Hiking the hills is definitely one of our favorite things to do here in LA. Luckily, there seems to be an endless amount of hiking trails around here. Which is awesome. This time we decided to try a new one that we hadn’t been on before called the “Tree of Life” or “Wisdom Tree” hike in Burbank.
If you want to go on this hike all you have to do is look up “Wonder View Trail Head” on your GPS. The hike itself is off of Wonder View Drive, but we parked on Lake Hollywood Drive and just walked up to Wonder View Drive. There’s free street parking all along Lake Hollywood Drive so I’d definitely suggest parking there.
It only takes a minute to get to Wonder View Drive and as you can see, it’s gorgeous. Also, I have no idea what these purple trees are called, but I love them.
There’s even a little stop on the way up that has doggy bowls that you can fill up with water for your dog. And a book of notes about snakes on the trail. And even the nearest anti-venom place in case of an emergency. I thought this was super cute and thoughtful of whoever lives there.
At the end of the street it turns into Wonder View Trail Head. which is where your hike really begins. There’s even a sign at the base of the mountain that says how far it is to the top. I thought that was pretty cool too.
It may look like nothin’ but the hike up was surprisingly steep and rocky on the way up. It’s a short hike though, even if you take a few breaks to catch your breath like I did. It still only takes about 20-30 mins to reach the top.
When we reached the top I noticed a bunch of stacked rocks in the center. Some had little papers under them. I guess writing something and leaving a note or a message is a thing on this hike? I haven’t seen anything like that on the other hikes we’ve been on so that was an interesting thing to see. TBH I wanted to read some of the notes out of curiosity but I didn’t know if that was offensive or disrespectful or something so I let them be. It’s still kind of driving me nuts not knowing whats on them.
After we got to the top and looked around we realized we could see the Hollywood Sign, and that we could reach it if we continued on the trail.
See the tall structure on top of the mountain to the left? And those little white blobs at the bottom of it? That’s the Hollywood Sign! Since the hike up to the Wisdom Tree was so short we figured, f- it. We’re already up here. Let’s head over there! See what happens.
See that tiny tree on the peak at the right? That’s the Wisdom Tree. Pretty far, huh?! The hike over to the Hollywood Sign seems way longer and more treacherous than the hike up to the Wisdom Tree. Though it probably only took about 30 minutes to get there. It’s intense! I’m also extremely out of shape though and get winded easily. I blame my asthma. But also, my laziness. It’s not just that though, the trail can be super tiny. Take a wrong step and you’ll be falling off the mountain like Humpty Dumpty. So be careful.
See how teeny tiny the trail can be? With deep slopes on the side? Taking it slow is key.
Finally we reached the top of the Hollywood Sign! It was fun making it back up to the Hollywood Sign. We hadn’t been here in awhile because the last time we tried to hike it from our usual spot, the gate was closed. So it’s pretty cool we figured out another way to get up there. But I think we really have to figure out an easier way to get to the Hollywood Sign since I’m not sure I’d want to hike to it from the Wisdom Tree every time we want to get up there. Sometimes I just want a more relaxed hike. It seemed like people were coming from the same spot we used to hike from to get up to the Hollywood Sign, which was weird because I thought you couldn’t go that way anymore. I guess we’ll just have to check it again and figure out what’s going on over there.
I’d definitely hike this hike again if I wanted something more challenging but short. Until next time!
