The Greek Theatre Is Dark Until May. Here's What Los Feliz Does With Its Side of Griffith Park Until Then.

The Greek Theatre's events page has a long gap. It lists nothing for November, December or the whole of January. The next show is Lola Young on Tuesday, May 4, 2027, followed by Damien Rice on May 25. For about six months, the amphitheater at the top of North Vermont Avenue will have no concerts.

A city rule makes that gap useful. On its Griffith Park trip-planning page, the Department of Recreation and Parks says that "if there is no show at The Greek Theatre you may park for free in that parking lot and ride the DASH Observatory up the hill for .50." With no shows on the calendar, that rule covers the whole season. The Greek's lot works as a free trailhead lot, a park-and-ride for the Observatory, and the meeting point for the park's guided evening walks.

A free lot below a paid one

The lot matters because of the one above it. The roads around Griffith Observatory are paid parking, and the city enforces it every day of the year, from noon to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. The same page says fees go up during peak season and holidays, and that the money goes back into the park for maintenance, shuttles and security.

Up top you pay holiday rates to park. Below, at the Greek, parking is free on dark days, and LADOT's DASH Observatory/Los Feliz shuttle charges 50 cents cash or 35 cents with a TAP card. The shuttle runs every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., every 15 to 20 minutes, and the last bus leaves the Observatory at 10 p.m. It also runs on Mondays, when the Observatory building is closed.

The route also serves people who start from home. Its stops are the Sunset/Vermont Metro station, Los Feliz Village, the Greek Theatre, the Mt. Hollywood trailhead and the Observatory's front lawn. If you live near Vermont, you can catch it in the Village. That stop is close to the new "Greetings From Los Feliz" mural near Franklin and Vermont, which the Los Feliz Improvement Association sponsored this summer and which shows the Observatory and the Shakespeare Bridge among other neighborhood landmarks.

Cyclists face one more rule. East Observatory Road is one-way downhill for bikes, so riders have to climb West Observatory Road, and the Observatory warns that roads may close when traffic backs up. On a busy holiday weekend, the shuttle from the Greek is often the most reliable way up.

The season's calendar starts at Lot F/G

The Observatory's guided winter events show how central the Greek lot is. Its Sunset Walk & Talk hikes meet at Greek Theatre Parking Lot F/G, 2700 N. Vermont Ave. They're led by Senior Urban Ecologist Brian Rawles, Junior Urban Ecologist Ryan Kinzel and Observatory staff. The route climbs the Boy Scout Trail to the Berlin Forest, then comes back to the Greek on East Observatory Road. It covers 2.25 miles and 375 feet of climbing in about two and a half hours, with stops to talk about the park's history and whatever is visible in the evening sky. Parking for the hike is first come, first served, and the hike asks for an RSVP through the LA Parks Foundation.

On Saturday you can do two things in one trip. The November walk is Saturday, November 14, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The Observatory's free monthly public star party is the same day and runs until 9:45 p.m. After the hike ends at the Greek, it's one DASH ride up the hill to the telescopes.

Here are the dates through the end of the year, all starting from the Los Feliz side of the park:

1. Saturday, November 14, 3:30 to 6 p.m.: Sunset Walk & Talk from Greek Lot F/G.
2. Saturday, November 14, 2 to 9:45 p.m.: public star party at the Observatory, free.
3. Saturday, December 19, 2 to 9:45 p.m.: the last public star party of 2026, also free.
4. Sunday, December 20: a Friends of Griffith Park hike honoring P-22, the mountain lion who lived in the park and died on December 17, 2022.
5. Monday, December 21, 3:30 to 6 p.m.: the December Sunset Walk & Talk, again from Lot F/G. The Observatory is closed on Mondays, but the shuttle still runs.

The December walk is the year's only Sunset Walk & Talk on a Monday. The building above is closed that day, so the hike and the trail are the evening's main event.

Holiday hours on the hill, and at the other end of the park

The Observatory keeps its usual hours through most of the holidays: noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends, and closed Mondays. It closes completely on Thanksgiving, November 26, and on Christmas Day. On December 24 and December 31 it's open only from noon to 5 p.m.

L.A. Zoo Lights is the park's other big winter event, at the far end on Zoo Drive. It runs November 20 through January 10, 6 to 10 p.m., with free parking. The 2026 displays follow a theme of plants, pollinators, marine creatures and Ice Age giants. The zoo says most visits take 60 to 90 minutes. Tickets are sold for a set date and time. Adults pay $29 to $35, children pay $19 to $25, and children under two get in free. The artificial ice rink needs its own ticket.

Closed days and special nights through the holidays:

Zoo Lights also closes January 4 through 7. The zoo is marking its 60th anniversary on Thanksgiving weekend with a $19.66 commemorative admission price, offered only November 27 through 29.

The next plan for the park also turns on parking

The free Greek lot shows how much parking shapes the park. A city plan now underway shows it too. In October, the Department of Recreation and Parks presented three draft alternatives for the South Griffith Park Master Plan at Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive. Each one lists a parking count:

• Strengthen adds underground parking, a destination playground and a new multi-generational recreation center west of Riverside Drive, with 470 parking spaces.
• Reconnect proposes a land bridge over the I-5, a better river crossing and a soccer field built over underground parking, also with 470 spaces. It would require rerouting a 60-inch storm main.
• Transform would cap the I-5 to add recreation space and river connections, including tennis, pickleball and two intermediate soccer fields, plus a 53,000-square-foot recreation center and 450 spaces.

The city's South Griffith Park project page says Community Survey #2 is open now. Under its tentative schedule, the master plan will be drafted in early 2027, environmental review under CEQA will run through 2027 and 2028, and the plan is due for adoption in spring 2028. That's two more winters before anything is adopted. Until the Greek's first show on May 4, the closest free parking to the trails from Los Feliz is the Greek's lot.

Mark Mintz has lived in Beachwood Canyon for years, at the other end of the same hills, and the team at Mark Mintz Real Estate Group pays close attention to how Griffith Park's seasons shape the streets around it, from show nights at the Greek to the quiet months between. If you own a home near the park and want to know what that location is worth right now, ask us: What's My Home Worth?