Hollywood Hills Sunset Hike: Griffith Observatory & LA

Katie offered a truly captivating tour of Griffith Park. Over the course of two and a half hours, she not only provided breathtaking views of the vast city below but also shared a wealth of fascinating stories and insights about Los Angeles. The visit to the Griffith Observatory was the perfect finale to this wonderful morning. Thank you, dear Katie, for such an inspiring and memorable experience!

One of Los Angeles' most famous movie locations, the Griffith Observatory has become one of the city's great cultural icons since opening in 1935. Located above Los Feliz on the southern slope of 1,625-foot-high Mount Hollywood, it offers some of the most spectacular views of Los Angeles, from the Pacific Ocean to Downtown. The observatory, whose stated mission is to inspire everyone to observe, ponder and understand the sky, features the Samuel Oschin Planetarium, Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon, Zeiss Telescope and Gottlieb Transit Corridor. Described as southern California's "gateway to the cosmos," the 67,000-square-foot building is a free-admission, public facility that is one of the most popular informal education venues in the United States and the most visited public observatory in the world with 1.6 visitors annually. More people, more than 8 million, have looked through the observatory's Zeiss 12-inch refracting telescope than any other on Earth. And more than 18 million have seen a live program in the observatory's Samuel Oschin Planetarium. And it is the best vantage point for observing the world-famous Hollywood Sign.

Katie is Great tour guide: During the hike she made sure each individual in the group was okay; as well as being informative with the history of park was a great 1st time experience. So those of you who would like to see the surrounding cities from the hills; take this tour.

Mark is knowledgeable and understanding, willing to accommodate plan changes without fuss. Good story telling and educational.

Katie is a very knowledgable tour guide, very friendly and super nice. She knows the history of the landmarks that we hiked. Unfortunately, the weather was extremely hot because it was a mid-day. Not much of a shade. Totally an incline hike. It might be better if early morning or late afternoon hiking. Overall, still recommendable but be sure in a good weather.

Mark was an excellent, knowledgable guide. He was even at the meeting point early! He has done extensive research on Griffith Park and shared that information in a concise and enjoyable manner. The hike was a little steep at the start (especially for flatlanders like us) but mark made sure we stopped to catch our breath and drink water. We totally recommend this hike and Mark as a guide. One of the highlights of our trip to LA!

Joelle was great; she catered for all speed walkers and was very informative. Most importantly, there were great pictures!

Excellent guide full of interesting facts and stories. Also a great photographer! Katie was friendly and professional and made it a wonderful experience.

Hiking was great and full of interesting stories telled by Noelle - excellent guide. The stories were amazing it was also entertaing.

My experience on the Griffith trailhead, lead by Noelle, a very sophisticated young lady, was very enjoyable and enlightening. Noelle kept me entertained with her finely tuned communication skills. The hike wasn’t too bad, but the heat could be an area of issue for some during the middle of the day — morning and/or night hikes are recommended. Otherwise, The group I was with kept grounded, loved the company, very sweet people! Must mention that night hikes underneath the moon or flashlight would be a fun experience too <3