Griffith Park Observatory

Great place for tourists and locals alike to mingle and enjoy the breathtaking aerial view of Los Angeles. Its a perfect refuge especially in the afternoon when the sun is not piercing hot and exhausting but slightly gentle. Luckily, in California we are blessed with beautiful weather. This is also a great place to have picnic with family and friends or people watching.

During my visit, I brought my 5 years old nephew with all his energy and enthusiasm. The observatory parking is very limited so you will have to park on the side of the road and hike up to the top. I must admit parking is not the greatest but the walk/hike is certainly tolerable because plenty of people are doing the same, so it is pretty fun. There are also hike trails around the area for anyone interested. I saw few peole hiking up to the observatory during my visit. Getting to the top is certainly well worth the walk/hike.

The observatory itself is for free. There are rooms with educational and interactive exhibits to do both for kids and adults. There are museum docents to help visitors with the exhibit. My favorite place is the Samuel Oschin Planetarium where shows are conducted. The shows are priced reasonably for about $7. The theater screen is the whole room, the seats are comfortable certainly better than the movie theater. The show is very educational and enlightening but not boring at all. The narrator is excellent. Oschin Planetarium is actually my personal favorite as well as the little guy. After the show, we headed down to the mezzanine level where it is like a magnificent world of solar system. It showcases various information about each planet. We then went up to the roof top floor to line up for the telescope. Yes the line is LONG for the telescope so we gave up. I will definitely have to line up for it in my next visit. Certainly did not a dismay because the view all around is just amazing especially when its about SUNSET! We continued on walking after sunset and walked back to the car with our head filled with information but not heavy. It was a great excursion. Half is plenty.

Snap, snap, click, click and enjoy the view.

The Griffith Observatory has recently been remodeled. I remember going as a kid, but unfortunately it was so long ago I don't remember what the old version looked like. As it stands in its current state, however, the Griffith Observatory is a great place to spend a sunny afternoon in Los Angeles.

One of the best reasons to visit the observatory is for the spectacular views of Los Angeles. I would argue that the views from Griffith Observatory are even more impressive than the views from the Getty Center, and there are lots of trails along the hills where you can seek the best vantage points. All the parking spots in the top lot were taken, but we just parked along the side of the road up, about a quarter mile down from the observatory. Even the walk up was scenic and enjoyable.

Once at the Observatory, there are various informative exhibits, but we headed straight for the Planetarium, which features an impressive movie and light show projected onto the inside of a dark, domed room. The special effects were pretty spectacular, and you actually had the feeling that you were looking at the sky. Unfortunately, the guide/narrator spoke in an overly dramatic voice, which made it difficult to fully appreciate the entire experience. I think there are different guides each time, so hopefully you will be luckier!

During the sunny months when you're fried from the beach, you may want to skip out on LA's fabulous nightlife and venture to a place where you can really appreciate the stars.

Perched on top of Mount Hollywood and parallel to the famous Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory is one of the best locations to get a breath-taking view of Los Angeles. Take a friend or your honeybee to the Observatory viewing deck and line up to take a peek through one of the largest and oldest telescopes in America. Make sure you go around 5-7PM, right before the sun is about to set. The observatory viewing deck usually closes around 9:30PM, and you will be waiting in line for approximately 45 minutes - so plan accordingly, because they WILL shut people out.

Make all your friends jealous and tell them that you're going to spend an evening with the stars. Griffith Park hosts monthly star parties - Astronomy aficionados will bring their telescopes of all sizes to observe the twinkly subjects in the sky. If you go during the month of August, you might be lucky enough to see Jupiter at its brightest and the eye of the storm!

The Observatory has also appeared in films such as: Transformers, Charlie's Angels Full Throttle, and the Terminator!

http://www.griffithobs.org

This was definately the highlight of LA. It gets you away from the soul-less avenues, and take you, literally above the whole city.

The highlight for me, personally, was walking up from the car with my friend colvering my eyes, as he didn't want me to have a sneak preview of the sight he was taking me to. Then, he turned me around, and uncovered them for my first look at the somewhat dissapointing 'Hollywood' sign.

The museum is very take it or leave it. It's interesting enough. But the view is the best bit, you can see the lights of LA stretching for miles, and I highly recommend using the 50cent binoculars. After spening the day in the city itself, I used it to see closeup where we had been all day, it was actually awesome.

Another amazing bit, is finding out how much you weigh on each planet. I am no existant on Mecury :) - Strangely enough everyone was avoiding the earth scales!

As far as science goes, I am an enthusiastic nincompoop, so I can enjoy stuff like a trip to the Griffith Park Observatory without thinking about it much.

