Griffith Park

Griffith Park
Griffith J. Griffith statue at the front of Griffith Park
Type	Urban park
Location	Los Feliz, California, U.S.
Coordinates	34°8′N 118°18′W
Area	4,310 acres (1,740 ha)
Created	1896
Operated by	Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks
Visitors	10 million
Status	Open all year
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Designated:	January 27, 2009
Reference No.	942

Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,310 acres (1,740 ha) of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America. It is the second-largest city park in California, after Mission Trails Preserve in San Diego, and the tenth largest municipally owned park in the United States. It has also been referred to as the Central Park of Los Angeles^{[citation needed]} but is much larger and more untamed and rugged than its New York City counterpart.

History

After successfully investing in mining, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith purchased Rancho Los Feliz (near the Los Angeles River) in 1882 and started an ostrich farm there. Although ostrich feathers were commonly used in making women's hats in the late-19th century, Griffith's purpose was primarily to lure residents of Los Angeles to his nearby property developments, which supposedly were haunted by the ghost of Antonio Feliz (a previous owner of the property). After the property rush peaked, Griffith donated 3,015 acres (1,220 ha) to the city of Los Angeles on December 16, 1896.

Afterward Griffith was tried and convicted for shooting and severely wounding his wife in a 1903 incident. When released from prison, he attempted to fund the construction of an amphitheater, observatory, planetarium, and a girls' camp and boys' camp in the park. His reputation in the city was tainted by his crime, however, so the city refused his money.

Girls eating in the mess hall of Griffith Park Girls' Camp, circa 1920

In 1912, Griffith designated 100 acres (40 ha) of the park, at its northeast corner along the Los Angeles River, be used to "do something to further aviation." The Griffith Park Aerodrome was the result. Aviation pioneers such as Glenn L. Martin and Silas Christoffersen used it, and the aerodrome passed to the National Guard Air Service. Air operations continued on a 2,000-foot (600 m)-long runway until 1939, when it was closed, partly due to danger from interference with the approaches to Grand Central Airport across the river in Glendale, and because the City Planning commission complained that a military airport violated the terms of Griffith's deed. The National Guard squadron moved to Van Nuys, and the Aerodrome was demolished, though the rotating beacon and its tower remained for many years. From 1946 until the mid-1950s, Rodger Young Village occupied the area which had formerly been the Aerodrome. Today that site is occupied by the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, soccer fields, and the interchange between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura Freeway.^{[citation needed]}

Film pioneer D.W. Griffith (no relation to Colonel Griffith) filmed the battle scenes for his epic Birth of a Nation in the park in 1915, as Lillian Gish detailed in her memoirs, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me. Over the years, a number of films were shot in the park.^{[citation needed]}

Colonel Griffith set up a trust fund for the improvements he envisioned, and after his death in 1919 the city began to build what Griffith had wanted. The amphitheater, the Greek Theatre, was completed in 1930, and Griffith Observatory was finished in 1935. Subsequent to Griffith's original gift further donations of land, city purchases, and the reversion of land from private to public have expanded the Park to its present size.

Fires

Aftermath of the 2007 fire. Both visible and infra-red wavelengths of light have been used to make this satellite image. Vegetation appears in various shades of red, while the burned areas appear charcoal. Roads and dense urban areas appear purplish-grey or white. Water is dark blue.

Hired as part of a welfare project, 3,780 men were in the park clearing brush on October 3, 1933, when fire broke out in the Mineral Wells area. Many of the workers volunteered or were ordered to fight the fire. Foremen with no knowledge of firefighting directed the effort, setting inappropriate backfires and sending hundreds of workers into a steep canyon. When the wind changed direction, they were trapped. In all, 29 men were killed and 150 were injured. Professional firefighters arrived and limited the blaze to 47 acres (19 ha). Because of the disorganized nature of the deployment, it took weeks to establish the exact death toll and identify the bodies. The Griffith Park fire remains the deadliest in Los Angeles history.

