Los Angeles's 4,310-acre municipal park, site of the 19th-century Feliz family curse and a long catalog of paranormal accounts on its trails
4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free entry to the park; some attractions (Observatory, Greek Theatre, train rides) ticketed separately
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved roads and accessible facilities at major sites; hiking trails range from easy to strenuous with elevation gain.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1896 · One of North America's largest municipal parks · Rancho Los Feliz Spanish land grant · Griffith Observatory and Greek Theatre · Hollywood Sign
The land that became Griffith Park has been continuously occupied for at least eight thousand years and was part of the Spanish land grant Rancho Los Feliz, awarded to Jose Vicente Feliz in 1795. In 1863, the rancho passed through a contested estate to Antonio Feliz's brother-in-law and lawyer rather than to his niece Petronilla, a transfer that the Feliz family long disputed.
Ownership passed through several hands, including 'Lucky' Baldwin, before Welsh-born industrialist Griffith J. Griffith purchased a large portion. On December 16, 1896, Griffith donated 3,015 acres of the property to the City of Los Angeles for use as a public park. In 1903, Griffith shot and wounded his wife at the Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica; he was convicted and served two years at San Quentin. Griffith later funded the construction of the Griffith Observatory (opened 1935) and the Greek Theatre (opened 1929).
The park includes the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Travel Town Museum, the Bronson Caves film-location site, and the abandoned Old Zoo, which closed in 1966 when the current zoo opened. The Hollywood Sign, originally a real-estate advertisement erected in 1923 as 'Hollywoodland,' sits on the park's western flank.
Sources
The Feliz curse, as told in Mike Davis's 'City of Quartz' and earlier in Los Angeles folklore writing of the 1920s and 30s, originates with Dona Petronilla, the teenage niece of Don Antonio Feliz. After Feliz died in 1863 of smallpox, his estate passed to his lawyer Antonio Coronel rather than to Petronilla. Local tradition holds that Petronilla cursed Coronel, the judge, and the land itself, vowing that the rancho would never bring its owners prosperity. The subsequent string of misfortune — Coronel's lawyer Innocante shot and killed, Lucky Baldwin's cattle losses, Griffith's 1903 shooting of his wife — was attributed to the curse in popular accounts.
A figure described as a woman in a white nineteenth-century dress has been reported by hikers on park trails since the early twentieth century and is most commonly identified in folklore as Petronilla. Separately, the actress Peg Entwistle leapt from the letter H of the Hollywood Sign on September 16, 1932; hikers on the Bronson Canyon and Mount Lee trails have for decades reported the figure of a young woman in 1930s clothing, often accompanied by the scent of gardenia.
The Old Zoo area, with its empty 1912-era stone enclosures, is a separate site of frequent paranormal accounts including disembodied animal sounds and shadow figures moving between the cages. Several Los Angeles ghost-tour operators run regular walking tours of the area.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided hiking on Griffith Park's trail network, which includes the abandoned Old Zoo enclosures (free public picnic area), the Hollywood Sign approach, Bronson Caves, and Mount Hollywood. The Old Zoo and the Bronson Canyon area are the locations most often associated with the park's haunted reports.
Several commercial walking tours cover the Feliz family curse, Peg Entwistle's 1932 death at the Hollywood Sign, and the Old Zoo legends. Check tour operators for current schedules.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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