Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Entry | Free |
| Planetarium show | $7 adult / $3 child |
| Hours | Tue-Fri 12pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 10am-10pm |
| Closed | Mondays |
| Parking | $10/hour on-site |
| Best time | Arrive 4-5pm for sunset |
| Zeiss telescope | Free, clear nights after dark |
Griffith Observatory opened in 1935 and has been free to the public ever since, thanks to the deed from Colonel Griffith J. Griffith. It is perched at 1,134 feet on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park — the largest municipal park with an urban wilderness in the US.
🧮
USA Trip Cost Calculator
Planning an LA trip? Get a personalised Los Angeles budget with the free travel calculator — flights, hotels, car rental and daily costs.
Is Griffith Observatory Free?
Yes. General admission to the observatory building, all the exhibits, the rooftop terraces, the lawns and the grounds is completely free. This includes the famous Foucault pendulum, the Tesla coil, the Camera Obscura and the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater.
The only paid experience is the Samuel Oschin Planetarium show inside the central dome. There are 4-5 shows a day in rotation — "Centered in the Universe" is the flagship. Tickets are sold same-day only at the box office inside the building.
- Planetarium adult: $7
- Planetarium student/senior: $5
- Planetarium child (5-12): $3
- Children under 5: not admitted to most shows
- Parking on Observatory Road: $10/hour
Best Time to Visit
The single best strategy: arrive 60-90 minutes before sunset. You get three experiences stacked — daylight city views, the golden-hour sunset over the Pacific, and the full LA skyline lit up at night. Most visitors come once and miss this trifecta.
Sunset times worth noting: ~5pm in December, ~6:30pm in March/April, ~8pm in June/July, ~7pm in September. The observatory stays open until 10pm daily except Mondays.
Weekdays (especially Tuesday and Wednesday) are dramatically less crowded than weekends. Avoid Saturday evenings unless you enjoy queues.
Planetarium and Telescopes
The Zeiss 12-inch refracting telescope on the east roof is free to look through on every clear night after dark. More people have looked through this single telescope than any other in the world — over 8 million since 1935. Expect a 20-30 minute queue on clear evenings.
The Samuel Oschin Planetarium runs the most technologically advanced planetarium show in the world, using a Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projector. Shows run roughly every 60-90 minutes and last 30 minutes.
Don't miss the free solar telescopes on the west roof during the day — safely view sunspots and solar flares through three different hydrogen-alpha and white-light scopes.
Hollywood Sign Views
Griffith Observatory is the single best publicly accessible viewpoint for photographing the Hollywood Sign. The sign is across the canyon on Mount Lee — close enough to fill a frame with a 70-200mm lens but far enough to include the whole sign.
- Best Hollywood Sign photo spot: east terrace rail
- Best LA skyline photo spot: south-facing lawns
- Best sunset photo spot: west terrace at the astronomer monument
- Best interior shot: Foucault pendulum from the mezzanine
The Hollywood Sign itself is not accessible to the public — the land behind it is fenced off. Griffith Observatory is as close as you can legally get with a clear view.
Parking and Getting There
Parking is the single biggest pain point at Griffith Observatory. There are three main options, in descending order of convenience and cost:
| Option | Cost | Notes |
|---|
| Observatory Lot | $10/hour | 80 spaces, fills by 4pm on weekends |
| Observatory Road | $10/hour | License-plate reader enforcement |
| Lower Fern Dell Dr | Free | ~1.5 mi walk uphill |
| DASH Observatory bus | $0.50 | From Vermont/Sunset Metro, weekends only |
| Uber/Lyft | $15-25 | Cheapest if 2+ people, skip parking entirely |
Arriving by car between 4pm and 7pm on a weekend usually means a 45-60 minute wait just to enter the parking area. Either arrive before 3pm, after 8pm, or take a rideshare.
Hiking from Fern Dell
The most scenic way to reach the observatory is on foot from Fern Dell Drive, a shaded canyon with a small creek at the south entrance to Griffith Park. The hike is 1.5 miles one-way, ~500 feet of elevation gain, and takes 30-45 minutes up.
- Trailhead: Fern Dell Drive at Black Oak Drive
- Distance: 1.5 miles each way
- Elevation: 500 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate — paved and dirt paths
- Best for photos: ~200 yards below the observatory, city view opens up
Bring water — there's no shade on the upper half of the trail and LA sun is intense. The Charlie Turner Trail from the observatory parking lot up to Mount Hollywood summit (1.5 miles further) is an excellent extension if you want more hiking.
