Griffith Observatory is free. So are the exhibits, the observation decks, the grounds, the telescopes and the view — which, from a terrace two hundred metres above Los Feliz, is the single most complete look at Los Angeles available anywhere. What is not free is getting there. Parking on the hill runs about ten dollars an hour with no time limit, which means a two-hour visit costs twenty dollars to stand somewhere that charges nothing for admission. There is a fifty-cent shuttle from the bottom of the hill, and the number of people who pay twenty dollars rather than fifty cents is remarkable.
Free to enter, expensive to park, and closed on Mondays. Ask Karpo which approach to take and what time to arrive for the light.
The parking arithmetic, and the alternative
Observatory parking is charged by the hour and enforced from noon to 10pm on weekdays and 10am to 10pm at weekends and holidays. There is no time limit, which sounds generous and is not — a leisurely two hours costs about twenty dollars.
The alternative is to park free in the Greek Theatre lot at the bottom of the hill and take the DASH Observatory shuttle up for fifty cents. It runs every fifteen to twenty minutes, seven days a week, from 10am to 10pm, with the last departure from the observatory at ten.
That is a saving of roughly nineteen dollars and fifty cents for a walk of a few metres to a bus stop. The reason more people do not do it is that they have not heard of it, not that it is inconvenient.
The one caveat: the Greek Theatre lot is unavailable when the Greek Theatre has an event on. Check before relying on it.
The hours, including the Monday closure
Tuesday to Friday it opens at noon and closes at 10pm. At weekends it opens at 10am and closes at 10pm. It is closed all day Monday for maintenance.
The Monday closure catches out an enormous number of visitors, because the grounds and the road remain accessible and people drive up expecting a building that is not open.
The noon opening on weekdays is the other one. A morning trip on a Tuesday gets you a view and a locked door.
The ten o'clock close is late enough that this is a genuine evening destination, which is unusual for a museum of any kind and is the main reason to come.
Sunset is the point, and it has a cost
The hour either side of sunset is when the building is at its best and its busiest. The city goes from haze to grid, the lights come on across the basin, and the terrace faces exactly the right way.
It is also when the road up is slowest, the car park is fullest and the planetarium shows sell out. If you want sunset, arrive at least ninety minutes before it.
The alternative that most people never consider is going late — arriving at half past eight and staying until close. The view is fully dark by then, the crowd has thinned substantially, and the public telescopes are actually usable.
Weekday evenings are dramatically quieter than weekend ones. A Wednesday at eight is a different building from a Saturday at seven.
What is inside, and the planetarium caveat
The exhibit halls cover astronomy in a genuinely well-made way, and the Foucault pendulum in the entrance rotunda is worth standing in front of for a few minutes rather than photographing and moving on.
The telescopes are free to look through when the sky is clear and staff are operating them, which is one of the more remarkable free things available in any American city.
Planetarium shows are the exception to the free rule: they are ticketed separately, cannot be booked online or reserved in advance, and are sold at the building on the day. At weekends and around sunset they sell out several showtimes ahead.
If a planetarium show is the point of your visit, buy the ticket the moment you arrive rather than after you have looked at the view.
Walking, and the rest of Griffith Park
The observatory sits within Griffith Park, which is one of the largest urban parks in the United States and has a genuine trail network rather than a few paths.
Walking up from the Greek Theatre area or from the Fern Dell entrance takes thirty to fifty minutes and is the free option that also solves the parking problem entirely. It is a real climb but not a technical one.
The trail to the Hollywood Sign viewpoints starts near here, and the observatory is the standard base for it. That is a half-day rather than an add-on.
Los Feliz village at the bottom of the hill is where to eat before or after, and it is a short drive or a longer walk from the park entrance.
One more thing about the building itself, since it is the reason the place looks the way it does in every photograph: it opened in 1935 as a public observatory rather than a research one, funded on the explicit condition that admission be free forever. Nearly a century later that condition is still being honoured, which is why the only money you will spend here is on a parking bay or a planetarium ticket.
That founding intention also explains the layout. The exhibits are pitched at someone who knows nothing, the telescopes are pointed at whatever is worth looking at that night, and the staff are there to explain rather than to supervise.
Practical notes
The observatory is in Griffith Park above Los Feliz, Los Angeles. Closed Mondays; Tuesday to Friday noon to 10pm; weekends 10am to 10pm.
Admission and the grounds are free. Parking is paid by the hour; the DASH shuttle from the Greek Theatre lot is fifty cents.
It is a hillside site and it is materially colder and windier after dark than the basin below. Bring a layer even in summer.
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Ask Karpo first
Want to know whether tonight is clear enough for the telescopes, what time to arrive for sunset, and whether the Greek Theatre lot is free this evening? Ask Karpo to check conditions and plan the trip up the hill.
