Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign Pixabay Public Domain

While in the Los Angeles area you and your group should definitely make it a point to try to make it to the Hollywood Sign, the highly popular U.S landmark and cultural icon located in the Hollywood Hills of Mount Lee, a mountain within the Santa Monica Range. This massive icon has been a part of the local culture and identity since 1923, standing as a worldwide symbol of the entertainment industry. Your best bet for great views and information on the sign would be to head to the nearby Griffith Park Observatory, a place from which you can learn, see and even hike to the sign itself (well, pretty close to it, anyway). Be sure to save plenty of time to learn all about this sign's history, once an outdoor ad campaign focusing not only on the film business but on local real estate.

That’s right, originally this sign was intended to be used as a welcome mat of sorts for ‘Hollywoodland’, an icon, town, industry, and idea all in one.

The area around the Hollywood Sign is always at high fire risk, though if you can handle the heat (not literally) you should get as close as you can with one of three major hiking options from Western Griffith Park. Choose between the Mount Hollywood Trail, Canyon Drive Trail, or Cahuenga Peak Trail, the longest of which will take you through the rolling chaparral high above and beyond the 45-foot aluminum sign, giving you not only great ‘behind-the-scenes’ views of the city, but also views of the LA skyscape and gorgeous Pacific in the background. If you don’t want to endure a hike, however, have no fear, you can also get just as good, though technically not as close, views from Griffith Park itself as well as Hollywood and Highland.