Combine Griffith Observatory with the Greek Theatre, the LA Zoo, and Travel Town Museum — all inside the 4,310-acre Griffith Park. A full day is easy.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Entry | Free |
| Planetarium show | $7 adult / $3 child |
| Hours | Tue-Fri 12pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 10am-10pm |
| Closed | Mondays |
| Parking | $10/hour on-site |
| Best time | Arrive 4-5pm for sunset |
| Zeiss telescope | Free, clear nights after dark |
Griffith Observatory opened in 1935 and has been free to the public ever since, thanks to the deed from Colonel Griffith J. Griffith. It is perched at 1,134 feet on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park — the largest municipal park with an urban wilderness in the US.
🧮
USA Trip Cost Calculator
Planning an LA trip? Get a personalised Los Angeles budget with the free travel calculator — flights, hotels, car rental and daily costs.
Is Griffith Observatory Free?
Yes. General admission to the observatory building, all the exhibits, the rooftop terraces, the lawns and the grounds is completely free. This includes the famous Foucault pendulum, the Tesla coil, the Camera Obscura and the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon theater.
The only paid experience is the Samuel Oschin Planetarium show inside the central dome. There are 4-5 shows a day in rotation — "Centered in the Universe" is the flagship. Tickets are sold same-day only at the box office inside the building.
- Planetarium adult: $7
- Planetarium student/senior: $5
- Planetarium child (5-12): $3
- Children under 5: not admitted to most shows
- Parking on Observatory Road: $10/hour
Best Time to Visit
The single best strategy: arrive 60-90 minutes before sunset. You get three experiences stacked — daylight city views, the golden-hour sunset over the Pacific, and the full LA skyline lit up at night. Most visitors come once and miss this trifecta.
Sunset times worth noting: ~5pm in December, ~6:30pm in March/April, ~8pm in June/July, ~7pm in September. The observatory stays open until 10pm daily except Mondays.
Weekdays (especially Tuesday and Wednesday) are dramatically less crowded than weekends. Avoid Saturday evenings unless you enjoy queues.
Planetarium and Telescopes
The Zeiss 12-inch refracting telescope on the east roof is free to look through on every clear night after dark. More people have looked through this single telescope than any other in the world — over 8 million since 1935. Expect a 20-30 minute queue on clear evenings.
The Samuel Oschin Planetarium runs the most technologically advanced planetarium show in the world, using a Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projector. Shows run roughly every 60-90 minutes and last 30 minutes.
Don't miss the free solar telescopes on the west roof during the day — safely view sunspots and solar flares through three different hydrogen-alpha and white-light scopes.
Hollywood Sign Views
Griffith Observatory is the single best publicly accessible viewpoint for photographing the Hollywood Sign. The sign is across the canyon on Mount Lee — close enough to fill a frame with a 70-200mm lens but far enough to include the whole sign.
- Best Hollywood Sign photo spot: east terrace rail
- Best LA skyline photo spot: south-facing lawns
- Best sunset photo spot: west terrace at the astronomer monument
- Best interior shot: Foucault pendulum from the mezzanine
The Hollywood Sign itself is not accessible to the public — the land behind it is fenced off. Griffith Observatory is as close as you can legally get with a clear view.
Parking and Getting There
Parking is the single biggest pain point at Griffith Observatory. There are three main options, in descending order of convenience and cost:
| Option | Cost | Notes |
|---|
| Observatory Lot | $10/hour | 80 spaces, fills by 4pm on weekends |
| Observatory Road | $10/hour | License-plate reader enforcement |
| Lower Fern Dell Dr | Free | ~1.5 mi walk uphill |
| DASH Observatory bus | $0.50 | From Vermont/Sunset Metro, weekends only |
| Uber/Lyft | $15-25 | Cheapest if 2+ people, skip parking entirely |
Arriving by car between 4pm and 7pm on a weekend usually means a 45-60 minute wait just to enter the parking area. Either arrive before 3pm, after 8pm, or take a rideshare.
Hiking from Fern Dell
The most scenic way to reach the observatory is on foot from Fern Dell Drive, a shaded canyon with a small creek at the south entrance to Griffith Park. The hike is 1.5 miles one-way, ~500 feet of elevation gain, and takes 30-45 minutes up.
- Trailhead: Fern Dell Drive at Black Oak Drive
- Distance: 1.5 miles each way
- Elevation: 500 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate — paved and dirt paths
- Best for photos: ~200 yards below the observatory, city view opens up
Bring water — there's no shade on the upper half of the trail and LA sun is intense. The Charlie Turner Trail from the observatory parking lot up to Mount Hollywood summit (1.5 miles further) is an excellent extension if you want more hiking.
Combine Griffith Observatory with the Greek Theatre, the LA Zoo, and Travel Town Museum — all inside the 4,310-acre Griffith Park. A full day is easy.