 Map of Mulholland Drive (orange) and Mulholland Highway (brown) in Los Angeles County | |
 Interactive map of Mulholland Drive | |
| Namesake | William Mulholland |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Bureau of Street Services, City of L.A. DPW |
| Length | 21 mi (34 km)[1] |
| West end |  US 101 (Ventura Fwy) inWoodland Hills |
| Major junctions |
|
| East end | US 101 (Hollywood Fwy)/Cahuenga Blvd in theHollywood Hills |
Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the easternSanta Monica Mountains ofSouthern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineerWilliam Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura counties is namedMulholland Highway. The road is featured in a significant number of films, songs, and novels.David Lynch, who wrote and directeda film named after Mulholland Drive, has said that one can feel "the history of Hollywood" on it.Jack Nicholson has lived on Mulholland Drive for many years, and still did so as of 2009[update].[2]
Mulholland Drive was named afterWilliam Mulholland, designer of theLos Angeles aqueduct,Mulholland Dam, andLake Hollywood.[3]
The main portion of the road, from Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood westward past Sepulveda Pass, was originally called Mulholland Highway and was opened in 1924.[4] It was built by a consortium of developers investing in the Hollywood Hills.[5] DeWitt Reaburn, the construction engineer responsible for the project, said while it was being built, "The Mulholland Highway is destined to be one of the heaviest traveled and one of the best known scenic roads in the United States."
The street has experienced multiple closures throughout the years due to mudslides and storm damage, with the latest one being in 2024.[6]
The 21-mile (34 km) long[1] mostly two-lane, minorarterial road loosely follows the ridgeline of the eastern Santa Monica Mountains and theHollywood Hills, connecting two sections ofU.S. Route 101, and crossingSepulveda Boulevard,Beverly Glen Boulevard,Coldwater Canyon Avenue,Laurel Canyon Boulevard,Nichols Canyon Road, andOutpost Drive.
The road offers views of theLos Angeles Basin, theSan Fernando Valley,Downtown Los Angeles and theHollywood Sign.[7]
Mulholland Drive has some of the most exclusive and expensive homes in the world, housing mainly Hollywood celebrities.
The eastern terminus of Mulholland Drive is at its intersection withCahuenga Boulevard[1] at theCahuenga Pass over the Santa Monica Mountains (at this point Cahuenga Boulevard runs adjacent to Highway 101/The Hollywood Freeway). The road continues to the west, offering vistas of theHollywood Sign,Downtown Los Angeles, and thenBurbank,Universal City, and the rest of the San Fernando Valley with theSan Gabriel,Verdugo, andSanta Susana Mountains.
The road winds along the top of the mountains until a few miles west of the San Diego/Interstate 405 Freeway. Just west of the intersection with Encino Hills Drive, it becomes an unpaved road not open to motor vehicles. This part is known by many as "Dirt Mulholland". This portion connects with other unpaved roads and bike trails and allows access to a decommissionedProject Nike command post that is now aCold War memorial park. (This portion of Mulholland Drive was open to through traffic as late as the 1990s before being permanently closed to motor vehicles so that they would no longer interfere with the natural beauty and wilderness of the area.)
The road opens again east ofTopanga Canyon Boulevard (State Route 27) at Santa Maria Road but remains dirt until it reaches Saltillo Street. Shortly thereafter, the thoroughfare splits into Mulholland Drive andMulholland Highway. Mulholland Drive terminates atU.S. Highway 101 (the Ventura Freeway), where it becomes Valley Circle Boulevard. Mulholland Highway continues to the southwest until it terminates atState Route 1 (PCH) inLeo Carrillo State Park[1] at thePacific Ocean coast and the border ofLos Angeles andVentura counties.
Media related toMulholland Drive and Highway at Wikimedia Commons34°07′53″N118°29′24″W / 34.1313°N 118.49°W /34.1313; -118.49
