Looking for the best panoramic views in Los Angeles? Check out these 8 places and enjoy the spectacular City of Angels like you haven’t seen it before.
Last updated: September 6, 2024
The Best Places with Panoramic Views in Los Angeles
Where should you go to find spectacular views of Los Angeles? It’s a good question. Los Angeles is such a big city. To find a place that looks down at least at one part of this expansive city can be challenging. In many cases you need to hike and shed some sweat before feasting your eyes on the dazzling City of Angels below. Are you ready? Let the adventure start.
1. Griffith Observatory
Address: 2800 E Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
The Griffith Observatory is one of the favorite places to enjoy panoramic views of the City of Angels. You can get really close to the world-famous structure and skip hiking altogether. Alternatively, park a little bit farther away and enjoy a walk toward the Observatory, admiring the remarkable views of the city with towering peaks of downtown Los Angeles in the distance along the way.
The stroll is easy, but the city vistas are amazing. On a clear day, you can see as far as the Pacific Ocean. The iconic views of the Hollywood Sign and the tallest buildings in downtown Los Angeles present themselves in their full glory most of the time.
TIP: You can take the Mt. Hollywood Trail to Dante’s View for a closer look of the iconic Hollywood Sign and more Los Angeles views from the trail. The trailhead sits right behind the Griffith Observatory.
Night Sky: Visit the prominent hill in Los Angeles at night to gaze at the night sky and admire city lights below. Free telescope viewings are offered daily, from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
2. Runyon Canyon Park
Address: N Fuller Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Runyon Canyon Park, a popular hiking and dog-walking park in the Hollywood Hills, offers the spectacular views of Los Angeles from four angles.
On the east, the Hollywood Sign and the Griffith Observatory tower over the city. You can enjoy the scenic views of downtown Los Angeles from the southeast. The best panorama of Park La Brea, Wilshire Boulevard, and Baldwin Hills is on the south. And if you look in the southwestern direction, you will be able to detect some distant views of the Pacific Ocean.
Top it off with the splendid vistas of Hollywood Boulevard, the Capital Records Building, and the Chinese Theater, one of the most beautiful Asian places in Los Angeles, and you may want to finish your search for the best city views right here and now.
3. J. Paul Getty Museum
Address: 1200 Getty Center Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90049
Located atop the Santa Monica Mountains in Brentwood, the J. Paul Getty Museum amazes with the panoramic views that face Westwood and Downtown Los Angeles on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. The museum is incredible on its own and is known as one of the most gorgeous places in the city.
4. Los Angeles California Temple
Address: 10777 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Every December, the Mormon church in Century City is our go-to place to see dazzling Christmas lights. Decorated to impress, the temple shines brightly perched on the hill above the commercial neighborhood of LA.
And while you notice the towering structure from afar, you can enjoy even more of the panoramic views of Los Angeles from its ground. Take a walk around the church starting from its Visitor’s Center and enjoy the city lights below.
TIP: You must be a member to enter the Mormon church. The Visitor’s Center to its left, however, is open for all and looks quite gleaming during the Christmas season.
5. Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook (aka Culver City Stairs)
Address: 6300 Hetzler Rd, Culver City, CA 90232
The Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is a tiny state park mainly known for a flight of stairs that ends at a platform with panoramic views of Los Angeles. To get to the vistas, you can either climb the stairs, walk along a paved road, or hike up a dirt path.
No matter which route you choose, you’ll be glad you made it all the way to the top. Here you get to admire the spectacular views of the San Gabriel Mountains, downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Westwood, and Culver City.
6. Stough Canyon Park
Address: 2300 E Walnut Ave, Burbank, CA 91504
Less popular and crowded than other places with scenic views of Los Angeles, Stough Canyon Park is city’s true hidden gem. Located in the Verdugo Mountains, the park impresses with some lovely scenes of downtown LA, the entire San Fernando Valley, and the Burbank Airport.
TIP: You can hike along the longer trail that snakes around the mountains or pick a shorter path with equally impressive views at the end. Normally, we stick to a shorter, less than a mile, trail that veers to the left off the main trail. There used to be a bench at the top of the hill where you could sit and take in the panoramic city views. Sadly, the bench is gone now, but the vistas are as remarkable as always.
7. Greystone Mansion & Gardens
Address: 905 Loma Vista Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Nestled on a lush knoll, away from the busy streets of Beverly Hills, the Greystone Mansion & Gardens is a historic wedding venue, Hollywood’s occasional filming location, and a secret urban park with outstanding views of Los Angeles.
Due to its rather limited access, fewer people bother to look for this jewel. Yet while the Greystone Mansion is open for special events only, the Greystone Gardens pamper you with green lawns and yards in the distinctive formal English traditions and sweeping panoramas daily.
8. Stoney Point Park
Address: Topanga Canyon Blvd, between Chatsworth St and CA-118, Chatsworth, CA 91311
There is no reward without putting in a little bit of effort up front. And the reward is grand at the top of Stoney Point Park. The lesser-known Los Angeles City park, Stoney Point is a series of large rocky outcroppings popular with rock climbers and mountaineers.
Yet despite its formidable look, the park boasts many easy “trails” that can lead even the least prepared hikers-climbers to the summit with the panoramic views of the surrounding neighborhoods of LA.
