Ranked List
Hidden Gems in Los Angeles: 10 places worth the detour
The best hidden gems in Los Angeles are not on Hollywood Boulevard. Start with the Velaslavasay Panorama, a 360-degree painted landscape in a West Adams theater that almost nobody outside the neighborhood has heard of. Then the ruins of a Nazi compound in a canyon above Sunset, and an occult library in Los Feliz that Elvis used to visit. Ten places, ranked, all inside the city.
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A 360-degree painted panorama in a vintage West Adams theater, an art form that had all but died out. Find the dark hallway off the main hall and take the stairs. There is a secret garden out back.
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A survivalist compound built for Nazi sympathizers and raided by federal agents in 1941, now ruins in a canyon above Sunset. Park in the neighborhood off Casale Road and walk in on the Sullivan Fire Road.
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An occult library founded in 1934 that Elvis used to visit. Nothing circulates, so you read it there, which is the point. Check the calendar because the lectures are the easiest way in.
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Starfleet Academy in the Star Trek universe, and in reality a Japanese garden kept alive by a wastewater plant next door. Closed Saturdays, which catches people out. Call ahead, it shuts for weather and capacity.
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A mosaic Yellow Brick Road on a Hollywood Hills sidewalk, thrones and all. It is a private garden on a residential street, so look from the pavement and keep your voice down.
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A Venice house where an artist couple tiled every surface over decades until it reads like a coral reef made of smashed ceramics. Saturdays 1 to 4 p.m. Email ahead, do not just turn up.
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A 1950s film-set version of a European square, hidden in a delivery lane off 7th Street. Thousands of people walk past the breezeway entrance between Broadway and Hill without ever looking in.
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The old zoo cages are still standing in Griffith Park and you can eat lunch inside them. There are working picnic benches and grills in the bear grottos. Park near Crystal Springs and Griffith Park Drive.
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A 22-foot fiberglass man-chicken on a Figueroa rooftop, rescued from mid-century roadside America and now the closest thing Los Angeles has to a Statue of Liberty. Visible from the sidewalk at any hour.
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Over 500 sodas in glass bottles in a Highland Park storefront, stocked by an owner who took a position against the big brands and never moved off it. Ask John Nese for a recommendation and mean it.
Know before you go
Half of these have narrow windows, so check before you drive. The Velaslavasay Panorama opens Friday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Mosaic Tile House is Saturdays only, 1 to 4 p.m., and you should email mosaictilehouse@mac.com for a reservation first. The Japanese Garden at the Tillman plant is closed on Saturdays, charges a small admission at the gift shop, and closes for bad weather or capacity, so call 818-756-8166 before setting off. Murphy Ranch is a walk in on the Sullivan Fire Road from Casale Road, so park in the neighborhood and wear real shoes. The Garden of Oz is a private garden on a residential street and the view is from the sidewalk, so treat it as somebody’s home, because it is. Chicken Boy and St. Vincent Court need no planning at all.
Common questions
What are the best hidden gems in Los Angeles?
Our top three are the Velaslavasay Panorama in West Adams, the ruined Murphy Ranch compound in Rustic Canyon, and the Philosophical Research Society library in Los Feliz. None of them are on a tour bus route, and all three sit inside neighborhoods people already drive through.
Where can you see abandoned places in Los Angeles?
Murphy Ranch is the big one, a raided 1941 compound in Rustic Canyon you reach on foot from the Sullivan Fire Road. The Old Zoo in Griffith Park is the easy one, where the bear grottos and lion dens are still standing and there are picnic tables inside the cages. Sunken City in San Pedro is the one to skip. It is off-limits, the ground is unstable, and fines start at $450.
Which of these can you just turn up to?
Chicken Boy is on a Figueroa rooftop and visible from the sidewalk at any hour. St. Vincent Court, the Old Zoo picnic area, the Garden of Oz from the pavement, and Galco’s during shop hours all take no planning. Everything else has hours, a reservation, or a phone call attached.
Is the Hollywood Sign a hidden gem?
No, and that is why it is not on this list. It is the most photographed thing in the city. We have a guide to it, but if you want somewhere quiet on a Saturday, start at the top of this list instead.