But you don't have to be a cowboy to enjoy the scenery: 17,000 acres of the huge park is crisscrossed with paths for hikers and mountain bikers.
The farmers here are charged with keeping a public path clear for hikers, and in front of us, diagonally across the sun-battered field, was a great luminous green stripe of turf.
Automobiles have been banned on a 4.6-mile stretch of the historic Columbia River Highway that reopened last fall between Hood River and Mosier to the east, leaving a spectacular car-free path for runners, hikers and road-bikers, complete with twin tunnels.
Patrick Joyce, a senior park ranger on the Los Angeles side of the river, said bicycles are allowed in Griffith Park and people walking or carrying bikes are considered pedestrians even on the bridle paths restricted for hikers and equestrians.
Topographic maps for hikers maps maps for hikers or back country, featuring paths and campgrounds.
Macau's longest path, the five-mile main Colôane Trail (Estrada do Alto de Colôane), is a magnet for hikers on the weekends.
Part of the mountain path that some of the North Korean raiders used in their retreat from Seoul has been turned into a trail for hikers, tourists and nature lovers.
For hikers and bikers, there is Hader Park a five-mile-long stretch between Nyack and Piermont along the path of the old Erie railroad.
My dyke walk was short, but a perfect taster for hikers who want to take on the South Fyn archipelago trail, a 200km network of signposted paths that circumnavigates the area.
There is also a limit for hikers on the Incan Trail, a popular three-and-a-half day trek on Incan stone paths that leads to Machu Picchu.
