Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot (on Location)


The photos below were sent to me by Steve Bernardo of Tampa, Florida, who took a vacation to L.A. recently and used the Seeing-Stars website to track down some of our popular film locations around town.

One of the many locations he visited were the Bronson Caves in the Griffith Park area. And he was good enough to send us these photos to help other visitors find the caves for themselves. (The photos show Steve and his bride Monica hiking from Canyon Drive to the caves.)

The Bronson caves are man-made, and were probably created back around 1900, when the area was a rock quarry. (Some say the caves themselves were created especially for the 1922 version of "Robin Hood" with Douglas Fairbanks.)  But whatever their origin, they have since been used in countless movies and TV series. They were seen as the 'Bat Cave' in the classic "Batman" TV series, as well as in "Bonanza," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Fantasy Island," "Little House on the Prairie," "The Lone Ranger," "Gunsmoke" and the "Wild Wild West". Plus feature films such as 2002's "The Scorpion King," "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," "Lost Horizon" and the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

( Don't confuse the Bronson Caves with the Griffith Park tunnel on Vermont Ave, near the Observatory, which was seen in "The O.C.", "Roger Rabbit" & "Back to the Future".

And for those who may be wondering, no, the Bronson Caves are not the tunnel you see in the TV series "Stargate". That tunnel is the entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force base, and is located in Colorado Springs, CO. )

  From Hollywood Boulevard, turn north up either Canyon Drive or Bronson Avenue (which merges with Canyon Drive later). Take Canyon Drive up north, through the gates into Griffith Park, to where the road seems to end, then park and prepare for a short hike.

Here is a map link to the approximate location of the parking lot on Canyon Drive.

Click here to see a hand-drawn map of the trail to the caves.

The map and Steve's photos below should make it easy for you to find your way to the right path...

1.

"The trail to the caves begins at the very end of Canyon drive. The park is in a residential area.
The park runs back and has a few parking lots. Park your car in the last parking area on your
right hand side - it's a large gravel lot. (That parking lot is behind us in this photo.) In the right hand
side of the photo above, you can see the trail (the high bank red curb) seen closer in the photo below.

2.

"My pictures show the driveway leading to the trail. Take the one to the right when you leave
the gravel parking lot. There are several trails around, so it's easy to hike up the wrong one."

3.

"In the photo above, you can see the same red banked curb behind her. We had just started the trail.

Once on the correct trail, the only directions you need are "Do not hike more than 1/4 mile.
When trail forks, go left. Bat Cave will be seen within 10 feet of fork or so."

4.

"It is a beautiful area. Very isolated."

5.

"The side you enter the cave on is the Bat Cave side."

6.

"The cave is only about 50 feet long. More like a small tunnel actually.

As you walk through the cave it splits into 3 exit caves on the back side,
two big exits and one small exit. You can see straight through the cave."

7.

"There is a canyon-like area behind the cave. Here is where some of the
'Star Trek' films were shot, including 'Undiscovered Country'."

8.

"Once there I turned around and lo and behold, an unbelievable view of the HOLLYWOOD sign.
You have to go all the way through and out the cave to see it though.
Really nice. The pics don't do it justice... The sign looks much bigger."


(* Remember that the caves are located in an isolated section
of Griffith Park, so exercise reasonable caution.)


In 2013, Ron B. sent me this photo of the view of the Hollywood Sign
as seen from the Bronson Caves (click on the photo for a larger version):


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