{"id":441692,"date":"2026-08-24T03:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T03:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441692\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T03:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T03:28:09","slug":"this-historic-134-year-old-l-a-county-lake-once-banned-its-real-swans-now-you-can-ride-a-giant-one-for-under-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441692\/","title":{"rendered":"This historic 134-year-old L.A. County lake once banned its real swans \u2014 now you can ride a \u201cgiant one\u201d for under $15"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Swan-Boat-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\" alt=\"Swan Boat\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Wheel Fun Rentals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/la-second-best-city-in-america\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/la-second-best-city-in-america\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Los Angeles<\/a> has no shortage of <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/weekend-things-to-do-la\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/weekend-things-to-do-la\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_1\" data-category=\"click_internal\">things to do,<\/a> from exploring <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/la-bruin-theater-1937-finally-reopening\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/la-bruin-theater-1937-finally-reopening\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_2\" data-category=\"click_internal\">legendary movie theaters<\/a> to spending an afternoon at the beach, but it is easy to overlook the simpler, more affordable ways to enjoy the city. Sometimes, all you need is a little sunshine, some open water, and an hour to slow down\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is where <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-parks-los-angeles\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-parks-los-angeles\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_3\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Echo Park\u2019s<\/a> swan boats come in. The lake\u2019s pedal boats offer an easy way to spend an afternoon outdoors without <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/ca-malibu-installing-high-tech-speed-cameras-pch\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/ca-malibu-installing-high-tech-speed-cameras-pch\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_4\" data-category=\"click_internal\">driving out of L.A.<\/a> or turning the outing into a full-day production. And yes, the boats are shaped like oversized swans that were once banned from the lake!<\/p>\n<p>What to know before renting a swan boat<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Visitors can rent a swan-shaped <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/boating-los-angeles\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/boating-los-angeles\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_5\" data-category=\"click_internal\">pedal boat<\/a> for $13 per person, with each rental lasting one hour. The boats come with a shaded canopy, a roomy back seat and U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets, so the experience is pretty straightforward once you get on the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can pedal your way around the water or simply take in the scenery, with lotus beds, fountains and the DTLA skyline providing plenty of photo opportunities. It\u2019s an especially easy <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/most-romantic-date-spots\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/most-romantic-date-spots\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_6\" data-category=\"click_internal\">plan for couples,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-things-to-do-with-children-in-la\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-things-to-do-with-children-in-la\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_7\" data-category=\"click_internal\">families<\/a> or anyone who wants an outdoor activity that requires considerably less logistical gymnastics than a hike.<\/p>\n<p>A lake that once banned actual swans<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLos Angeles: Swan Boats Rental\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lake\u2019s swan boats have an ironic connection to Echo Park\u2019s history. <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-speakeasies-los-angeles\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/best-speakeasies-los-angeles\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_8\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Back in 1929,<\/a> the Los Angeles Parks Department banned two real swans from the lake, along with ducks, because the birds were eating the lotus shoots and damaging the plants, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/la-xpm-2013-jun-05-la-me-lotus-echo-park-20130606-story.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/la-xpm-2013-jun-05-la-me-lotus-echo-park-20130606-story.html\" data-action=\"text_cta_9\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">L.A. Times<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lotus beds were an important part of the lake\u2019s landscape, and the hungry birds were making it difficult for the <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/seal-beach-national-wildlife-refuge\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/seal-beach-national-wildlife-refuge\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_10\" data-category=\"click_internal\">plants to grow.<\/a> The decision may sound strange today, but the lake\u2019s lotus gardens have long been one of its defining features, including during its major restoration in the 2010s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The real swans may have been unwelcome nearly a century ago, but their oversized counterparts are now a staple of Echo Park Lake, giving visitors a chance to cruise the same water in a decidedly more plant-friendly version of the bird\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtesy of Wheel Fun Rentals. Los Angeles has no shortage of things to do, from exploring legendary movie&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-441692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}