Say Goodbye to Favored Hollywood Sign Trail

LOS ANGELES, CA — Monday is the last day hikers can enjoy one of the easiest and most direct trail routes to the iconic Hollywood Sign before the city closes the access point at Beachwood Drive.

Entrance to the popular Hollyridge Trail will become more limited starting Tuesday because the city is going to close the Beachwood gate as the result of a court order, although the trail will still be accessible at other nearby access points, including Canyon Road and the Vermont Canyon entrance.

The Friends of Griffith Park, a nonprofit organization, held a rally Saturday near the trail in opposition to the closure, to no avail. A spokeswoman with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks confirmed the city still plans on permanently closing down the Beachwood gate access Monday at sunset.

The closure stems from a legal battle over access to the Sunset Ranch Hollywood Stables on Beachwood Drive, which provides horseback rides in Griffith Park. The ranch sued the city in 2015 over the number of hikers using a 20-foot strip of land it owns and also acts as the only access point to its business.

The ranch had a longstanding legal agreement allowing hikers to use the land but complained the city was channeling too many hikers to the path.

"The court ruled that pedestrian access along the road to Sunset Ranch was incompatible with Sunset Ranch's legal easement and impeded their ability to conduct business," the DPR said in a statement in March when it announced the pending closure.

City News Service; Photo: Thomas Wolf via Wikimedia Commons