Bird Sanctuary Griffith Park — Attraction in Los Angeles

A great place to leave everything behind and hike. Highly recommend if you’re planning for hiking, bird watching or wildlife photography.

If you want to park free, you might want to come early in weekdays, there only few plots. If not, u still can park free at road side or with 10$ at their parking area.

I enjoyed when not many people hiking here so I can silently watch many species in the wild. I hate when people hike and make so much noise and loud music. It’s not only affects my time with natute, it also affects wild animals. That’s why I recommend you to come here at weekdays, not weekends and not too late. Hope it helps.

Oh, one last thing, I luckily saw a rattlesnake which is Venomous Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑖 𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑖), quite possibly the most common snake in the LA region. But don’t worry, if you saw one when hike, freeze and hold still and slowly back up. Giving space is crucial as snakes are likely just passing through. To avoid them, stay on the path and avoid thick vegetation, do not have earbuds in or listen to music. They may rattle as a warning. You should be ready to look out for the rattling sound.

This rattlesnake I took in the appeared very close to me, just about a meter away. While I was sitting, waiting to photograph a flock of birds, I turned around and suddenly saw it. I just stayed quiet and stood still, watching it. Even though it was very close, it didn't show any aggression. So, don’t worry. They have their own business...

First of all, why are we calling this a bird sanctuary? I consider myself and amateur ornithologist and this place, to put it simply, sucks. I have been there 4 times now. I have seen (on the trail) maybe 4 different species of birds. If you are a CA Towhee lover, this place is for you. I have seen a couple Western Bluebirds, Lesser Goldfinch's, and 1 singular Northern Flicker. On the walk to the trail you can see Ravens, Crows, and Acorn Woodpeckers. The lighting is also terrible to bird watch. There are mountains and dense trees so even with 44mm lenses it can be hard to identify the birds. Each time I go there however I see CA Mule Deer and one time a couple of White Tails. If you want to birdwatch, do not go here. It is loud, lots of people, and not much variety. I would recommend going to the Sepulveda Basin Preserve instead. This place is a waste of time, gas, and energy. Plus there is always traffic and hard to...

Very nice hike with many different paths which tbh I saw a lot of ppl confused which way to go because it’s not really marked very well so fyi. Some paths go to the Hollywood sign, another to the Observatory and then a few other trails mixed in. The views are very nice, it was rather hazy the day we went so LA skyline was barely visible but with all the pollution I feel like it’s always hazy over LA. The path does get pretty narrow at parts and the incline and elevation are very real…my calves were absolutely killing me the next morning and I’m an active guy so be prepared! They have parking lots and free street parking, there were tons of ppl there for the Griffith Observatory, which they have shuttles that run from the lots, but even with that we found a spot without to...