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The Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles: paths, trails, curious issues and tips to reach it and take a photograph. The best hike to do to reach the most iconic points to take some photos. Useful information to plan your visit at the best.
The Hollywood Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
“Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams.
Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreamin’! This is Hollywood!”
(Pretty Woman)
The Hollywood Sign.
The 110-meter-long sign with white letters, 9 meters wide and 15meters high, that from the top of Mount Lee has been watching over the whole Hollywood, and much of the city of Angels and its hills for over 100 years by now.
Impossible not to have seen at least once in photos, on TV or at the cinema, or simply heard about it.
A symbol not only of the movie industry – of LA and California itself – but of all those who come here with the hope to succeed, to achieve their goals and so achieve the great “American dream”.
A place that has become popular in the collective imaginary thanks to cult movies and TV series, and that today represents a real tourist testimonial of the entire state.
But how did everything start? Do you know its history?
The Hollywood Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
In the early 1900s the young Hollywood community – originally owned by farmer Harvey Henderson Wilcox – gradually became a place of great interest for the film industry.
The mild climate of California allows to shoot movies throughout the year. The landscapes that the area offers are incredibly varied, like ocean, beaches, hills, deserts. Literally an open-air set that does not force the crews to make long trips. And the prices are definitely more affordable than NYC and Chicago, the undisputed cinemas meccas of the time.
In a few years, Hollywood has expanded to become the most beloved location by the production companies and, consequently, by the movie stars. Its hills are populated by villas, luxury buildings, residences and high-level hotels.
In 1923, real estate businessman and owner of the Los Angeles Times, Harry Chandler, has a brilliant idea. He commissioned the creation of a large commercial sign on the top of Mount Lee, lighted by more than 4000 bulbs. An advertising stunt to promote the sale of apartments and villas in a new neighborhood, Hollywoodland!
With the Great Depression in 1929, the real estate market suffered an abrupt halt, the maintenance of the sign was abandoned, making falling it in a progressive state of degradation for the following 20 years.
Only in 1949, the Chamber of Commerce of the area, eliminating “land” and focusing everything on the film industry, decides to restore the sign, that becomes simply Hollywood – The Hollywood Sign.
However, the materials used to restore the sign are not of the best, since the latter starts again to fall in many parts, so in 1978 Hugh Hefner – founder of the Playboy magazine – organizes a fund raising among the Hollywoodian celebrities to rebuild it.
The Hollywood Sign Trust is also providing a never-ending assistance and maintenance, until nowadays.
The Hollywood Sign: history and characters – Credits Wikipedia Hollywoodland sign (cropped)
Over the years, The Sign has been the scene of suicides, vandalism and protests.
Among them, it is impossible not to mention the suicide of the young actress Peg Entwistle who in 1932 committed suicide jumping in after climbing on the initial H. Or the countless times that the letters have been modified to support the most disparate causes, as on New Year’s Eve 2017, when the last two “O” of the sign were modified with two little “e”, forming the word Hollyweed, where /weed/ means marijuana.
Today, the entire area is video-guarded and fenced.
It is no longer possible to climb on the letters, and if you get too close, the alarm goes off.
The first one is a warning, then after the second alert – if you do not get away – the LAPD officers, located in a small adjoining building, act quickly. Very heavy fines are included.
The Hollywood Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
The Sign is located on the south of Mount Lee in Griffin Park, between Mulholland Highway and Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the Hollywood Hills. The closest panoramic spot accessible without restrictions is the last house on Mulholland, near the intersection of Ledgewood Dr. and Mulholland Hwy.
There are several ways to take a photograph of the Hollywood Sign, and you can find them all listed in the next paragraph. My tip, for a truly unique and special experience, is to make the Hollywood Sign Hike.
A simple and intense 3km trail that from the intersection between Mulholland Hwy and Ledgewood Drive arrives as far as some of the most iconic views on the Hollywood Sign, passing through the most suggestive villas of the old Hollywood and breathtaking views on LA.
The Hollywood Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
If you have time and want to learn more about the history of the Sign and the villas along the trail – including Clarke Gable’s one or that one where Marylin secretly arranged her love meetings – or end your experience with a tasty picnic at Lake Hollywood Park, you absolutely have to book a tour – the one to reach the Mount Lee top with a view on LA from behind the sign included – with Bikes and Hikes Los Angeles.
An experience I personally tried during IPW 2024 Los Angeles and that I absolutely recommend.
The Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
Here are the best places from where to see and take a photograph of The Hollywood Sign.
The Hollywood Sign: history, trails and tips to reach it and take a photograph
Article written for and in collaboration with #IPW2024 Los Angeles and Discover Los Angeles.
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