Can you see the Hollywood Sign from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles?

Yes, you can

2.6 km line of sight toward the northwest (bearing 314°), computed on 30 m Copernicus terrain with Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction.

The answer

Yes. The Hollywood Sign is visible from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles: a clear 2.6 km line of sight over the ground in between, with its top 172 m above eye level. At this range Earth's curvature takes off less than a metre.

It is the most photographed pairing in Los Angeles, and half the people who make the drive up are really there for the sign rather than the telescope.

Satellite map with the sightline from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles to the Hollywood Sign drawn in red — The 2.6 km sightline over satellite imagery, drawn as the great-circle path light would follow.

Straight-line distance2.6 km

Direction314° northwest

Observer eye level357 m

Target elevation529 m

Curvature drop at the target0 m

Above your eye level172 m

From Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, at an eye level of 357 m, the sightline to the Hollywood Sign runs 2.6 km and clears every ridge in between. Over that distance Earth's curvature drops the target 0 m below a flat-earth line, but at 529 m, it still rises above the horizon. The view is geometrically real: whether you actually get it depends on haze, not terrain. The tightest squeeze is mid-path, where the sightline passes just 10 m above the terrain at km 0.

Under three kilometres across the top of Griffith Park, with the observatory terrace and Mount Lee both well above the ground between them. The letters are nine metres tall and read clearly from the terrace, which is why the observatory's west lawn is where everyone points a phone.

The terrain profile

Elevation profile from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles to the Hollywood Sign. Like every elevation profile, the vertical axis is stretched (≈3× here), but the geometry is real: mid-path, Earth's surface genuinely stands 0 m above the straight line between the two points. Light bends only slightly around that bulge, so whatever it covers stays hidden.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Hollywood Sign from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles?

Yes. The terrain-limited line of sight is clear across 2.6 km, accounting for Earth's curvature and standard atmospheric refraction. Atmospheric haze is the only thing that can hide the view.

How far is the Hollywood Sign from Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles in a straight line?

2.6 km great-circle distance, on a bearing of 314° (northwest).

How much does Earth's curvature hide over 2.6 km?

At the target's distance the curvature drop is about 0 m: anything lower than that (relative to the observer's horizon plane) is hidden behind the bulge of the Earth. The Hollywood Sign is tall enough to rise above it.

How was this calculated?

UpToWhere walks the full terrain profile between the two points on 30 m-resolution Copernicus GLO-30 elevation data, applying Earth curvature and standard atmospheric refraction (k = 0.13), the same physics surveyors use. You can run the same point-to-point check between any two places on Earth.

More famous sightlines

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