The Griffith Park

To the south of California lies the sprawling Los Angeles city, which has become the center of the country’s television and film industry. It is iconic for film studios such as the universal and warner brothers, paramount pictures and Hollywood signs, which are good tourist sites. There are many places of interest in Los Angeles, including the Hollywood boulevard, magnificent theatres, beaches, shopping malls, walk of fames, museums and theatres. The town has an area of 503 mi2 with a population of about 3.976 million people.

It has a total area of 4210 acres, thus making it the biggest municipal park in the US. It is situated to the east of Santa Monica mountain range towering at about 1625 feet above the sea level. The plant species change as one move from the coastal area to the walnut woodlands with bigger trees in the canyon. Most common plants include walnut, mountain, oak sumac, and sages.

The park originated from Rancho Los Felix, which was given by the Spanish as a grant, and it bears its name from its former owner named Colonel J. Griffith. Originating from Wales, he moved to the USA in 1865 where he took advantage of the booming Mexican silver trade and the Californian real estate business. He settled in Los Angeles obtaining the land from Rancho Los Felix. As part of Christmas gift, he gave 3015 acres of his land to the people to be used as a park.

With each passing year, many recreational activities have been incorporated in the park, though large parts of the park have remained in their initial form i.e. having the Native American villages. As of today, the park boasts of educational, family, cultural institutions, hiking courses, horseback rides and a good place to engage in recreational activities. It lives to the founder’s motto who said, ‘’ It must be made a place of recreation and rest for masses, a resort for the rank and file for the plain people.” Since his donation, other land gifts have come to make the park what it is today. After his death, his funds helped make the Greek Amphitheatre and the Griffith observatory.

The Griffith observatory is another attraction in the park. It is the best public astronomy center in all of the southern California. It has helped many people observe the universe many times than any other telescope in the world. It boasts of the iconic façade feature in many movies and has become a big tourist attraction site recording more than one million visitors per year. Made of the 12 inch Zeiss and presence of lawn telescopes is a beauty to view the sky.

Within the park, there are the best hiking trails in the world, extending to 53 miles with fire roads, trail networks and small paths. The best trail extends from the observatory to the top of mount Hollywood offering a breathtaking view of the entire Los Angeles.