Presiding over both Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley is Mulholland Drive, which snakes a 25-mile path between Cahuenga Boulevard and the Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Stars-to-Sea Highway, the gnarly mountain road has long reigned over the city lending ever more myth and intrigue to Los Angeles’ modern folklore.

The namesake of this particular byway was water pioneer William Mulholland, an Irish immigrant responsible for siphoning water from the Owens Valley into Los Angeles. The roadway’s precarious cliffs, mesmerizing views, and seemingly endless twists and turns have always been associated with celebrities, wealth, sex car crashes, and various scandals, in television and film as well as in real life.

The lights of the city below are, indeed, magical. Parking is not allowed at night, but it is worth a stop at one of the designated viewpoints to ogle the City of Angels.