Griffith Observatory is one of the four observatories in California. It is located North of Los Angeles. There is no entrance fee to enter the observatory, but there are parking fees with an hourly rate of $3. Since we were having a vacation at Southern California, we decided to pay a visit to Griffith Observatory.
The observatory was not hard to find. We simply just drove up the road all the way to the top of the mountain. When we got there around 3pm, there was already a lot of car in the parking lot and many car were parked on the side of the road. Note that you still have to pay for parking fee even if you park your vehicle on the side of the road. Luckily, we were able to find a spot in the parking lot right away.
We went into the observatory and looked at the photos of the galaxies and the telescope used to observe the stars. On the outside patio, we could see the entire metropolitan city of Los Angeles. We could still see the smog among the city due to the forest fire that happened a week ago. On the North side of the observatory, we could see the Hollywood sign on the mountain.
There was a stair way on the side for people to access the observatory telescope at the top of the observatory. The telescope is open to public from 7PM to 10PM when the sky is dark. We did not get to try it since it was still in the afternoon and the sun was still bright. But it would have been an awesome experience to check out the telescope.
The observatory also had shows for people to watch, with additional cost. We did not bother to check it out since we just wanted to enjoy the view from the top of the mountain. This is one of the best place to see the sunset over Los Angeles. Furthermore, it is also the best place to see the night scape of Los Angeles.
Overall, we don't think it is a must visit place when visiting Los Angeles, but it is an interesting spot. It would be a romantic spot to spend the evening here to see the night view over the city. We didn't get to stay till the sun goes down, but we would definitely do it next time.
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