Bronson Caves
Bronson Caves
4.5
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Bronson Caves and nearby attractions
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Hollywood Studio District
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
1,232 within 5 kms
Attractions
612 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
77 reviews
Excellent
39
Very good
21
Average
16
Poor
1
Terrible
0
HypnoWarrior
Porirua, New Zealand1,118 contributions
Dec 2019
The thought of visiting the location where the bat cave was more impressive than the cave itself. It was quite a let down when we got there, but on the upside we watched another movie (or episode) of something being filmed nearby. Unless you have time I'd give this a skip to be honest.
Written 4 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
4amazingadventures
California20 contributions
Oct 2010
I’ve visited Bronson Caves (AKA: the Batcave) many times. They are located a short walk/hike away from the parking lot at the north end of Canyon Drive and are a popular filming location. Bronson Caves are not actually caves, but short, man-made tunnels. Exploring the tunnels doesn’t take very long, so I usually combine a visit to the Caves with a long, moderately strenuous hike to the Hollywood Sign or a visit to other attractions in Hollywood. There are photos and a map of the walk/hike to Bronson Caves at mydreamcametrue.com/cave
Written 30 March 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Manatee27
New Mexico, United States104 contributions
Apr 2013 • Friends
This is a nice, short hike up to the little caves that have been used as film locations for many movies and television shows, besides its claim to fame as the Bat Cave from the Batman movies and series. It was a warm day and the caves were delightfully cool. An added feature is out the far side of the caves is an excellent view of the Hollywood sign. The area is quiet for being in the midst of the Los Angeles area. This is not a well advertised location which makes for a nice peaceful hike and visit.
Written 29 December 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
musclegirl68
Bristol, PA1,078 contributions
Aug 2013 • Couples
If you are in Hollywood this is worth checking out. Not only will you see some movie history but you'll get a nice hike out of it. From Franklin Ave go up Bronson (Gelson's market on corner). Bronson Ave leads to a park. Park in the first lot and take the trail to your right (hard right). If you miss the trail and continue to hike up the road you will be on a much longer trail that leads to the Hollywood sign.
Bronson Caves used to be a quarry that was abandoned in the 1920's. There is a huge list of westerns and sci-fi movies & TV shows filmed here and it was most famously the Bat Cave in the 1960's Batman show with Adam West. Many other TV shows used Bronson Caves for location shoots such as Little House on the Prairie, Dukes of Hazzard and Star Trek Next Generation.
You can hike around and walk through the caves (not really caves as they have pass-throughs) and get a great view of the Hollywood sign. You'l also get a fair bit of exercise. Bring bottled water.
Bronson Caves used to be a quarry that was abandoned in the 1920's. There is a huge list of westerns and sci-fi movies & TV shows filmed here and it was most famously the Bat Cave in the 1960's Batman show with Adam West. Many other TV shows used Bronson Caves for location shoots such as Little House on the Prairie, Dukes of Hazzard and Star Trek Next Generation.
You can hike around and walk through the caves (not really caves as they have pass-throughs) and get a great view of the Hollywood sign. You'l also get a fair bit of exercise. Bring bottled water.
Written 17 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ticket To Ride - Travel Services
Cumming, GA82 contributions
July 2011
Short, easy walk to the tunnels. Definitely plan other activities with this trip. It took us only about 20 min. to walk and explore. I was a bit timid about going after reading the review from 2006 - but rest assured - it was clean, no graffitti, no litter, no homeless taking naps and no foul odors. Great little jaunt if you can share the history with your kids. The website: www.mydreamcametrue.com/cave was very helpful in finding it.
Written 28 July 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
diane q
Dana Point, CA529 contributions
Sept 2018 • Couples
Short hike off of Canyon Drive. This is the location where the Batcave was set in the old tv show. It’s actually a tunnel and not a cave. On the other side is a beautiful view of the Hollywood sign. There are two parking lots nearby. Something fun and free.
