Since Presidents day meant a day off of work, Amie and I decided to take a trek down to Hollywood and see if we could hike to the Hollywood Sign and the Bronson Cave (most famously known as the Batcave in the 60′s TV show). Having lived in California most of my life I found it funny that I had never even though about making a hike up to the Hollywood sign. So using this well put together guide from Modern Hiker we set out to make the trek.
When you get off on Hollywood Blvd, the trail head for the hike is only about a mile and half north of the exit. It is really an interesting change making the drive away from the Hollywood downtown, and seeing how fast the scenery goes from graffiti to expensive houses, then to well kept mountains and trees. This is where the parking lot is and where the trail head starts. We set out and made the quick side trip to the Bronson Caves. Being an avid Batman fan I loved having the opportunity to see this little piece of Batman history from close up. We walked though the caves and took a few photos (you can see the Hollywood sign well from here also) before starting the real trek.
Now while this trail is not especially difficult it does have a grade that continues for the whole hike. At only around 4 miles you do about 1400 in elevation, which makes this trip somewhat strenuous for those not ready for a hike of this grade. Almost from the start this hike is beautiful, with constant trees, flowers and water trickling over rocks. There is even the occasional celebrity sighting as this trip has many daily visitors. When we were there we walked past Tony Shalhoub from the TV series Monk. There are also a lot of horses on the trail as it provides beautiful views of LA if the smog is not overpowering that day.
About a two miles into this trip the dirt path connects with a cement road. Taking the road up leads to the summit of Mt. Lee above the Hollywood sign, and taking it down continues another half mile to a barren dirt field which provides a great view of the sign from the front (upper left picture). I would suggest taking both paths if you make this trip.
From there we continued the last mile up to the top of Mt Lee and were greeted with beautiful views of the LA skyline as well as the back of the Hollywood sign (the letters are much bigger in real life). There is a tall fence that has at least 8 cameras watching every part of it, so I would not suggest jumping it for a closer view of the sign.
You can however climb the small dirt mound right next to all of the power lines which will give you a better view of the letters. This is where I took the below panorama from.
The trek back is simple, but does show you how much of an incline you walked on the way up. If you have bad knees you should probably consider hiking sticks to take off some of the pressure during the downhill grade. All in all this was a really fun hike with some rewarding stops at famous landmarks. I would definitely recommend going on it, but make sure you are prepared for a good uphill hike before undertaking it. Check out my map with pictures along the way here.
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Some interesting hikes there!
Thanks Ben it was pretty sweet. Checked out your website, you have a lot of cool product on there as well!
Josh
Hi Josh! I’m going to Hollywood next month and I’m super excited in hiking to the Hollywood sign. I’ve never hiked before, but I have a good physical condition from working out. I’m more concerned about the people in the trail. I mean, is it a lonely trail? I read in other websites that the people that live nearby are always walking around there and I’m really afraid of going on this hike alone…
Thank you!
Giovana,
Thanks for commenting! When I went on a Friday morning I passed probably 30 people on the trail so it was pretty busy. If you are in good physical shape you should be fine on the trail. It is uphill the whole way there but if you take your time I am sure you will be fine! Let us know how it goes.
Josh