This week we head to Griffith Park and take the hike up to the Griffith Observatory. Griffith Park is a very large park located in Los Angeles. The park contains numerous trails and attractions. Because we were on a road trip during the visit, we only had time for a short hike. We decided to park our car at the parking lot next to Western Canyon Road and took the West Trail up to the observatory. The route we took was about 4km out-and-back with approximately 140m elevation gain. It was a relatively short and easy hike; even my little one, who was 5 years old at the time, completed the hike without any problems. The trails were wide with gradual elevation gain. There seem to be some big cracks on the trail surfaces, maybe due to the dry Southern California weather. We were greeted with the view of Los Angeles when we reached the top. After taking in the different views of Los Angeles from high up, we also visited the Griffith Observatory. To our surprise, entrance to the observatory was free. After spending some time exploring the observatory, we went outside to check out the south-facing viewpoint, where we saw Downtown Los Angeles. In the end, we took the same trail back down to the parking lot.

Looking at the map to decide which trail to take. Griffith Park is very big and we only explored a very small section of the park.

Trail is very wide and well maintained.

The vegetation is very different from what we were used to seeing near home (Pacific Northwest).

Some large cracks were on the trails.

Wild flowers.

We reached the top. Looking northwest at the viewpoint. The Hollywood sign and radio tower can be seen from here.

Looking west at the viewpoint.

Looking southwest at the viewpoint. The observatory is in sight.

Griffith Observatory.

Periodic table with the actual element in each box. Some boxes were empty because they could not obtain or display that element. But it's pretty cool.