Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, has no shortage of things to do. But one activity consistently tops the list: hiking to the Hollywood Sign. It’s easy to write off as a tourist trap, but I’ve always believed things are popular for a reason and that I should find out for myself before forming an opinion. So I did.
When my sister drove up from San Diego to visit me at school, we used the time to check off a bucket-list item. She typed “Hollywood Sign” into Waze and we headed out with only a vague sense of where we were going. We figured we’d drive toward the giant white letters on the mountain and figure out the rest from there.
The drive wound through palm-lined streets and past billboards for Netflix shows and upcoming releases, eventually climbing into the narrow, winding roads of the Hollywood Hills. Parking turned out to be the first real challenge — the surrounding streets were packed — but we managed to find a spot in a nearby neighborhood after some circling. It was about 12:30 p.m. by the time we began our hiking journey. The sun was shining and we passed many hikers heading back to their cars.
About a block uphill from the car, we picked up the Innsdale Trail, which runs along the base of Mount Lee and offers a direct sightline to the sign. At the base of the trail, there were fresh fruit stands selling refreshments and playing music, which was a positive start to the adventure. At 1.8 miles, the Innsdale Trail goes quickly; we stopped a few times for photos and finished in about 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. Wanting more, we checked our maps and found the Mount Lee trail: 4.5 miles round-trip, roughly two to three hours and it takes you all the way up and over the sign.
This second trail was the more interesting one. We walked by the Last House on Mulholland, which is a neon green house wall, yes, just the front wall, in the middle of the trail that offers a close vantage point to the sign above. The trail passes through a marked gate on private property (it felt like trespassing, but it’s a designated path), winds into the surrounding hills and eventually loops around to the back of the sign. From there, the views open up over the San Fernando Valley and honestly, they rivaled anything we saw at the top.
The summit itself was a little anticlimactic. It’s a small, crowded landing with nowhere to sit. Much of the landing is occupied by a large radio transmitter facility, which is fenced off and blocks certain viewing angles. Nonetheless, we took in views of the Griffith Observatory, Lake Hollywood Reservoir and a faint Pacific horizon, snapped some photos and headed back down after maybe 15 minutes.
Verdict: the hike is worth doing. It’s easy, the trail is social, hikers are friendly and there’s something genuinely fun about seeing the Hollywood Sign up close after years of seeing it in the background of every TV show set in LA. So go, get outside and do this hike!
