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Mulholland Drive Overlook

Mulholland Drive Overlook provides a vantage point over Los Angeles, featuring views of the Downtown skyline, the Hollywood Hills, and landmarks such as the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory. The overlook lies along a parkway completed in 1924, integral to the city’s mid-20th-century development and automotive culture.

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The Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory are landmarks in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California. The sign is a global symbol of the film industry, and the observatory offers panoramic city views and astronomical education.
The Hollywood Sign sits on Mount Lee in Griffith Park, overlooking Los Angeles. It was built in 1923 as "HOLLYWOODLAND" to advertise a new real estate development in the hills above the city. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce shortened it to "HOLLYWOOD" in 1949, and the current metal letters date to a 1978 reconstruction funded by donors including Hugh Hefner and Gene Autry. The sign runs 350 feet across the hillside, with each letter standing 45 feet tall. A broadcast tower beside the sign transmits signals for several Los Angeles television and radio stations.
Sunrise over the Los Angeles basin from Mulholland Drive overlook, with the downtown skyline visible in the distance.
Mulholland Drive runs roughly 21 miles along the ridgeline of the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills, linking the Cahuenga Pass area to the Pacific Coast Highway. Named for civil engineer William Mulholland, the road opened in 1924 as part of efforts to connect the growing city with the San Fernando Valley. Its position along the ridge gives it a long sightline over the Los Angeles Basin, with the downtown skyline sitting roughly ten miles to the southeast. That skyline is anchored by the U.S. Bank Tower, completed in 1989 and, for years, the tallest building west of Chicago.
Sunrise over Downtown Los Angeles in November 2011, showing the city's central business district.
Downtown Los Angeles anchors the region's financial, legal, and entertainment industries, with its skyline visible for miles across the Los Angeles Basin. The US Bank Tower, completed in 1989 and standing 1,018 feet tall, was the tallest building west of Chicago until the Wilshire Grand Center surpassed it in 2017. The district's modern high-rise cluster took shape mostly after the city lifted height restrictions tied to earthquake concerns in the 1950s, allowing construction beyond the earlier 150-foot limit set by City Hall's height. The Santa Monica Mountains, including sections of Griffith Park, rise to the north and west of the skyline.

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