The Hollywood sign remains one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks. Although you can only get so close, the experience of seeing this monument in person never gets old. The other Saturday the four of us journeyed up through Los Feliz to one of LA’s best vantage points, Griffith Observatory.
Griffith Observatory is a fully functional observatory and mini science center situated on top of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. The observatory is surrounded by trails and grassy lawns, overlooks and large balconies. It’s the perfect place to see both the Hollywood sign and well…all of Los Angeles. We suggest going in the winter as the lack of summer haze allows for a much clearer view of the valley.
You can park right on the drive leading to the Observatory and it’s a short jaunt into the park. We pulled over to snap some pictures of the sign before making our way to the west observing area. There are view finders and lots of ledges to lean on as you look out onto the gorgeous city (county) of LA.
Saturday was such a beautiful warm day. Jeff had never been to the Observatory so it was fun to stand and point out all the different areas of the city.
They have this beautiful back deck with arches all along it. It feels like our very own little Parthenon on a hill. From here, you can look down and see the hiking trail that winds its way through the lower lawns.
After viewing our full, we decided to break from the Sun and journey inside. The building has numerous galleries and interactive exhibits. We entered through the Hall of the Eye which has installations chronicling the progress of human observation of the sky and the tools that have been developed for studying the sky over the decades.
We then moved into the Keck Foundation Rotunda which has a massive Foucault Pendulum and beautiful ceiling murals.
The other end of the main floor houses the Hall of the Sky which displays the human connection to the moon and sun. There are two other galleries on the lower floor as well as The End of the Universe Cafe (A Wolfgang Puck dinning hall).
We came out of the building and made our way to the roof top. From here you can watch the telescope domes rotate and enjoy an even higher view of the city. We gazed at the mountains from the eastern terrace before making the descent back to the main lawn.
We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for site seeing. Make sure you check out the Solar System Model on the northern lawn as well as the huge sun dial.
We will definitley be making a return trip to see the city at night and check out some of Griffith Observatory’s evening events.
Griffith Observatory is open six days a week.
Weekdays (Tuesday – Friday): Open 12:00 noon – 10:00 p.m
Weekends (Saturday – Sunday): Open 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
*Closed Mondays*
You can read more about their amenities and programs on the Griffith web site.
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L and A in L.A. 
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