Griffith Park Observatory

On our list of the best activities in Los Angeles.

Colonel Griffith J. Griffith left money to build this observatory on the south slope of Mount Hollywood, on condition that admission stay free, and architects John C. Austin and Frederick Ashley finished it in 1935. Its Zeiss 12-inch telescope is open to the public on every clear night, and a bust of James Dean sits on the west lawn, placed there after key scenes of Rebel Without a Cause were filmed at the building in 1955. Exhibits, the rooftop terraces and the grounds cost nothing to enter; the planetarium show inside the Samuel Oschin dome is the only ticketed part of a visit.