If my calculations are correct, I got out of the Vermont/Sunset subway station one minute before the bus was due. Since the odds of me being incorrect aren’t worth mentioning, it must be said the bus was late. And it’s not a bus, it’s a trolley. . . which didn’t say it was going to the Observatory {on the return trip it did, dammit! So I have no photographic evidence.} So waited a lot longer than I should have, plus being chased all around by smokers. Just as I was thinking I coulda walked to the observatory by now--you could see it from the bus stop, along with a billowing cloud of mostly white smoke behind it--the damned orange trolley finally showed up.

For those of you who have been to the observatory before, as in before the millions of dollars of remodeling, the first floor exhibits are exactly the same as before. Other than thinking the Tesla coil, which usta be my fave, looked like one of those huge chucks of meat from which you get carnitas, there was nothing new to this. Onward.

You have to be in explorer mode to go into the little room next to the passageway that leads to the theater, because that’s the only way you’d know there were stairs. And even there next to the stairs was only a tiny sign saying, “More exhibits downstairs.” Way to publicize, especially since that’s where the new stuff is located. As you would expect, I found this a lot more interesting. First up is a looooong corridor featuring the history of the universe. There’s a lot of things at the beginning, but after about twenty feet it’s just a very long corridor filled with kids toys and jewelry--mostly stars and moon earrings--signifying how long the universe has been around. After you walk for a good minute or more you get near the end of the corridor and there’s stuff happening again, around 9.1 billion years after the big bang, with titles like “Getting a Life,” “Bright Young Stars,” and “Rocking the Cradle.” Best one: when animals came out of the sea and perched on land--“High Plains Drifters.” {If you didn’t get that, consult your spaghetti westerns.}

The rest of the exhibits were pretty basic, though of course I took a shot of the “wormhole stairway,” and then past the gift shop and cafeteria you’re outside and looking at the leftover morning fog/haze and hopefully, beyond that, some buildings. Also hopefully, I trust Douglas Adams’ estate got something out of the food area being called “The Café at the End of the Universe.” I can’t tell ya anything about the two theaters, because I was on a time budget, but I’ll get around to them soon.

From there on it was just scenery, a lot like I’d shot at Getty. I even went down the pretty steep path below the observatory, and luckily there were no snakes this time {don’t ask}. I did not traverse the parking lot to get to the trail up to the Berlin Woods, although I haven’t been up there for decades; it’d be hell coming down that thing if your fucked-up knee gets even more fucked-up.

Either it was hotter than expected or I’ve gotten unused to the weather; waiting for the bus back down was no picnic, though I did get some shots of a girl on the lawn drawing the observatory. Hope the ink or graphite didn’t melt. And when the trolley did get there, the air con did nothing to soothe. Though I would be remiss if I did not point out how hot the driver was. . . Hey, had to, gotta be me. . .

Definitely worth a visit, and like at the Getty, take the trolley, don’t pay $8 or been turned away because there’s no space left.

Visited the Griffith Observatory for the first time this weekend, using only public transportation - can you believe??

If you can manage to get on the Red Line, there is a shuttle to the Observatory right outside the Vermont/Sunset stop. Total one way - $1.50!

It was a splendid time although extremely cold and windy this time of year. This observatory is free and just a fabulous little oasis in Los Angeles. I went during the day when the views are fantastic, but I'd like to visit again at night when they allow you to look through the telescope thing to see the sky. Now that would be pretty cool!

This is a Los Angeles icon and was featured in Rebel Without a Cause. It recently underwent a multi-year renovatation, and you can only visit it my making a reservation: http://www.griffithobs.org/vshuttle.html

Note, however, that there's no entry fee for the park itself. You can walk up the fairly steep road, but you won't be allowed into the fenced area with the observatory without the reservation. There are several hikes available in the park.

You can hike up to the Griffith Park Observatory, its not very
difficult and its very scenic. Saw a pair of wild dogs get onto the
trail behind us, then run into the green again.  Saw two monks
walking up the hill with a grocery bag.  Heard Spanish and Korean
at the top of the hill (even if you want quiet, it was mostly quiet).
You can see out to the ocean, over the entire city that calls itself
Los Angeles, and you get a big shot of the famous Hollywood sign. Take
Sunset Blvd to Vermont or Hillhurst.  Take that up to Los Feliz
Blvd, take a left and take a right into the park at Fern Dell rd. The
trail starts across from the mini outdoor cafe called Happy Trails (or
something like that). Easy parking.

I once read Griffith Observatory described as "L.A.'s Hood Ornament" and I could never think of a better way to describe it. Although the newly expanded museum, renovations, history of the place, and new planetarium show are all quite beautiful and well worth a visit on their own merit, none of them make your jaw drop in amazement.

However, the building's magestic perch above Los Angeles and the VIEW that it provides makes this place one of my favorite places in Southern California. Like the Getty, the views from the Observatory are stunning and allow you to see a large part of the L.A. Basin. And of course, the Hollywood Sign is right there next to you.

In many ways, Griffith Observatory is a lot like the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro: a) very simple yet beautiful, b) 1930's Art Deco, and c) commanding a view over a beautiful city. Well, at least that's how I see it!