The walk to Cahuenga Peak and the summit of Mount Lee above the Hollywood sign is a popular Los Angeles hike – even before the crack of a weekday dawn there are already a few people on the trail. Starting at Lake Hollywod Drive in the upmarket Hollywood Hills, the Burbank Peak Trail soon narrows and climbs steeply up the side of Burbank Peak. (The Burbank Peak Trail offers the shortest but most challenging trail to the famous Hollywood sign.)
It’s a relentless climb, but there are soon views over downtown LA and the Griffith Observatory – or there would be, but for a blanket of fog that covers the city.
After about half a mile (0.7km) the trail reaches the top of the ridge and Burbank Peak (1,690 feet / 515m), better known as the site of the Wisdom Tree.
The Wisdom Tree is the only tree which survived the 2007 Barham fire, and nearby is an American Flag planted in commemoration of 9/11. (It’s also called the Tree of Life, the Giving Tree, and the Magic Tree.) At the base of tree is an ammunition box with pen and paper, for hikers to log their visit or write some words of inspiration!
The Aileen Getty Ridge Trail (named after an American heiress and activist, who is part of the Getty family, and originally called the Wonder View Trail) ascends the ridge towards Cahuenga Peak. In the distance, the telecoms tower on top of Mount Lee marks today’s destination.
As the trail continues along the narrow ridge, you can see Mount Lee ahead and the ridge stretching back to the solitary tree at the top of Burbank Peak.
I’m at the top of Cahuenga Peak (1,821 feet / 555m) just after sunrise; the peak is the 12th-highest named peak in the Santa Monica Mountains and the highest peak in Griffith Park. The peak was privately owned and there were plans to build luxury estates along the ridge until 2008, when a “Save Cahuenga Peak” campaign raised enough funds to purchase the property and add it to Griffith Park. Large donations were made by Aileen Getty and Hugh Hefner.
Even with a blanket of fog below, there is a spectacular 360-degree panorama: almost directly below is the Mount Sinai Memorial Park and Mortuaries and further out to the north and north-east is Iron Mountain, the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Jacinto Mountains. To the west is Burbank Peak, Beverly Crest and the Santa Monica Mountains.
The Aileen Getty Ridge Trail undulates a little as it follows the ridge, with more views mostly to the north.
The fog lifts a little, allowing a few more glimpses of the basin below.
Marked by a plaque, the Hugh Hefner Overlook offers offers a panoramic view over Los Angeles and rthe Hollywood sign’s large white letters. (As well as contributing $900,000 to the fund that saved the land around Cahuenga Peak from real estate developers, Hefner helped to rebuild the collapsing Hollywood sign in 1978. Such donations obviously earn you the naming rights to a lookout!)
The Hugh Hefner Overlook is also where the Aileen Getty Ridge Trail meets Mount Lee Drive, which provides access to the Hollywood sign from the east.
The road (closed to traffic) goes above the famous Hollywood sign which is on the south side of Mount Lee, with Hollywood and the Los Angeles basin below. The top of the 1,708 feet (520m) peak was flattened by silent movie pioneer Mack Sennett who planned to build an elaborate home on the peak. It was named after the Los Angeles car dealer and radio and TV station owner Don Lee, who moved his radio transmitter to the top of what is now Mount Lee in the early 1930s – making it (at the time) the highest television location in the world.
After enjoying the view, I return – initially the same way – back over Cahuenga Peak.
Rather than re-tracing the entire route back, just after Cahuenga Peak I turn onto the Tree of Life Trail that descends the northern side of the mountain.
The trail descends, steeply at times, down the ridge before meeting the Powerline Trail. The Tree of Life Trail continues descending all the way down to Forest Lawn Drive, which provides an alternate trailhead (and offers an equally steep and less-travelled route to Mount Lee).
The wide Powerline Trail snakes around the mountain (below is Universal Studios, but I can’t see much of it due to the fog) before reaching a gate with “no entry” – fortunately it’s easy to get around the gate. Despite the “no trespassing” signs, the Powerline Trail is shown on the official Griffith Park Trails map.
This brings me back to the start of the Burbank Peak Trail, completing the loop… there’s just the easy walk back down Wonder View Drive to where I parked the car.
Hiking to Mount Lee and the Hollywood sign
The Burbank Peak Trail and Aileen Getty Ridge Trail is the most direct and steepest route to Mount Lee and the Hollywood sign. The hiking trail starts at the end of Wonder View Drive, but there is no parking along this road so you’ll need to park along Lake Hollywood Drive. The hiking trails are closed overnight – there is a gate at the top of Wonder View Drive- but the gate was unlocked at 6:30am (about an hour before sunrise).
There are a few alternate routes to Mount Lee and the Hollywood sign:
- Brush Canyon Trail from Canyon Drive – 6 miles / 9.7km return (1180 feet / 360m ascent). Easy. AllTrails map
- Mount Lee Drive from Derondra Drive (park along Canyon Lake Drive) – 2.6 miles / 4.2km return (525 feet / 160m ascent). Popular route with no parking near trailhead.
- Mount Hollywood Drive from Griffith Observatory – 6.4 miles / 10.3km return (755 feet / 230m ascent). Popular route with lots of trail options and viewpoints along the way. AllTrails map.
- Innsdale Trail from Innsdale Drive – 4.4 miles / 7.1km return (790 feet / 240m ascent). Popular trail with gradual ascent. AllTrails map
- Tree of Life Trail from Forest Lawn Drive – 2.9 miles / 4.6km (1280 feet / 390m ascent). Steep & challenging. AllTrails map.
1 Comment
Matt Niven · November 24, 2024 at 7:32 pm
Spectacular!