 1.5 miles to reach the Franklin Canyon Ranch Site area.

As you enter the “loop” that goes around the lake (it’s one way so this should make it easy to describe), you will have a wooden railing on the left. That railing is where Andy stopped on “The Return to Mayberry” and looked down at Myers Lake.  There is a parking area about 40 yards down on the left.

Park there and walk over to the railing just to the left of the parking area (not the railing that on the main road but the wooden “fence” that keeps folks from falling down the slope.   When you look down the slope you’ll see the path. This is where Andy and Opie walked.  There’s a wooden picnic table down there.

Related Links:

• Franklin Canyon Park – Wikipedia article about “Myers Lake.”
• Map of Franklin Canyon Park – PDF file of the park.
• Overhead image of Upper Franklin Reservoir
• Franklin Canyon Park – Brought to you by the Santa Monica Mountain Conservancy.
• How to Hike Franklin Canyon in Beverly Hills
• Bonanza: Scenery of the Ponderosa –  Franklin Lake (a.k.a. Myers Lake) on Bonanza.
• Photos of Franklin Canyon – These are photos taken during my two trips to visit Franklin Canyon.
• Google Map of Franklin Canyon Park
• Video at Franklin Canyon – Your host and his son, Adam, back in 2004 at Myers Lake filming our version of the opening credits of TAGS.
• Let’s Go to the Fishin’ Hole – Report by The Mayberry Times publisher (1996) about his trip to Myers Lake and meeting with some of the cast members.
• A Walk With Andy and Opie – Report in “My Sen-Tence” from the mid-1990’s by Paul Filder and his trip to Franklin Canyon.
• Two Chairs No Waiting 13: Myers Lake is Franklin Canyon Reservoir

Executive Producer of Two Chairs No Waiting Episode #126: Jay Hicks

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