The University of California’s Lick Observatory has a long and fascinating history. The legacy of the eccentric California millionaire James Lick, the Observatory was founded in 1888 and has been part of the University of California ever since.
The public is invited to view exhibits in the main Observatory building, built in 1888. Enjoy an informal talk about Lick history while taking a look at the Great Lick Refractor in the 36-inch telescope dome. These tours begin at the Gift Shop, on each half hour starting at 1:00pm on weekdays and 10:30am on weekends, continuing until 4:30pm. Each talk is about 15 minutes long, and there is no charge.
While at the Gift Shop, check out the Lick Observatory sweatshirts, T-shirts, mugs, wineglasses, and astronomical photographs as well as posters, educational toys, and other astronomy-related goodies!
Visitors are also invited to take a short walk to the Shane Dome to view the 120-inch Reflector from the Visitors’ Gallery. Displays explain the Shane reflector, one of the major telescopes used to discover planets outside of our solar system.
Because of the important scientific advances of the Observatory, the City of San José is lit by yellow sodium street lights to prevent light pollution.
Open Mon - Fri: 12:30pm - 5:00pm; Sat - Sun: 10:00am - 5:00pm. Closed Thanksgiving & Dec. 24-25. Open all other days!
Please do not visit at night! Night time visitors are discouraged for two reasons. First, the buildings are all locked and the astronomers are hard at work at the darkened telescopes, so there is nothing to see and nobody available to show you around. Second, we need to minimize any unnecessary lights around the observatory, since the telescopes require the darkest possible conditions in order to detect the very faint light from the celestial objects under study.
The Observatory is more than 20 miles from downtown San Jose along Mt. Hamilton Road at an elevation of 4200 feet. The road follows a gradual grade laid out over a century ago for horses and carts. It has many sharp curves and is quite narrow in places.
Keep in mind that at 4209 feet, weather on Mt. Hamilton may be cool and changable, so bring a sweater or coat. We do have wheelchair access to the main building from the back.
There are no gasoline or food services at Mt. Hamilton or anywhere along the road outside of San Jose.
During the winter the road may be closed temporarily due to snowfall. For current road closure information, visit the California Highway Information website and enter Hwy #130, or call The Lick Observatory Gift Shop at 408-274-5061 during business hours.
Lick Observatory is located on the summit of Mt. Hamilton in the Diablo Range east of San Jose. To get there from Interstates 101, 280, 680, take Alum Rock Avenue exit from Interstate 680 north. Turn right onto Alum Rock Avenue. Take another right on Mt. Hamilton Road (California Route 130). Allow about one hour from San Jose, and please drive carefully as the road is good, but winding.
From the east, take Interstate 580 west to Interstate 680 south. Then follow the directions above. Alternatively, you may take take California Route 130 to Mt. Hamilton from the east, but please allow about 1-3/4 hours from Interstate 5 to reach the Observatory. The road is long and winding, but well-maintained. Take the Patterson exit off Interstate 5, and go west on Puerto del Canyon Road (away from Patterson.) At the Junction Cafe, turn left to stay on California Route 130.
Google Earth Placemark: File:LickObservatory.kml
Category:Day Trips
Category:Tech
Category:History
