#Undercover tourist los angeles pro#

Sadly, you can’t just walk inside and tour the interiors and stunning lobby, but you can still enjoy the Mission Revival building from the street, with its impressive Moorish, Spanish, and Italian touches and cupolas covered in yellow and blue tile. Today, it is used as a learning center for Arizona State University following an extensive remodel. Located on the corner of Broadway and 11th streets, the building was boarded up and in disrepair after the newspaper shut down in 1989. Instead of fighting bumper-to-bumper traffic on PCH to glimpse the Julia Morgan-designed guest house and pool at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, why not head downtown and take in one of her more impressive designs - the Herald Examiner building?

#Undercover tourist los angeles pro#

Pro tip: at 5,715 feet, the observatory is elevated enough to offer a cool respite when temperatures soar below. If you want to make a day of it, take advantage of one of the many hikes that crisscross the mountain. Nearby is the rudimentary but charming one-room Astronomical Museum, which provides an overview of the observatory’s beginnings and notable scientific achievements. to 5 p.m., visitors are welcome to observe the telescope from a viewing window housed in a white dome on the woodsy campus. On some ticketed nights (sadly all sold for 2023), members of the public can peer through the hulking instrument into our celestial backyard. More than 100 years later, it’s still the observatory’s biggest draw. The prodigious telescope that enabled Hubble’s and other luminaries’ universe-altering discoveries marked an engineering feat when it was completed in 1917, becoming the world’s largest telescope until 1949. Our galaxy is just one of many in an expanding space. But the nearly 120-year-old institution holds a scientific claim to fame: A century ago, astronomer Edwin Hubble gazed through the observatory’s Hooker 100-inch telescope and spied celestial phenomena he would use to prove that we’re not alone in the universe. Unlike Griffith, the observatory above Pasadena doesn’t offer panoramic views of the Hollywood Sign and can’t say James Dean graced the grounds for a film shoot.

Accessible by way of a winding road off the Angeles Crest Highway, it still feels worlds away from the bustling megapolis below. Mount Wilson Observatory, perched high on a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, stands as another vintage testament to Los Angeles’ once-dark skies - before the city lights drowned out the starlight. Unbeknownst to many Angelenos, Griffith Observatory is not the only gateway to the cosmos in tinseltown. When closures don’t block access, you can drive the entire 66-mile length of the highway into Wrightwood, a quaint mountain town that’s worth a pit stop to lap up some ice cream and small-town charm. For a strenuous hike, try Strawberry Peak Trailhead, where you can triumphantly top out at a nearly 6,200-foot summit. If you’d like to make a day of the excursion, pull over and scope out one of the many trails etched into the mountains - or turn off at Red Box junction and head up to historic Mt. (Some areas are still undergoing repairs from fierce winter storms so check the latest updates before you head out.)

In lieu of an ocean breeze, motorists are treated to woodsy vistas and sweeping views of the metropolis below at every hairpin turn.Ī major stretch of the highway recently reopened after a months-long closure, making it an opportune time to explore a wealth of freshly accessible vistas. County suburb of La Canada, the two-lane Angeles Crest Highway - a portion of State Route 2 - snakes high up into the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest. Thankfully, there’s another scenic route through the region’s natural beauty - and it’s equally compatible with a convertible. Taking in the glittering Pacific Ocean and breathtaking bluffs at speed evokes a surfs-up type of glamour - until you hit traffic and spy the 12th influencer photoshoot in the span of an hour. as “Baywatch,” the Beach Boys and that guy who roller skates while jamming on an electric guitar on the Venice Boardwalk.

Cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway is as iconic L.A.