On May 12, 1961 a wildfire on the south side of the park burned 814 acres (329 ha). It also destroyed eight homes and damaged nine more, chiefly in the Beachwood Canyon area.

On May 8, 2007 a major wildfire burned more than 817 acres (331 ha), destroying the bird sanctuary, Dante's View, and Captain's Roost, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people. The fire came right up to one of the largest playgrounds in Los Angeles, Shane's Inspiration, and the Los Angeles Zoo, and threatened the Griffith Observatory, but left these areas intact. Several local organizations, including SaveGriffithPark.org, have been working since then with local officials to restore the park in a way that would benefit all. It was the third fire of the year. The city announced a $50 million plan to stabilize the burned slopes. The trees along Canyon Drive were allowed to grow back naturally, having been re-seeded by bird droppings.

Attractions

Mount Lee with the Hollywood Sign.

Activities

Visitors can attend concerts under the stars at the Greek Theatre, which was built to resemble a Greek amphitheater, and can study the stars further north on Vermont Ave. at the newly renovated Griffith Observatory and planetarium, where the trailhead to Mount Hollywood begins. In the distance, the Hollywood Sign is located on the southern flank of Griffith Park's Mount Lee.

The William Mulholland Memorial Fountain, which is dedicated to the engineer who built the first aqueduct that supplied water to the city, is located opposite the park entrance on Riverside Drive at Los Feliz. A miniature train and horse ride just up Riverside Drive. At Crystal Springs are the ranger and visitor information station, parking lot, picnic area, site of the old Griffith Park Zoo often used for filming, and a merry-go-round. Further on, through the golf course, are the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry National Center with ample parking between them and access to two freeways (5 and 134).

Stockton Terminal and Eastern locomotive at Travel Town Museum

Curving west along Zoo Drive, dotted with small picnic areas, nearly to Forest Lawn Drive, is an enclave where visitors can ride a miniature railroad operated by volunteers of the Los Angeles Live Steamers or visit Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn (also known as Walt's Barn). At Travel Town Museum, historic, full-sized railroad locomotives, passenger cars, and streetcars comprise a collection that highlights transportation in Southern California, in association with an exhibit hall, model train layout, picnic areas, and a gift shop, all of which is encircled by the last of three miniature train rides in Griffith Park.^{[citation needed]}

Recreation

View of Hollywood from Griffith Observatory, Dec. 2010

The grounds include a 9-hole Roosevelt Golf Course, two 18-hole golf courses, Pote Field (an adult baseball diamond), soccer field an outdoor basketball court, and 27 tennis courts. The park also has a swimming pool, known as "The plunge", which is open during the summer months.

The park is laced with many hiking and equestrian trails within the Santa Monica mountain range, far from neighboring residential districts. The local (Angeles) unit of the Sierra Club has been leading free evening and weekend conditioning hikes in Griffith Park every week for almost 50 years.

A seasonal attraction during late November through December had been the annual holiday light festival display sponsored by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Spectators could walk, cycle, or drive their vehicles slowly through the dazzling displays, until the festival was canceled in 2011 due to budgetary cutbacks and environmental concerns.

Famous locations

Griffith Park was the busiest destination in Los Angeles for on-location filming in 2011, with 346 production days, according to a FilmL.A. survey. Projects included the TV shows Criminal Minds and The Closer.

With its wide variety of scenes and close proximity to Hollywood and Burbank, many different production crews have found new ways and angles to film the same spots and make them look different. One would be hard pressed to find a spot in Griffith Park which has not been filmed or taped.^{[citation needed]}

Griffith Observatory.

A twelve-inch (305 mm) Zeiss refracting telescope in the east dome

The Griffith Observatory, which sits atop the southern slope of Mount Hollywood, was featured prominently in the 1955 classic Rebel Without a Cause. A bronze bust of the film's star James Dean is on the grounds just outside the dome. Other movies filmed here include The Terminator (1984), Disney's The Rocketeer (1991), Stephen Sommer's 2004 film Van Helsing, The Majestic (2001), Yes Man (2008), which both star Jim Carrey in a leading role. The area of the park around the Observatory also appears as a location in the role-playing video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, which is set in Los Angeles.

