On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
There actually is a Mt. Hollywood, but it’s not where the Hollywood Sign is, that’s Mt. Lee. Mt. Hollywood was once the highest point in Griffith Park (additional land was added to the park a few years ago that contained higher peaks) and is located directly north of the Griffith Observatory. The Charlie Turner Trail runs from the north part of the Griffith Observatory parking lot (by the George Harrison Memorial Tree) to the summit of Mt. Hollywood.
It winds first though the Berlin Forest (named after LA’s sister city), across a narrow ridge (Vermont Canyon Road runs though a tunnel under this ridge), then heads west until it reaches the Tiffany Overlook of the Hollywood Sign, the trail then heads east until it reaches an intersection of sever tails, then splits into an eastern and western approach to the Mt. Hollywood summit. The west approach passes the Capitan’s Roost picnic area and the east passes Dante’s View picnic area with some nice shade trees. These two portions of the trail meet just north of the Mt. Hollywood summit.
Last week my fellow photographer, Hami, asked if I’d like to go the area around the Tiffany Overlook to shoot at golden hour and blue hour. In addition to having a fine view of the Hollywood Sign, the area around the Tiffany (it’s named after the jewelry company) affords a good view of the Griffith Observatory with downtown LA as a backdrop. Hami suggested that we park at the Greek Theater and take the bus to the observatory since parking is $15/hr at the observatory.
I had reservations about taking the bus due to the prospect of being in close contact with others. We decided to hike up the hill from the Greek, though the tunnel (it was the entrance to Toontown in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”) and up a steep path on the west side of the ridge south of the tunnel. We headed west to the Tiffany Overlook where Hami stayed and setup his camera, I contained east up the trail about 100 yards. I liked this spot better than the overlook since the Observatory was lower and more to the right in the frame and didn’t obscure the buildings in downtown.
We arrived at the overlook prior to “golden hour” and I moved up the hill to setup my tripod and camera.
Most of my shots were taken between 35 and 50mm on my zoom lens, I took this one at 16mm (the widest for the lens) to give an idea of the vastness of the basin. You can see the trail on the left as it leaves Berlin Forest and heads up the hill.
Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA
Black and White towards the end of golden hour. I don’t often process my photos for black and white, but I saw a technique on manipulating the color in an image to control the tone in black and white and thought this might be a good image to try it out. I added an “old paper” frame as a vignette.
Blue hour, the Sun has set and its light is fading at the right hand side of the photo. The lights of the city are beginning to appear.
End of blue hour, this shot is composed of 5 shots, mainly get get additional traffic trails along the road up to the Observatory. This was shot at the Tiffany overlook as you can see the Observatory dome obscuring some of the buildings in downtown LA.
Just prior to sunset a helicopter landed on Mt. Lee, so I swung my camera around to capture it landing.
As we were getting ready to leave, the chopper on Mt. Lee powered up and took off.
Kristine
Lovely shots. Thank you for posting them.
I enjoy all these photos. Makes me feel a bit like I’m traveling.
Mary G
I miss LA. Thanks for the observatory; it’s one of my favorite places and I haven’t been since the parking was a LOT less than $15.
Ruckus
@Mary G:
Haven’t been since the parking lot at the observatory was free.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kristine: Thanks. The feeling of being able to travel is nice these days, even if it’s virtual.
@Mary G: While you can go to the area around the observatory, the observatory itself is closed. The pay parking in the lot by the observatory and along the street going up to the observatory are new as of a couple of years ago. It started off at $4/hr, then went to $10/hr and is now $15/hr. They want to encourage folk to park by the Greek and take the bus up, which I’d normally do except for the ‘rona.
@Ruckus: They only instituted parking fees in 2018 or 2019, it’s been really a recent change. I know I parked up there for free in 2016 and maybe 2017. The problem then was getting a space.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Didn’t know the timing just that on a weekend it wasn’t busy. And free. I’d say the last time I was in the observatory parking lot had to be in the mid/late 70s.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: It’s busy on weekends now there were folk lined up to park up there, even at $15/hr. Some folk got some money and it ain’t me.
MomSense
Beautiful photos!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MomSense: Thanks.
Baud
@MomSense:
Seconded.
JPL
All the photos are beautiful, but my favorite is the Blue Hour. Thanks for posting.
cope
Once again you have shown pictures of places from perspectives that I personally have never seen. All of these places existed in my mind separately (Griffith Park, the Hollywood Sign, downtown LA, the observatory) but you have brought them together into a coherent relationship that I never appreciated. Thank you.
lahke
What is a “sever tail”? Besides a typo, possibly? Looks like LA still has a smog problem.. Thanks for all the pix!
mvr
Thanks!
sherparick
Thanks again for the pictures. I have seen that road and the observatory in a thousand movies & TV shows and as Cope says, it is great to see them in perspective. I note that the air and view seem very clear. Is that a by product of reduced traffic as result of COVID-19?
UncleEbeneezer
Great pix as always. We did a Hidden Stairs hike that took us up to the GPO via what sounds like a similar route. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but there’s a book about LA’s Hidden Stairs that has all these cool little hikes/walks (usually 2-3 miles) that feature numerous flights of public stairs that take you into some pretty neat places. Most of them are in Sliverlake, Echo Park, Highland Park etc.
UncleEbeneezer
@sherparick: Probably. But we also just had a bunch of rain and wind last week so that usually gives us some very clean air afterwards.
TomatoQueen
Where my auntie used to take me when I was a toddler. Lovely views.
JustRuss
Nice work. Love the shot of the chopper landing on Lee.
J R in WV
@lahke:
Auto-break = should be “several trails”
Almost Retired
You’ve inspired me to do that trail this weekend. Haven’t been there for years.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Thanks too.
@JPL: I like that one too, I worked to make the leading lines from the traffic trail on Observatory West Drive to the Observatory and on to the lights of downtown.
@cope: You’ll like the shots I shot last Saturday with Silverlake and Downtown at night. One of my best.
@lahke: Typo, ‘several trails’. There wasn’t much smog that day except down towards the OC. Many folk mistake any lack of visibility in LA for smog, we do get fog and low clouds from the ocean that causes problems with visibility. The way you can tell the difference is smog has a brown color, the marine layer is more white.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mvr: You’re welcome.
@sherparick: Glad you like them, LA has been improving it’s air quality for the last 30 years. It’s partly due to reduced traffic on account of Covid, but there’s been general improvement.
@UncleEbeneezer: That sounds more like the Boy Scout Trail that starts just south of the Greek and approaches the Observatory from the south. I’ve shot on that trail, just below the Observatory, several times in the past.
@UncleEbeneezer: This was shot before the rain storms.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TomatoQueen: It’s a must see view, and it’s pretty popular. I went to Beacon Hill last Saturday evening, it’s my favorite view of the city.
@JustRuss: When I heard it coming in, I had to turn the camera around to get it.
@J R in WV: Yup, typo on my part.
@Almost Retired: Personally, if I was going up to Mt. Hollywood from the Greek on a weekend, I’d take the trail from the Bird Sanctuary. It’s a single track trail and has really nice views and is usually less crowded. But if you don’t have a problem with paying for parking, the trail that starts out from the Observatory parking lot is a pretty easy hike. Another good place to see the city is Beacon Hill, it’s not as high as Mt. Hollywood, but I think it has a better view of the city, but it doesn’t get as much traffic so I’d be reluctant to hike alone up there past dusk. The best way to get there is from the Vermont Canyon Tennis Courts parking lot.