“Hollywood” is used synonymously for both the neighborhood in LA and the entertainment industry of the city. I hear so many people speak negatively of their visit to LA, only to find out that they spent all their time in Hollywood. Los Angeles is so much bigger than just Hollywood. Quite frankly, Hollywood itself is not a great neighborhood unless you’re seeing a show at the Pantages or going clubbing. It’s packed with tourists and the homeless. I consider it to be LA’s version of what Times Square is to New Yorkers. However, what I always liked about Hollywood is that its history sits in the streets quite plainly. It feels much older than a lot of other parts of the city, and one of the most identifiable spots in the neighborhood sits in the hills directly above it: the Hollywood Sign. I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life and in LA for five years now, but I have never hiked to the Hollywood Sign. I have seen it in the distance many times, and I even flew over it on a flight home from Dallas once. For being such a local, I am still checking off a lot of the tourist activities, and the Hollywood Sign is one of them.
You might have noticed that I’ve been on quite the hiking kick lately! It’s a popular activity in LA, but I have only really gotten into it during the pandemic. With many of my indoor pastimes unavailable, I’ve had to pick up a few new hobbies. I traditionally avoid too many outdoorsy things because the sun and I don’t exactly get along. I sunburn very easily. However, I’m using the pandemic and my gap year to challenge myself and get outside my comfort zone. I figured hiking would be a fantastic first step, seeing as how I have a little bit of experience with it (Read about my Runyon Canyon experience here).
Unfortunately, hiking to the Hollywood Sign was not as smooth as I had hoped it would be. I expected to hit a few figurative and literal bumps in the road, but I did not expect to make such a silly mistake! For my first attempt, I did copious research. I already knew that the Beachwood Canyon community wasn’t great about parking, and I heard about residents putting up fake signs to deter hikers in efforts to reduce the tourism in their neighborhood. I’ve linked a video here that goes into better detail about the difficulties of planning the logistics of this hike. I think they do a great job of explaining why this particular hike can be hard to find. Despite all my research, I was not planning on a lack of cell reception, so I could not even access the route I had saved on my phone after I had parked at Lake Hollywood Park. Moral of the story: print out a little map or download an offline map to your phone. My first attempt was even further complicated when I hiked the wrong way down Mulholland after I got a few bars on my phone. After realizing that I had gone quite a distance in the wrong direction and still hadn’t even started the official hike, I decided I would try hiking to the Hollywood Sign another day. I still got in a great workout and some good pictures of the Lake Hollywood Reservoir, but it wasn’t the hike I had planned. I decided to rename this excursion as a reconnaissance trip to not bruise my ego so much. At least I knew what mistakes to not make the second time around!
A few weeks later, I decided to give the hike another go. I can be very stubborn and determined when things don’t go as planned. My failed first try to hike to the Hollywood Sign only made me more hellbent on getting to the top in the near future. Fortunately, things went much smoother on my second attempt! This time, I printed out a map of the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood with directions to the start of the hiking trail. This is definitely the way to go, and I recommend others do this. A mother-daughter duo wandering through the neighborhood even took a picture of my little printed out map because they got lost finding their car and couldn’t get reception. However, that is luckily the most difficult part of the hike. Once you start the actual trail, it is a straight path up to the top. You just have to follow the road up Mount Lee to the back of the Hollywood sign. The best view really is at the tippy top. There’s a small dirt hill at the the end of the paved road behind the Hollywood Sign that is absolutely perfect for scenic pictures. Being behind the Hollywood sign is a little surreal because you always see it up in the hills, but it isn’t until you are back down on the ground that you realize how high up you were!
It feels really great to climb to such a landmark, and I hope that others aren’t quite so intimidated by this hike after reading about my experience with it. It is unfortunate that there are very few clear guides to hiking up to the Hollywood Sign online, so I have included some important pointers below for anyone that plans to tackle this hike too.
Logistics:
- Park at Lake Hollywood Park. It’s further from the start of the trail than parking in the neighborhood, but it is so difficult to find parking on the street. At the park, you don’t have to worry about getting towed or getting a ticket. That peace of mind is worth the extra hike.
- Give yourself two hours for the hike. It’s under five miles, but you’ll want plenty of time.
Directions from Lake Hollywood Park to the Hollywood Sign
- Park at Lake Hollywood Park, and walk up Canyon Lake Drive.
- Head up Mulholland Hwy (it is a left from Canyon Lake Drive, if you came that way)
- Right on Durand Dr
- Left on Heather Dr
- Left on Ledgewood Dr
- Right on Rockcliff Dr
- Left on Deronda Dr, and there will be a white wall at the end of the road.
- On the left side of the wall, you will see an entryway to walk through and get behind the gate.
- After walking through the gate, you will see a little fork in the road. On the left, there is a dirt clearing that is perfect for pictures in front of the Hollywood sign. The road on the right side of the fork is Mount Lee Dr. This is the path you will follow up to the backside of the Hollywood sign.
With all of that being said, consider this to be your definitive Hollywood Sign hike guide. Happy hiking!
xx
Emily