Griffith Park has many other locations familiar to moviegoers. It was used as a location in the first two Back to the Future movies. In the first movie (released in 1985) it was used for Marty McFly's starting point when accelerating to 88 mph (142 km/h) in the film's climax, and in the second movie (released in 1989) it was used for the "River Road Tunnel" scene when Marty was trying to get the almanac back from Biff Tannen. The same tunnel was used as the entrance to Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The park was also featured in the Robert Altman movie Short Cuts (1993).

A sampling of television shows filmed here includes the Nickelodeon show Salute Your Shorts and an episode of Remington Steele in which Laura Holt is trying to evade the police. The park was also the location for Adam Lambert's music video for his single, "If I Had You". Griffith Park and Griffith Observatory are significant in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Future's End" (originally aired November 6, 1996). The crew are thrown into the past and Griffith Observatory discovers Voyager. The tunnel was also used in the 1960s spy television series Mission: Impossible.

In John Rechy's novels City of Night and The Sexual Outlaw, Griffith Park is the scene of gay pick-ups and public sex as well as numerous gay bashings and violence from the LAPD in the 60s and 70s. It is the scene of similar activities in several novels by James Ellroy.

Bronson Canyon, aka Bronson Caves, is a popular location for motion picture and television filming, especially of western and science fiction low-budget films, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). The site was also used as the location for the climactic scene in John Ford's classic 1956 western, The Searchers. The scene includes John Wayne cornering his niece, Debbie (Natalie Wood), in one of the caves with the apparent intent of killing her. He relents at the last moment, however and, in the film's most famous shot, picks her up in his arms and turns to carry her back home. Many fans of the film are startled by the revelation that this scene was actually filmed in urban Los Angeles, probably due to how well the shot is integrated into the rest of the picture's location scenery. The craggy site of an old quarry, a tunnel in this canyon was also used as the entrance to the Batcave in the opening sequence of the 1960s Batman television series, and in numerous other shows. The natural "cave" walls are preserved by the many layers of paint used to make them look like rock.^{[citation needed]}

Park hours and parking

The park is open 5:00 am to 10:30 pm. All hiking trails and mountain roads close at sunset. Ample free parking is available on the south side off of Vermont Canyon Road inside the park; cars can be left parked at the parking lot next to the Greek Theater until 10:30 pm, even though the park gates are closed to entering cars at sunset.

Addition of Cahuenga Peak

100 additional acres around Cahuenga Peak were added to the park in July 2010, bringing the park's total acreage to 4,310 acres (1,740 ha); and putting it ahead of Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis as the 10th largest municipally owned park in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

Friends of Griffith Park

Friends of Griffith Park is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization that promotes "the enlightened stewardship of Griffith Park so it can survive and thrive in the 21st century." Prompted by the 2005 Griffith Park Master Plan Draft, a citizens movement emerged to advocate rejection of the plan, cooperating originally under the name "Save Griffith Park". The organization, which succeeded in rejecting the 2005 plan, was incorporated in September 2010. The organization is active through a website, a quarterly newsletter, petition signings, and activism at Los Angeles City Council meetings.

Gallery

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  Griffith Park (south side) with the Downtown LA skyline in the background

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  Sunset at Griffith Park, with a view of west Los Angeles.

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  Welcome sign at Griffith Park's northwest entrance

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  Toyon Canyon Landfill, with San Fernando Valley to the north

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  Pote Field, on Crystal Springs Drive

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  Light Festival, 2009

See also

• Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Hollywood, Los Feliz and Griffith Park
• Hollywood Cricket Club

External links

• Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks: Griffith Park
• Griffith Park History
• Griffith Park and Silverlake Blog
• Museum of the American West
• Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive The Griffith Park Fire
• Griffith Park Aerodrome
• Griffith Observatory
• Photograph of the Griffith Park Fire of May 2007

Similar large municipal parks elsewhere

• Central Park, New York City, New York, U.S.
• Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Da'an Forest Park (zh) (article in Chinese), Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)