Griffith Park
add photosWith over 4,210 acres of both natural chapparal-covered terrain and landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States. Situated in the eastern Santa Monica Mountain range, the Park’s elevations range from 384 to 1,625 feet above see level. With an arid climate, the Park’s plant communities vary from coastal sage scrub, oak and walnut woodlands to riparian vegetation with trees in the Park’s deep canyons. The California native plants represented in Griffith Park include the California species of oak, walnut, lilac, mountain mahagony, sages, toyon, and sumac. Present, in small quantities, are the threatened species of manzanita and berberis.
You will find bicycle rental, a Greek Theater, a Merry-Go-Round, the Griffith Observatory, the Griffith Park Southern Railroad, the
L.A. Equestrian Center, the L.A. Live Steamers, the L.A. Zoo and
Pony Rides.
Travel Town
6 Reviews for Griffith Park
13
20 families found this helpful
"One of my Favorite Places!"
I used to love coming here as a kid and still to this day as an adult! This park is HUGE! You can hike, have picnics, horse riding, etc.
There is also the observatory, which overlooks Los Angeles. It is such a great view!! A lot of schools have field trips here, and a lot of families just come here for family time.
The Observatory is very informative and has a lot of neat things. Every kid that I've seen there has been absolutely fascinated.
This is the perfect place to go to get away from the hustle & bustle of the busy city of Los Angeles. Somewhere to relax, have a great view, or just learn!
Definitely one of my favorite places of all time & I highly recommend coming here!
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'11, '12, '130 families found this helpful
"Great park for the whole family!"
Griffith park is a huge regional park, not like your neighborhood park. It is beautiful and clean and has so much to do and explore.
Things to do:
Griffith Park has many things and activities to do. They are all within close "driving" distance and contained within the park grounds. The Griffith Park Observatory, the Los Angeles Zoo, Train town, Autry National Center, Greek Theater, bike rentals, merry go round, Southern Rail road, pony rides, equestrian center, live steamers, are all part of this massive park. You can also camp, hike, golf, picnic, horse back ride, and more.
Parking:
There is plenty of parking at most of the attractions around Griffith Park. With a few exceptions on busy days being the zoo and Train town. But circle a couple times and you will find a spot usually within 5 minutes.
My daughter (4 years old) loves most of this park. The zoo, train town, picnicking, pony rides are always a must. She also loves to go hiking and explore the trails or just play ball on the endless amount of grass Griffith Park has. She does not like the "creepy" merry go round. The merry go round is really old and I must agree kind of creepy. It's in a really reclusive part of the park and just seems a little haunted. Other than the merry go round we enjoy Griffith Park several times a year!
0 families found this helpful
"Train town was our favorite"
A huge park with lots to do! We really enjoyed train town, especially with a 2 year old boy in the group. They have train rides and tons of trains, some of which you can even climb in and on. We also really enjoyed just wandering around on some of the hiking trails in the park. The merry go round was a bit run down and there was a drag racing get together in that area the day we were there, so it wasn't a super kid friendly crowd. We didn't even get to explore all we would have liked to. Next time we are in the area we will be back!
0 families found this helpful
"Fun"
This is just one giant park (not as nice as Central Park) with many beautiful things to see and do. We like taking a picnic and taking small hikes with the kids. There is a lot of nature to see and fun playground equipment for the little ones. There is a farm exhibit they have here once a year that is fun and you can take a hay ride.
0 families found this helpful
"Great For Parties"
This park is so big! I've driven by many times and there is always a party going on. There is enough room for huge parties. The scenery is so beautiful, surrounded by trees and green grass. If you are an outdoor person this would be the perfect place to relax.
0 families found this helpful
"a great place to hike, picnic and just relax"
This park is huge...with multiple hiking grounds, playgrounds and even pony rides! My favorite part about this park though is the carousel. There is so much history behind it and I loved reading the story about how it sparked Walt Disney's imagination when he used to bring his daughter there and how he had to have a a replica of the ride within Disneyland. Griffith Observatory is there as well and thats a neat place too.
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