2 min
Overview
One of our 16 Ways to See the Hollywood Sign In simpler times, the Hollyridge Trail used to be the easiest, fastest way to get a solid front-facing photo of the Hollywood Sign and continue on your merry way. Tourists would walk past a city-funded gate past the Sunset Ranch, where locals and tourists alike could enjoy beautiful guided horseback tours of Griffith Park on its extensive bridle trails. Those simple times ended. GPS and Google Maps sent people searching for “Hollywood Sign” to the end of Beachwood Drive, where the narrow circa-1920s streets were overwhelmed by throngs of people looking to take selfies with the Sign with the least amount of effort. The lack of public transit or a decent trailhead parking area didn’t help. Lawsuits were filed. Google Maps and Garmin were asked by a City Councilman to change their directions. Gates were locked. Dubiously “official” security guards were hired. And now that gate to the Hollyridge Trail at the top of Beachwood Drive is off-limits to pedestrian access until further notice. Lawyer-types looking at a map (but who perhaps had little experience on foot in this part of Southern California) looked at the nearby established trailhead at the end of Canyon Drive and said, “hey, this one’s about 1300 feet away, let’s just send people there instead!” And thus, a 0.6-ish mile out-and-back instantly increased nearly seven-fold in distance. That doesn’t mean you can’t still get to that viewpoint — it just means now you have to hike. This hike now begins at the end of Canyon Drive in Brush Canyon, more commonly known as Bronson Canyon. If you’re looking to get to the top of Mount Lee and a backside view of the Hollywood Sign, this is also where you can take a moderately long but overall fairly easy route to the summit. You can also take a very short side trip here to the nearby Bronson Caves — the site of a former quarry and mine that is much better known as the site of a whole lot of outdoor shots from film and television, perhaps most famously as the site of the origina
Trail Stats
6.6 km
258 m
379 m
198 m
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Photos
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