USA » California » Los Angeles | 🏛 Los Angeles Walking Tour · Hiking Tour Los Angeles · Bus Tour Hollywood · Hollywood Sign Tours

Hollywood Sign Hike Los Angeles: front, behind, and the view

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.92 (1,604 reviews) 97% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/41

Duration2h 30m

GroupUp to 25

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Two vantage points of the sign, one trail through the Hollywood Hills

You hike to the front of the Hollywood Sign for the classic shot, then continue behind the letters to a viewpoint most LA visitors never reach. Your guide handles the photography at both spots, shares the real stories behind Hollywood's history, and points out the studios, landmarks, and celebrity homes visible from the trail. Choose between a full 2.5-hour loop or a 90-minute express. Free parking at the trailhead, and you leave with restaurant tips for the rest of your trip.

2h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Hike to front of Hollywood Sign
Continue behind Hollywood Sign
View Lake Hollywood reservoir
Stop at Lake Hollywood Park
Explore Hollywood Hills scenery
Pass through Griffith Park
See Griffith Observatory from trail
Spot Burbank film studios below
View historic Hollywood area
Look down on Hollywood Walk of Fame
See Beverly Hills mansions
Enjoy Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica views
View San Fernando Valley behind sign
Spot Glendale skyline landmarks
See Sunset Strip from above
Spot Capitol Records Building
View Hollywood Bowl concert venue
Guide shares Hollywood stories and history

The Experience

What if the photo everyone takes of the Hollywood Sign is only half the story? The hike starts at the trailhead in the Hollywood Hills, and within the first stretch you're climbing toward the front of the letters — the angle that fills every Instagram feed. But here's where this one differs: your guide doesn't stop there. The full 2.5-hour hike keeps going behind the sign itself, to the closest legally accessible viewpoint in the city. That's the moment most visitors to Los Angeles never get. The trail runs 4 miles total on an easy-to-moderate grade, and the guide — First Aid and CPR certified — doubles as your personal photographer at both spots, so you're not the one holding the phone the whole way up.

The hike threads through Griffith Park, and the context matters. Your guide walks you through the real history of Hollywood as you climb: the scandals, the studios visible from above (Disney, Warner Bros. spread across Burbank below), the way the neighborhood actually built itself. From the trail you see the Griffith Observatory framing the LA skyline, the Capitol Records Building, the Hollywood Bowl, and on clear days the Pacific and Santa Monica to the west. Behind the sign, the San Fernando Valley opens up — nearly 500 square miles in a single glance. The guide points out whose house is whose in the Beverly Hills spread below, spots the Sunset Strip from above, and knows the stories that make each view land. Lake Hollywood Park sits on the route too, a man-made reservoir that's been in countless films. The whole thing unfolds against the Hollywood Hills themselves.

You choose the pace at checkout: the full 2.5-hour loop that covers both front and behind, or the 90-minute express if time is tight — that one runs 1.8 miles and hits the front viewpoint only. Either way, parking is free at the trailhead Monday through Thursday (no parking Friday–Sunday or holidays, but free street parking is nearby). Wear closed-toe shoes and layers, since elevation changes the temperature as you climb. The guide meets you outside by the long white gate at the trailhead entrance, wearing a neon yellow Bikes & Hikes LA vest. This company has been featured by the New York Times, The Today Show, USA Today, and the LA Times, and books about 26 days in advance on average — which tells you something about how fast spots fill.

After the hike, the guide hands you insider restaurant and sightseeing recommendations for the rest of your LA trip, and you get a discount code for other Bikes and Hikes LA experiences if you want to explore more of the city on foot. Ninety-eight percent of travelers recommend this one.

What’s included

Your day includes a First Aid and CPR certified guide who doubles as your personal photographer at the best viewpoints, a choice between the full 2.5-hour hike (front and behind the sign) or the 90-minute express (front only), free parking at the trailhead Monday–Thursday, insider restaurant and sightseeing recommendations for the rest of your LA trip, and a discount code for other Bikes and Hikes LA experiences.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomeNot for heart conditions

Operated by Bikes and Hikes LA Tours

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want both the iconic Hollywood Sign shot and the behind-the-letters viewpoint most LA visitors miss, without arranging your own route or holding a camera the whole way up. The full hike is 2.5 hours and 4 miles on an easy-to-moderate trail — that's what fits both viewpoints into one morning or afternoon.