Written 14 September 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dave C
Summerville, South Carolina, United States965 contributions
July 2016
YES! My bucket list is complete! One of my all-time desires was to personally visit the Bronson Caves. Seen in many popular TV shows and movies, the caves have always intrigued me. It was the bat cave entrance in the 1966-68 Batman TV show. It has also been seen in lots of 1950s Sci-Fi and horror movies. In fact, about 180 movies and TV shows have filmed in and around the caves. The trek to the cave is short and quite nice. The trail is wide and peaceful. As you come around the last bend in the trail you see the entrance to the cave. You can also see the entire canyon area. Quite beautiful. The cave has one opening in the front and three openings in the back. It is not very deep, but it is a really cool place to visit, especially if you are a fan of B-movies, westerns, and sci-fi TV and films. Less than a quarter mile walk from the last parking lot on Canyon Drive in Griffith Park. If you go, remember, Ro-Man from Robot Monster called this place home!
Written 6 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kelly "Tam" Le
Los Angeles, CA1,092 contributions
It is a fun way to get in shape and have a great view of the city. If you are visiting LA, this is a must go... you will get plenty of scenic pictures to show to friends and family.
-bring a lot of water since there are not much shade on this hike.
- when you arrive at Canyon drive (on your gps), you can park outside of the gate or inside. All parkings are free.
- the first parking is on your right hand side.
- keep walking... before go pass the second parking on left hand side, you will see a road on right hand side with a bear guy sign. Take that road. Go up for about 20 yards to the white gate that blocks car passing only.
-go around the white gate up the road to 10 minutes... you will see the bat caves.
- when you go to the other side of the bat caves, you will see the iconic Hollywood sign.
-You can go back or follow the pave road to hike to the sign. There is no short cut to the sign. This road is the same road as if you go pass the second parking at the entrance.
- if you want to skip the bat caves, then go pass the second parking on the left, pass the gate and the skate park. Then continue hiking up.
- it is plenty of photo op when you get to the top. Round trip is about 6 miles.
- take ibuprofen before hiking because your knees and legs will start barking after a mile up hill!
-bring a lot of water since there are not much shade on this hike.
- when you arrive at Canyon drive (on your gps), you can park outside of the gate or inside. All parkings are free.
- the first parking is on your right hand side.
- keep walking... before go pass the second parking on left hand side, you will see a road on right hand side with a bear guy sign. Take that road. Go up for about 20 yards to the white gate that blocks car passing only.
-go around the white gate up the road to 10 minutes... you will see the bat caves.
- when you go to the other side of the bat caves, you will see the iconic Hollywood sign.
-You can go back or follow the pave road to hike to the sign. There is no short cut to the sign. This road is the same road as if you go pass the second parking at the entrance.
- if you want to skip the bat caves, then go pass the second parking on the left, pass the gate and the skate park. Then continue hiking up.
- it is plenty of photo op when you get to the top. Round trip is about 6 miles.
- take ibuprofen before hiking because your knees and legs will start barking after a mile up hill!
Written 1 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heybets30
Palatine, IL117 contributions
Feb 2015 • Family
First, not many people hiking up in that area even know what the Bronson caves are. We stopped and asked about 8 people after parking where to go - no one knew. We finally found a couple who directed us in the right direction.
Easy 10 minute walk up a gradual hill to the caves. Some of the directions on the web "at the fork in the road, go left". Seriously, there's a fork in the road, you look left, there are the caves. My husband - a HUGE Batman fan - thought it was awesome. The day was perfect, kids had a blast running around & inside and outside the caves. Through the cave is a perfect view of the Hollywood sign. A man was inside the caves playing acoustic guitar, so we had mood music too.
If you want something off the beaten path, this was definitely a delight and for us native Chicagoans, a 10-minute hike is about all we're used to doing ;-)
Tips for parents - LEAVE THE STROLLER in the car unless you have a heavy-duty all terrain stroller. The road was pretty rocky/uneven. Sunscreen the kids too - full sun, no protection while walking.
