Bronson Canyon-Griffith Park

Great place for hiking. I like to go here on early Sunday mornings. It’s not crowded (like Runyon Canyon), which I love! There are various trails so choose wisely [: One time, I got lost and ended up having to go through a neighborhood to get back to my car. It was an adventure though! And good exercise!
I’ve yet to find the batman cave though. Next time [:
Only downside here is the enormous mounds of horse poo. Be careful xD

Remember that the Bat Cave is on a different trail. So there’s one gate with a really short hike to the Caves, and then you leave and go to the gate across to get on the trail for the Hollywood Sign Hike.
The first mile or so was definitely the hardest, but got a lot easier from there. I would not recommend doing it on a hot day.
Bring lots of water and comfy shoes with lots of room for your toes! Especially as you go back down, the last (first) mile is steep, and can lead to jammed toes.

This is one of those hikes that you just have to do if you live in the LA County area because you’re not truly a LA local unless you have hiked up to the Hollywood Sign. This is about a 6 mile hike all-​around. There is no shade on the trail, so make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen to keep that skin youthful! The hike is pretty moderate. There is a lot of uphill, but the trail is smooth and easy to hike on. Do not step on horse poopoo. You will definitely see some along the trail. Last, but not least… enjoy the view of the beautiful LA city and the mountains!

Good place to hike with kids… or strollers. Even the hike to the sign is super easy and wide and short. Lots of playgrounds and picnic areas. There are smaller paths and a big skate area (unofficial) with many smaller paths if you want more of a challenge but that may end or join other larger paths.
The cave is to the right once you see the smoky the bear sign you go right and up an incline that is gated off and it’s maybe one eighth of a mile beyond that gate.

«Bat Cave». That’s all… Kidding.
First time coming here and it did not disappoint like all other hiking routes I’ve gone to. Early arrival is always good as I did. Parking was easy … And eventually got jampacked.
Pretty nostalgic place if you’ve watched the classic Batman TV show. Other than that, not crowded at all. Made the lap through & around the «cave».
Eventually went back down and took the other route.
Near the entrance, perhaps about 100 ft away, to your right there is a knocked over tree that was calling my name to cross it… So I did. Took a strange route through the bushes and to my surprise I walked into a hidden «graffiti art gallery»!!
Ofcouse I thought it was the coolest thing and took a few snapshots. Looked like some skaters come here to do a few tricks and what not due to the amount of space and marks left behind… Its like a sewer trail-​ish pool shaped area. Idk. I’m terrible at knowing what these things are called. Any way. Eventually took the regular trail and happened to run into an old friend of mine. His first time with his fiancé too! Any way, lovely hike! I recommend this route to any one. All hill. Not aggressive though.

I’ve been meaning to do a review for this hike for a while now. I came one Saturday around 11:30am and surprisingly there were plenty of parking options, which is always so important when going hiking. They have their own lot which was full at the time, but there was parking on the main road near the houses, which was a bit of a walk, but I was there to work out anyway!
As always, it was sweltering hot, but luckily the walk to the cave is only 10 – 15 min from the actual parking lot with little to no incline. The outside of the cave was really underwhelming from afar, but once you get inside, it’s pretty cool. I read that it was man made so it took away from my excitement just a little bit, but nonetheless, the inside and other end of the cave were a must see and great for photos. We even caught a movie filming at the back end of the cave, but unfortunately we were forced to be as quiet as possible and most of the section was off limits to exploring.
For a more rigorous hike, there is a trail that leads up to the Hollywood sign. There are probably tons of trails that lead up to the sign, but the one I took was about 7 miles and will take you 2 – 3 hours of walking at normal speed. Hiking up the dirt path is no problem, and halfway you hit a fork in the road and can go one of two ways– behind (right path) or in front (left path) of the Hollywood sign. I had done the hike to the front of the sign before so I wanted to go behind it because of the elevation. Going up there were some spots with a steep incline and eventually the path turns into a road and it’s pretty easy from there and there are spots to rest at along the way. If you feel like giving up, just think about how good it’ll feel once you’re done! The view from the summit is beautiful, even with the smog. You have a view of the skyline in the distance, the reservoir, and pretty much the whole city in front of you, and behind you have a view of Burbank and the Valley so it’s pretty neat to get a 360 degree view of everything in one spot.
Coming down is a piece of cake because it’s all downhill and is pretty much your cool down workout. I definitely recommend this hike if you’re looking for a good workout but don’t want to be stuck inside a gym.

