The Hollywood Sign Was Built to Sell Real Estate, and It Was Only Supposed to Last 18 Months

In 1923, Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler paid $21,000 to erect a giant illuminated billboard on Mount Lee promoting his Hollywoodland housing development. Each letter was 43 feet tall and 30 feet wide, assembled from sheet metal, scaffolding, and telephone poles. Workers spent 60 days using mules to haul materials up 1,700 feet. At night, 4,000 twenty-watt bulbs lit up in sequence: “HOLLY,” then “WOOD,” then “LAND,” ending with a 35-foot glowing dot. It was meant to be dismantled after a year and a half. Instead, it became one of the most recognised images on earth. The last four letters were removed in 1949 after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce took over, and the current all-steel version was installed in 1978 with concrete footings and proper engineering. The original lasted 55 years through neglect and vandalism before it was finally replaced.

How to See It

The sign is on the private property of the Hollywood Sign Trust, surrounded by security cameras and a fence patrolled by LAPD. You cannot stand next to it. What you can do is hike legally to viewpoints that put you at approximately the same elevation, close enough to read individual letters and see the mountains behind.

The Brush Canyon Trail is the closest legal approach, a 6.4-kilometre round trip through oak woodland starting from Bronson Canyon. It brings you to a viewpoint behind and above the sign looking down at the city. The Hollyridge Trail from Beachwood Drive is the most popular route, slightly longer and often crowded on weekends.

For the best front-facing photograph without any serious hiking, Lake Hollywood Park, a small city park off Wonder View Drive, frames the sign directly across the reservoir. It is flat, easy to reach, and far less crowded than the Beachwood Drive trailheads. The 5.5-kilometre loop around Lake Hollywood Reservoir itself, a flat paved path through dense trees, gives several excellent angles and is primarily used by locals on morning runs.

No permit is required and no entry fee exists for any of these trails or parks. Griffith Park, which contains most of the hiking access, is open from sunrise to sunset. Drones are prohibited.

Parking on Beachwood Drive requires a neighbourhood permit on weekends and holidays after 8am. Arriving before 8am secures unrestricted street parking and dramatically shorter trails.

Getting There

From central Los Angeles, the most practical options are rideshare or driving. There is no direct metro line to any of the trailheads. From LAX, allow 30 to 45 minutes by car depending on traffic, which in Los Angeles is never entirely predictable. The 10 and 101 freeways connect to Highland Avenue, which runs north toward the Hollywood Hills.

Griffith Observatory and the Wider Area

Griffith Observatory, on the south slope of Mount Hollywood, is the single best free viewpoint in Los Angeles. The city view from the observatory terrace takes in the basin from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific on a clear day, and the sign is visible from the east lawn. The Zeiss telescope dome is open to visitors most evenings. Parking at the observatory fills by 10am on weekends; the DASH Observatory bus from the Los Feliz metro station on the B Line is a reliable alternative.

Universal Studios Hollywood, about 15 minutes west, offers the studio tour that remains the most honest way to understand how films are physically made. The backlot tram tour still passes through working sets and permanent outdoor facades that have appeared in hundreds of productions.

The Walk of Fame runs along Hollywood Boulevard for approximately 2.5 kilometres. Opinion is divided on whether the experience matches the idea of it, but it costs nothing to walk and several of the genuinely historic buildings along the strip, including Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the El Capitan, are worth seeing regardless.

Where to Eat

The Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax has operated since 1934 and functions as a covered food court with individual vendors rather than a supermarket. The range runs from good tacos to Brazilian plates to proper bakery pastries. It adjoins The Grove, an outdoor shopping mall, and the combination makes for a full afternoon without much effort.

Pink’s Hot Dogs on La Brea is a Los Angeles institution open since 1939. The chili dog is the reason people queue, and the queue moves fast. It is not fine dining, but it is honest and inexpensive and the kind of place that exists only because it earned its reputation.

The Tam O’Shanter in Los Feliz, an older neighbourhood east of Hollywood, has been serving prime rib in a Scottish hunting lodge setting since 1922, making it the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles still operating at its original location. The roast beef sandwich at lunch is good value.

Where to Stay

Hollywood itself offers a wide price range. The Dream Hollywood on Selma Avenue has a rooftop pool with views toward the sign and sits walking distance from the Walk of Fame, with rates typically from 180 to 320 dollars per night. For guests who prioritise access to Beverly Hills and West Hollywood over the Hollywood Hills hiking, the Four Seasons Beverly Hills on Doheny Drive charges accordingly (500 dollars and up) but the service and grounds are legitimately excellent. Budget travellers do well in Los Feliz and Silver Lake, both walkable neighbourhoods southeast of Griffith Park with independent hotels and short-term rental apartments at considerably lower rates.

Practical Notes

The sign faces south, which means morning light hits the face and afternoon light hits the back. For photography from Lake Hollywood Park or the Mulholland viewpoints, early morning or overcast days produce better images than midday sun, which bleaches the white letters into the pale hillside. The Hollywood Bowl Overlook on Mulholland Drive has become a popular alternative viewpoint and tends to be quieter than the street-level spots at Beachwood.

The clearest days in Los Angeles come after winter rainstorms, when the basin washes clean and the mountains emerge in sharp relief behind the sign. If you are visiting in November through February and a storm passes through, the day after is worth rearranging plans for.