Easy 10 minute walk up a gradual hill to the caves. Some of the directions on the web "at the fork in the road, go left". Seriously, there's a fork in the road, you look left, there are the caves. My husband - a HUGE Batman fan - thought it was awesome. The day was perfect, kids had a blast running around & inside and outside the caves. Through the cave is a perfect view of the Hollywood sign. A man was inside the caves playing acoustic guitar, so we had mood music too.
If you want something off the beaten path, this was definitely a delight and for us native Chicagoans, a 10-minute hike is about all we're used to doing ;-)
Tips for parents - LEAVE THE STROLLER in the car unless you have a heavy-duty all terrain stroller. The road was pretty rocky/uneven. Sunscreen the kids too - full sun, no protection while walking.
Written 25 February 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CharleySays
Atascadero, CA2,447 contributions
Jan 2015 • Solo
Bronson Caves is really easy to find. Especially if you don't use Google Maps. Just go up the Canyon Drive all the way to the end you'll see you small parking lot on the left that serves about 15 cars. It also says Hollywoodland Park. As you come up Canyon Drive the signs say Park Road Closed Ahead, pay no attention, to these unless it is the middle of the night. If you come early and get a spot there then you walk back down Canyon Dr about 50 feet and you will set on the left (west) a dirt road that leads up the hill. Typically that gate is shut to stop cars. You can walk around the gate easily. On this day the gate was open. I thought how odd but I parked and walked up the dirt road anyway. As I continued up the road I noticed that there were so many fresh tire tracks. It was as if it was a heavily used dirt road. Then there were all these power cables laying on the ground, thick power cables. And a lot of them. I did not know what this meant . I walked on up the hill not very far, less than a quarter of a mile and around the corner there were lots of trucks. There were lots of things that looked like palm trees on the ground. There was stuff scattered everywhere. I had found the cave but what were all these people doing here? Well I asked somebody and a very friendly man named Ace told me that they had been shooting a movie here and they were just cleaning up all the stuff and closing down the set. It was a George Clooney movie Hail Caesar that had just been shooting some scenes here. So I took some pictures of them of the the set or what was left of it. Anyway I walked through the cave and found that from the back of the cave where it comes out there is a beautiful view of the Hollywood sign and the radio tower. The Hollywood sign is not visible from the front of the cave nor on the walkway up Canyon Dr. But, if you walk out the back of the cave you will find a beautiful view. How interesting the cave is not very long maybe a hundred to a hundred fifty feet, none the less and it is the famous Batcave. That was my original motivation. To walk up there to say yes I had been to the Batcave. Well I have now completed that mission and one of the beautiful things about exploring new places is you have to go there. You have to be at the location where it happened. You have to show up. And you never know who or what you're going to run into. What a lovely experience it was for me today. Hope you're so lucky when you go to the Bronson Caves. Check out the filmography on Wikipedia and you will find a very long list of shows and movies shot at this location, called arguably one of the most use movies sets in Los Angeles.
Written 2 February 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Route97
New Westminster, Canada
What’s the best time of day to go to insure the “batcave” opening is in sunlight?
Written 11 March 2018
I went at around 4pm in April and it was in good sunlight. The only issue you might have is students from nearby schools use it for projects so you may not get the photos you want. Each of the two different times I visited, there were people filming. Once it was a movie for a film class and the other it was photos for a photography class.
Written 12 March 2018
It's been about a year since I've been there so I'm not totally clear on the details of the hike. I'm also not sure exactly what wheelchair accessible is. From a legal requirements I don't think so. However, the cave is accessible by a fire road which is not paved but was solid enough that I think a wheel chair might make it. The problem is getting to the fire road from the parking lot I believe you have to scamper up a little hill. The fire road does continue down to the main road but I believe there is a gate that might be hard to pass in a wheel chair. My guess is that if we are talking about a motorized wheel chair probably not but if a person is pushing and can maneuver a little and maybe having another person to help it might be possible. If you are in the area my suggestion would be to have someone drive up and scope it out a little.
If you look on google maps in satellite 3D mode you can see the issues.
Written 31 May 2016
Showing results 1-2 of 2
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing