Fern Dell / Griffith Observatory Trail

The Fern Dell/ Griffith Observatory Trail is a 4 mile loop trail including the West Trail and the Berlin Forest. The modest elevation gain just before you get to the observatory is the only thing putting the difficulty level at 5/10. Views from Griffith Observatory are decent on a clear day.

The Parking – Fern Dell Drive is a classic entrance to Griffith Park near Western Avenue off of Los Feliz Blvd. There are 100 spots all along Fern Dell Drive. On weekends, it’s just not enough. Worst case scenario, keep driving to the lot at the top to the left.

The Best Thing – The actual “Dell” along the creek at the beginning/end of the trail. Little bridges, tunnels, and sitting areas. I’ve only been during the day. I’m sure at night it’s filled with only assailants or victims.

The Route – Start running up the path on the right side of the road. Don’t worry, we will catch “The Dell” on the way back. The path is crowded with people and benches and rock walls and alternate routes so do what you want just keep moving uphill along the road. After the large playground area the “path” turns into a legitimate trail. There is a loop to the right that starts at a seasonal pond so do that for an extra ¼ mile of distance.

After the pond loop continue uphill and there will be another trail that peels off to the right but that peters out so skip it and continue forward. The next intersection has an access trail coming in from the parking lot to the left. Skip that and turn right, up towards the observatory on the West Trail. This gets steep and before it crosses the main observatory road, it has a groovy little lookout to the right. Hit that. Look around. Now back to the road.

The West Trail crosses the observatory road AKA Wester Canyon Road. This is the beginning of full Griffith Park Observatory tourist traffic. Survive the road crossing and the trail continues up until you arrive at the opportunity to turn right again. That trail will take you to the tiny Berlin Forest which is above Griffith Observatory. Run through the woods, through the parking lot and towards the left side of the observatory. There is a dirt trail there so take it.

Now you are headed downhill. Quickly you will arrive at an overlook with a trail that heads down to the left (Boy Scout Trail). Don’t take that, take the trail to your right and you will be heading towards Fern Dell. You will arrive at another ‘T’ intersection and the right turn (West) is slightly longer than the left turn (East) but they both reconnect just above the playground.

Back at the playground let’s find the Dell and head back to the car. There’s no clear cut way to guide you from here just look for tunnels and a creek (or in the fall, what used to be a creek) and railings. They don’t want people in the creek so the walls and railing along the water help distinguish the Dell trail from other paths that crisscross the area. The Dell ends with a prominent archway and you are dumped back onto Fern Dell Drive and hopefully your car. 4 miles. Boom.