Cahuenga Peak () is the 12th-highest named peak in the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

and is located just west of the

Hollywood Sign The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Originally the Hollywoodland Sign, it is situated on Mount Lee, in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Spelli ...

. It provides a spectacular 360-degree panorama of the Los Angeles Basin and the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

for those hikers willing to climb the roadless peak.

History

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...

acquired the peak and surrounding acreage in the 1940s with plans to build a house for his love interest, actress

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

. Rogers broke up their engagement, so the area was left undeveloped. In 2002, a group of Chicago-area investors named Fox River Financial Resources purchased the parcel along the ridge including Cahuenga Peak from the Hughes Estate for $1,675,000 according to Los Angeles County property records. The investors considered constructing five luxury estates on the property.

Conservation

View of peaks and Hollywood Sign from Hollywood Reservoir

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

city officials said City Hall had received hundreds of letters pleading for the peak's protection, which prompted a campaign by city leaders and conservationists to raise $6,000,000 which they thought would be sufficient to buy Cahuenga Peak and turn it into an extension of nearby

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the ...

. On February 13, 2008, Fox River Financial Resources released plans to sell the property for $22 million. Cahuenga Peak Dedication Monument

That same month,

The Trust for Public Land The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...

launched the "Save Cahuenga Peak" campaign to purchase the land from the investment firm for $12.5 million. As part of the campaign they draped the

so that it read "SAVE THE PEAK". On April 26 it was announced that the campaign was successful. Though funds came from many sources, including $1.7 million in public money, it was the final-hour donations of $500,000 from

The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople. In 1946 the estate c ...

and Aileen Getty and $900,000 from

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

that enabled the purchase. In July 2010, more than around Cahuenga Peak was officially added to Griffith Park. The peak is home to the rare Plummer's mariposa lily, a population of

coast horned lizard The coast horned lizard (''Phrynosoma coronatum'') is a species of phrynosomatid lizard endemic to Baja California Sur in Mexico. As a defense the lizard can shoot high pressure streams of blood out of its eyes if threatened. Taxonomy It was ...

s, and the echo blue butterfly.

Hiking

The Aileen Getty Ridge Trail allows hikers to ascend Cahuenga Peak from the east or west approaches. From the west, the trail approaches from Burbank Peak, from the east Mount Lee. Aileen Getty Ridge Trail Sign

References

External links

* * * * {{cite news , title= Hiding a Hollywood Symbol, to Make It More Visible , first= Jennifer , last= Steinhauer , newspaper= The New York Times , date= 2010-02-11 , url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/us/12sign.html?pagewanted=all , accessdate=2010-08-16 Santa Monica Mountains Protected areas of Los Angeles County, California Mountain ranges of Southern California

History

Conservation

Hiking

See also

References

External links