Review for the Bat Cave hike and the Hollywood sign from a days ago. I found this place from Google and then Unilocal provided the best information. I chose this place because it was free and sounded cool to do. I went on a Thursday afternoon about 2pm. There was hardly no one there, so parking was easy.
I parked in the second parking lot on the left side before the closed road bar on the main road. From here, I walked across the street to the right side where there is a white bar gate. Take this path for about 10 minutes up and you will see the Bat Cave on your left looking towards the neighborhood you drove through. Walk left, then the Bat Cave will be on your right side. I thought it was easy to find. Very cool to walk through. Must check it out.
From here, I walked back to car to follow the path to the Hollywood sign. Easy 7 mile hike to and from the sign. There is some steep hills you must walk up to get there from. I advise you to be in excellent health and be prepared for this hike. There are some forks in the path, so I used GPS to make sure I took the right the path. I don’t want to confuse anyone, so I want say the actual turns here. Once you get around a certain corner, there is horse poop on the trail making it smelly. Not too bad though.
As you get closer, you must walk on a paved path way. Be careful because a truck came around the corner and almost hit me. I didn’t expect any traffic here. That was scary. At top, you can catch a lovely view. Also, before the final top corner, you can see Forest Lawn down below and the Disney Studio down there.
The entire hike took me about 2.5 hours to complete. This included stops along the way for pics, breaks, and conversation with some people. It was also hot this day, but I manged to do it. I would highly recommend this place to people who want to do some hiking to the Hollywood sign. Do it in the morning and on a weekday for less people traffic.

Got there on a Sat at 7am before the heat and tourists. Parking at a few spots near the Bronson caves. One dirt lot and the other is a paved parking lot. 3 hour hike, round trip.
Bring plenty of water if going up and behind the Hollywood sign. I brought 1 large bottle and 2 runners bottles. Plus I had a cooler with one more bottle in it. Just enough water!

The hike to the Bronson caves is more of a stroll. If you’re expecting a workout, this isn’t the hike. To and from the cave is less than 10 minutes on a slow pace. The better hike is the Bronson hike to the Hollywood sign. If you can withstand the fresh droppings of horses from halfway up the mountain, you end up as close as you’ll ever get (legally) to the sign. Also, there’s a guy selling drinks from his house near the top on the other side of the gate. Great views of the city from his makeshift lounge. The hike is around 5 miles round trip and it’s not too steep. There are two sections to park but the closest section is small and was already full around 10am.
The hike trails are limited to two and it’s more of a did there done that area. There’s one picnic area on a grassy hillside next to the parking lot that I wouldn’t want kids playing in. Besides that, to get to the rest of Griffith park, the drive is far.

We came here after sitting in horrendous traffic going up to the Observatory. I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t find the bat cave but Unilocalers came to the rescue! It was a very short walk (approx 10 minutes) and easy to find. I thought the the caves would be bigger than they were but it was still pretty cool to finally check out.
To extend our hike, we attempted to go hike a bit more but ran into a rattlesnake laying and blocking the hiking road… soooooo… we turned around and left. Better safe than sorry! Watch out for the non-​friendly animals!

Features:
–Yes, this is where The Bat Cave is. This hike is pretty easy; it’s more like a five to ten minute walk, depending on how fast you walk. Make sure you park in the second parking lot before the start of the Hollywood Sign hike. There’s a little gate that you pass and right before you know it, you will reach The Bat Cave. There are three entrances and once you exit either of the further two, you will find a cute little labyrinth maze of rocks. We took some pictures here, so that was pretty cool.
–We walked back out so we could start the 7 mile hike to the Hollywood Sign. We preferred to see the back since I have already seen the front. This hike is a bit strenuous especially during the hot weather! It took us about 2.5 hours to get up here. Man, it was hot and tiring. We were all sweating and turning dark! Lol. It was fun regardless and if you want to work out your thighs and butts, this is the hike for you!
Tip:
–Parking is free!
–Make sure you urinate before this long hike.
–Bring water! Wear sunscreen!

Review for Hollywood sign hike
Be there by 8am to beat the crowd and get a parking spot. Best bet to just park in the first lot where the porta potty is. Also, try to empty your bladder before you get here. You do not want to use or see what’s inside that porta potty! That is the only restroom there!
Easy 7 mile hike up to the Hollywood sign. This is probably a 2 – 3 hour hike. Some steep hills and not a ton of shade, but not too hot if you come early. You’ll run into some horse poo and great views with some smog: P Some people ran up and down the hill! There were a lot of people with their dogs. The sign is fenced off but it’s still cool to see it up close.
We hiked to The Observatory from the Hollywood sign. It is not recommended. You would be hiking for about 13 miles if you do. There’s some poison oak along the way on the left side. It rained when we hiked back to our car from The Observatory… It was a fun but really tiring and hungry experience. No ragrets but will not do the 13+ miles hike again haha!

One of the many popular hikes in LA. This one is pretty popular due to the «bat cave» and the fact that you can have a pretty nice from view of the Hollywood sign. Aside from that, its nothing out of the ordinary aside from horse crap here and there. The hike is pretty flat and nothing hard. Definitely recommend this for a nice weekend workout or if there are friends visiting from out of town.

Coming from Canyon Drive, you’ll discover there are two parking lots on the road — the first parking lot that appears will be on your right and the second will be located further up the road with the sign, «Camp Hollywood Land» on your left.
The entrance to the Bronson Caves are located in between these two parking lots, where the curve is painted red on your right-​hand-​side. If you go pass the second parking lot, you’ve gone too far, and you’d be heading into a rigorous hiking trail – apparently, it will lead you to the Hollywood sign, which takes a couple of hours to do. The hike to the Bronson Caves takes less than 10 minutes. To be honest, it’s not even a hike — more like a walk.
Regardless, it was still amazing, especially since movies were filmed here!

So this morning around 7am, my friends and I hiked to the Hollywood sign from this trail at Bronson Canyon.
With a few stops for pictures and ran for about 15 mins, we got to the back of the Hollywood sign in about an hour. It wasn’t too bad of a hike, although much of the hike was uphill since you are going around a mountain haha Coming back down was a piece of cake. As majority of the people know, there is a fence by the Hollywood sign and you can’t get a really good view of it. However, there is a small trail further up that leads you to a higher view of the sign and LA. There were a lot of horse poop on the trail and many people brought their dogs to hike with. We arrived at the sign around 8am and by 8:30am or so, it got pretty crowded. If you want some peace and quiet, try going pretty early in the morning. There are two trails halfway where it splits into two. You can either go to the right which leads to the back or the left which leads to the front. If you want a better view of the Hollywood sign, go to the left.
After we hiked to the sign, we went to the bat cave which was awesome. I heard they filmed some lf the Batman films here. It was like 5 minutes from the parking lot. Oh yeah, there are two parking lots. The closer parking lot to the trail is pretty small so I would just park at the bigger parking lot which is closer to the entrance/​exit
Overall, this is a great hike for morning runs or hikes. Stay active!

Review is only for the batman cave:
One of the easiest yet most exciting treks ever!
It is known as a filming location for movies and TV shows.
When we went to this place, they were actually filming and there were tons of props.
Heading towards the main entrance can be difficult since it is right next to a park – so parking spaces suck! Arrive early if you want to find parking. In order to get to the caves, follow the entrance and after .2 miles walk, taadaa! There are about 3 bat caves, great for pictures and little exploration: D Since this place is easy to get to, it is packed with families and kids. There is also a perfect spot that outlook the Hollywood Sign!

Hike to the Hollywood Sign via Bronson Canyon, 6+ miles round trip.
Went January 2^nd with my 50+ year old uncle and 13 year old niece. I hike pretty often, so I was worried about how strenuous this trail would be, but it was nice wide and pretty much paved.
Directions to trail: You can pull up Bronson Caves Los Angeles, CA up on Google maps. I took the 5 South to Franklin, went past the Griffith Observatory parking and made a right on Canyon Dr. You go through a neighborhood and you’ll know your coming up to the trail head because you go through gates, there’s 2 parking lots, the one closest to the trail head only has like 10 spots, but the one below is a lot bigger or you can park on the street.
Trail Head: After parking in the further lot in the dirt, we walked toward the other lot and went past it. Ignore the trail on the right hand side and keep going up the path you are on. If you are not sure, ask other hikers, they were very helpful. This is a wide dirt trail, go along it and you will meet an intersection of Brush Canyon and Mulholland Fire Road. There is a wooden stake that has the words hand written on it «You made it», go left from there. There’s horses on this trail, and when I went there was a good amount of horse poop too.
Once you go left, and keep going, you hit a road. If you want to go behind the sign, go up the paved road and it will take you to the top, right behind the sign. If you want to see it from the front but from a distance, go left down the paved road.
Trails taken: 1) Brush Canyon 2) Mulholland Fire Road (these trails are not marked)
Got a pretty good workout from this 6+ mile hike, great views of LA. I would definitely recommend this hike, good to take people from out of town too!

The park I went to as a kid just got better! They have an actual playground that is welcoming for kids of all ages. This park has been a favorite for birthday parties as long as I can remember. There’s a gorgeous tree that is angled at 45 degrees and perfect for climbing. A very few picnic tables are available to use, so bring a blanket.
The grassy area is long and narrow and runs alongside the road, but a steepish grade makes it still rather safe for youngsters. Theres a playset for small toddlers there which is fenced in. The second, newer playground is across the street. It is great for older kids and it is aslo fenced in.
Of you are a hiker, continue past the playground and the nature trail begins. It’s a couple miles long and forks in a few different directions. I used to hear people refer to the waterfall there. Don’t get to romantic about this as you’ll discover its source it a pipe. Think about it, it’s Hollywood hills.
Parking is on the street or in a couple of dirt lots and always easy.

This is a great place within the Los Angeles city limits for hiking. The the trail we hiked was approximately three miles each way. So total is almost six miles per one of our fellow hiker’s running app for her phone.
The is considered intermediate according to its steepness. But you shouldn’t have any problems hiking up to the Hollywood sign area if your body is conditioned.
Talking about the Hollywood sign, the hikers are no longer allowed to go directly to the sign. But rather, the trail is shortened and then fenced off so nobody can go next to it.
It was a warm hike as we were there after 4:00 pm. It was probably still in the 80 degree range. So bring plenty of sunblock.
The trail is wide, and there aren’t as many rocks compared to the Pasadena trails. But I wish there were more trees. There was plenty of horse dung everywhere since we share the trails with equestrians. Just try not to step in the wet ones. Gross!
Overall the trail was nice. The scenery of Downtown Los Angeles was beautiful. It’s a great place to see the LA Basin in a panoramic view.
It is worth a trip going there to check out the scenery of our city… along with a great cardiovascular workout.

This is an awesome place to hike!
Directions: from Franklin Ave, head north on Canyon Dr. Take a drive through a nice neighborhood and watch out for residents walking their dogs or jogging. You will pass through some gates, there’s a playground, keep going… then you will find a dirt parking area. Park. Do a mini happy dance for free parking. Exit car.
To the Bronson Caves (AKA were films and the iconic Batman TV series was shot):
as you exit your car and walk to the trailhead, you will see a trail heading south. Walk up this trail. To your left you will see hills and brush. This is where I saw the coyote trotting around! Keep on the trail, it will curve to your left and then TA DA! *cue Batman theme*
Walk around or in and out of cave, it’s short so there’s enough light. Take the cool pics. The other side of the cave looks cool. I liked that there were trash cans all around, helping keep the place clean.
NOTE: In January 2014, 3 females scrambled up the hillside on the eastern side of the caves. They were were unable to get back down and had to be rescued. Please don’t attempt to scramble or climb unless you are experienced!
The walk up to the caves is short and a no brainer, almost anyone can do it. When you’re done with the caves walk back down, watch for Wil E. (Coyote) then go to the trailhead heading north. Continue on. It’s a wide trail and it curves around the hills quite a bit. There’s very little shade and a slow and steady incline. Lots of people run on this trail. It’s not the most scenic of trails but it does it’s job for fitness and landmarks (Bronson Caves and Hollywood sign)
For the most part our hike/​walk was pretty peaceful. There wasn’t anything too dangerous or hard about it. The incline and lack of shade is a little daunting. If you want to get a nice view of the backside of the Hollywood sign, this is your hike.