Bronson Cave

As you enter the mouth of the cavern and feel the air chill, you wonder whether the movie stars who filmed within this tunnel touched the same smooth rock you're walking past.

Okay, so the magic of Hollywood made it seem a little darker, and a little deeper, but you can’t deny the small thrill of standing in the bat cave (look for it in the 1960s Batman series). Once you’ve seen it in person, you’ll be able to spot it on film forever. 

The Bronson Cave is located in Griffith Park, the large, rugged wilderness that sits right within Los Angeles city limits. The park is a very popular film location due to its versatility as a scenic spot with countless opportunities to portray an array of climates and landscapes. The cave became a go-to sci-fi and western location very early on in Hollywood history because of its easy accessibility and remote appearance.

The cave that has played home to the caped crusader, a hideout for countless heists, and the sexy scene for soft core sci-fi erotic films such as Flesh Gordon isn't truly a cave. The often-filmed cave is actually an extremely short tunnel that is frequently filmed at an angle to hide the fact that its impressive mouth doesn't actually lead to a dark, hidden cavern, but a brief "tunnel" through a hill. 

Bronson Cave still enjoys popularity as a location for a steady stream of production crews (especially low budget) looking for a cheap, easy-to-reach location to create the magic of a lonely, barren venue for shoot outs, alien invasions, and underground lairs. 

Update as of March 2022: The cave is currently closed indefinitely.