Hollywood Sign, Landmark on Mount Lee, Los Angeles, US
The Hollywood Sign consists of nine white capital letters standing in a row on the dry, scrub-covered slope of Mount Lee in the Santa Monica Mountains. Each letter is a flat vertical panel with straight edges, held by a thin metal frame behind it and set on low posts; the first O, the last O and the D show dark grid-like openings in their white surfaces.
The sign was put up in 1923 as a temporary advertisement for a housing development called Hollywoodland, and was never meant to last. After the last four letters were removed in 1949, the remaining structure fell into disrepair until a fundraising campaign in the late 1970s paid for entirely new letters.
The sign's name comes from the 1923 housing development Hollywoodland, and the last four letters were dropped in 1949. It has been altered for events and pranks: it read HOLYWOOD for Pope John Paul II's 1987 visit, and HOLLYWeeD appeared on New Year's night 2017.
Several viewpoints in Griffith Park offer good sightlines, and the trails that lead to them range from easy walks to steeper uphill paths. Going early in the morning tends to mean less company at the most popular spots and better light for photos.
Although the letters look large from a distance, visitors who hike close to the sign quickly realize how isolated and inaccessible the structure actually is, as fencing and cameras keep people well away. The hillside directly behind the letters was bought through community fundraising to prevent construction that would have blocked the view from the city.
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