About The Location

Franklin Canyon Park is a public park located near Benedict Canyon at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. The park comprises 605 acres (2.45 km2), and is located at the purported geographical center of the city of Los Angeles.[1] The park features a 3-acre (12,000 m2) lake, a duck pond and over five miles (8 km) of hiking trails. Franklin Canyon is also the name of the canyon and surrounding neighborhood. The lake and pond are visited by birds in the Pacific Flyway.

The park was used for the hitchhiking scene in It Happened One Night, and the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show. The lake was also frequently seen in the Nickelodeon show Salute Your Shorts. The park traces its beginnings to 1914 when William Mulholland and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power built a reservoir in upper Franklin Canyon. The canyon was used by the family of oil baron Edward L. Doheny as a summer retreat. The 1930s began the frequent use of the canyon for filming. Claudette Colbert’s famous hitchhiking scene from It Happened One Night was filmed in 1935. Today about 25 films are shot here annually. During the 1970s the canyon was spared from development through the efforts of conservationist Sooky Goldman and Congressman Howard Berman, which resulted in the creation of the park.

The Franklin Canyon neighborhood lies south of Mulholland Drive and extends south almost to the city limits of Beverly Hills. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Logistics

Address: 2600 Franklin Canyon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Booking

For film and/or photo permits, please contact the L.A. Park Film Office.

L.A. PARK OFFICE ADDRESS:
4730 Crystal Springs Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90027
PHONE:
(323) 644-6220
FAX:
(213) 847-6056