In February 2022, after the Rams won the Super Bowl, the team, Los Angeles Mayor's office, and Hollywood Sign Trust mangements to temporarily cover the letters of the famous HOLLYWOOD sign with banners spelling RAMSHOUSE ("Whose house? Rams' house!" is the rally cry among fans). The tribute ended up being a last-minute mess. The display was meant to last until the Rams’ parade, three days after the game. Two days after the game, winds and rain had hampered the installation progress, with the sign reading RALLYOUSE throughout the day.
I'm not often on the same side of the mountain as the Hollywood sign but happened to be in the area on Wednesday - the final day the temporary sign would be up. That made me wonder something that hasn’t come to mind for years now: where’s the best view? Over the past decade, I’ve been above, below, behind, to the left, and to the right of the sign. Here are the places that offer the best sights.
1) Lake Hollywood Park
3160 Canyon Lake Dr.
Even after the tribute to the Rams was complete, it was widely considered a flop. The banners covering the sign were semi-transparent, so the combination of the original letters and their replacements basically created new characters the world had never seen before. Also, the background printed on the banners was a brown hill. It didn’t match the landscape because the mountain recently turned green after some storms. Despite the failures of this shout-out, Lake Hollywood Park normally provides one of the best views of the Hollywood sign.
2) Ovation Hollywood complex
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Better known by it’s former and more-memorable name, “Hollywood & Highland,” this shopping complex is in the heart of Hollywood, and The Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre and Chinese Theatre next door contribute to it being a bustling tourist hotspot. It was also designed to have a great view of the Hollywood sign. A “tower viewer” telescope on the first floor points in the direction of the letters on the hill. Open walkways on the levels above provide excellent views.
3) palm tree lined street
S. Windsor Blvd. and W. 5th St.
The view north is wider and further away than the image below suggests. From here, the 45 ft. letters appear maybe half the size they do here, so decent zoom is a must for a nice photo. The symmetrical view is from the middle of a residential street, so if you have to get "the shot," be quick, alert, and very careful... and be respectful of the residents navigating their way up through this lovely neighborhood.
4) behind the sign
I had lived in L.A. a couple years before finding out you can hike behind the sign. A trail winds up to the top of Mt. Lee, where a chainlink fence separates you from the giant letters on the hill. This perspective is a neat one, but the best part is the view it offers of Los Angeles on a clear day. Backtracking slightly on the trail provides a great look the other way, to the north, at Burbank and the rest of the San Fernando Valley.
5) Jerome C. Daniel Overlook
7036 Mulholland Dr.
This viewpoint has a small, cramped parking lot, where open-air tour buses drop off tourists all day long for a quick peek at the sign, Hollywood Bowl down below, Hollywood proper above, and downtown L.A. further up. The sign isn't very close, but a nice zoom lens can help.
6) Griffith Observatory
2800 E. Observatory Rd.
The observatory is an awesome museum with a rich history. This location was the scene of the knife fight in “Rebel Without a Cause” and was recently the backdrop for Adele’s “One Night Only” TV performance, in 2021. The sign view from here is unobstructed but distant and at an angle.
7) by air
The LAX flightpath is always the same - depart west, over the Pacific, and arrive from the east, over land. If I'm on the right side of the plane, every time, I can't help but look for the bright letters on the mountain. Even better is taking a scenic flight, in a slower aircraft that gives you more time with all of the landmarks. We did that once and saw quite a lot - the Santa Monica Pier, Dodger Stadium, downtown, Warner Bros. Studios, Universal Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, and, of course, the Hollywood Sign. I certainly wouldn't say it's a must-do if you're in town for a short stint and on a budget... but the perspective certainly is mesmerizing on a clear day.
8) my first apartment
I couldn't resist including this one. Above our first apartment, in Koreatown, the basic rooftop terrace offered an amazing view - downtown L.A. to the east, West L.A. in the opposite direction, and the Hollywood sign to the north. It turned out to be a great starting point for our lives in Los Angeles. Above all else, I really miss heading up to the roof on a beautiful day and soaking up the sun with a cold beer or glass of wine in hand.
“All the Views of the Hollywood Sign” Written by: Justin Kilmer | Edited by: Janine Kilmer Any purchase from our Fine Art America portfolio helps support future travels and writings.
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