section_path: Geography
section_name: Geography
paragraph_text: Geography
  
  Approximately 23.6 miles (38 km) in length, the boulevard roughly traces the arc of mountains that form part of the northern boundary of the Los Angeles Basin, following the path of a 1780s cattle trail from the Pueblo de Los Ángeles to the ocean.
  
  From Downtown Los Angeles, the boulevard heads northwest, to Hollywood, through which it travels due west for several miles before it bends southwest towards the ocean. It passes through or near Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Holmby Hills. In Bel Air, Sunset Boulevard runs along the northern boundary of UCLA 's Westwood campus. The boulevard continues through Brentwood to Pacific Palisades, where it terminates at the Pacific Coast Highway intersection.
  
  The boulevard has curvaceous winding stretches, and can be treacherous for unalert drivers in some sections. Sunset Boulevard is at least four lanes wide along its entire route. Sunset is frequently congested with traffic loads beyond its design capacity.
  
  Sunset Boulevard historically extended farther east than it does now, starting at Alameda Street near Union Station and beside Olvera Street in the historic section of Downtown. The portion of Sunset Boulevard east of Figueroa Street was renamed Cesar Chavez Avenue in 1994, along with Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue, in honor of the late Mexican-American union leader and civil rights activist.