Hollywood Hills Hiking... has there ever been a more appealing or alliterative sentence? It seems odd to go hiking in the middle of a huge metropolitan city, but the Hollywood Sign has to sit somewhere, and that place is the 4,000 acre Griffith Park. Now this hike didn’t actually take us all the way to the sign (it’s really far away), but we got some great views, learnt a lot about the history of the park, and worked up a sweat in the California sunshine. The perfect way to spend a morning in my opinion!
| Griffith Park Bird Sanctuary
I met our guide, Ali, and the rest of the group (ten total) at the Greek Theatre Box Office, where we introduced ourselves and Ali gave a briefing of what to expect from the hike. The tour started through the Griffith Park Bird Sanctuary, and up the trail towards Dante’s View, a scenic spot overlooking Downtown Los Angeles. Honestly as soon as we left the car park the views were impressive, but up here we could see all the way to the ocean!
Ali regaled us with stories of the park’s founder, Griffith J. Griffith, as we trekked upwards, and how he made his money through insider trading before purchasing the land, then later donating it to the City of Los Angeles to become an urban park. The first 25 minutes of the hike were the most strenuous, but it certainly wasn’t difficult, and Ali’s stories made it feel like we weren’t exercising at all!
| Captain's Roost and Tiffany Vista Point
The trail took us up Mount Hollywood where we reached Captain’s Roost, a great photo opportunity with 360 views of the surrounding city, and a sort of side-on view of the Hollywood Sign.
From here, we started going downhill until we reached the Tiffany Vista Point (a popular engagement spot, but alas today was not my day). This also provided our best view of the Hollywood Sign, and we all had fun taking photos ‘holding’ the sign and leaping in the air - Ali had clearly done this before, as she knew all the best angles!
| Griffith Observatory
A short walk from Tiffany’s Vista Point was our final stop on the hiking tour; Griffith Observatory. On the way Ali told us about the darker side of Griffith’s history; the attempted murder of his wife and his bid to build an observatory in the park, which the city rejected due to his diminished reputation (but accepted after he died).
The observatory was just opening as we arrived, so we had the opportunity to check out the Sundial, Foucault Pendulum and The Big Picture inside, as well as a private exhibition of a meteorite sample from one of the observatory staff members. This rock was over 4 billion years old - so it’s unlikely we’ll ever hold something older!
This concluded our wonderful morning hike, where we had the chance to stick around the observatory and do more exploring or get a cab from the observatory parking lot (there’s also a bus that goes back down to the Greek Theatre). I’m so glad I chose to do a guided hike of Hollywood Hills rather than going alone; having someone lead the way on the best routes and point out various landmarks made the trip a real experience, one that I shan’t forget in a hurry!
| Thanks for reading!
Big thanks to Ali for being a fantastic guide, and for all the useful recommendations she gave for the remainder of my stay in Los Angeles. This tour is ideal for all fitness levels and ages, and makes a great way to spend a morning in Hollywood - five stars from me!
