A Night Above Los Angeles at Griffith Observatory
Come for the stars. Stay for the quiet feeling of seeing Los Angeles from above.
There is a completely different Los Angeles waiting after dark.
Drive into the hills of Griffith Park at night and the noise of the city slowly begins to fall away. Then, somewhere along the climb, Los Angeles appears beneath you — an enormous field of lights stretching toward the horizon.
At the top sits Griffith Observatory.
It is one of LA’s most famous landmarks, but visiting at night feels surprisingly personal.
Maybe it is the contrast.
Below you are millions of lights, streets, cars and people moving through one of the busiest cities in the world. Above you is the night sky.
And for a little while, you are standing somewhere between the two.
Inside the observatory, you can learn about planets, space and the universe. Public telescopes also offer visitors a chance to look toward the sky, while the terraces outside open onto sweeping views across Los Angeles. Admission to the observatory building and public telescopes is free.
But you do not have to understand much about astronomy to enjoy being here.
Part of the experience is simply walking outside after dark.
The white observatory glows against the night, people gather quietly along the terraces, and the city seems almost unreal from this height. Somewhere beyond the lights is the Pacific Ocean. Somewhere below are Hollywood, Downtown LA and all the streets you were driving through earlier that day.
Up here, they become one enormous sparkling landscape.
It is worth arriving before sunset if you want to watch the city slowly change from day to night. But there is something especially beautiful about coming when darkness has already settled over Los Angeles.
Look through a telescope if one is available. Look up at the sky.
Then look back down at the city.
Years later, that night still comes back to me from time to time — being there together under the Los Angeles night sky, looking through a telescope and seeing the stars above us.
Some places stay in your memory because of what you saw. Others stay because of how quiet the world felt for a moment. Griffith Observatory somehow gives you both.
Griffith Observatory
2800 East Observatory Road, Los Angeles, CA 90027
