Lick Observatory is one of those places where every astronomy enthusiast in the Bay Area should visit at least once. If you are not interested in astronomy (or history), then the long, painful drive up to the peak of Mount Hamilton where Lick Observatory is might not be worth the effort.

Since I love astronomy, Lick Observatory has been on my to do list for while. 

Lick Observatory site: https://www.ucolick.org/main/visit/info.html
Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lick_Observatory



The drive there might look straight forward, but it really took a long while of navigating through meandering roads uphill. On my way back from the observatory, I passed by an accident site. I had to squeeze past a fire truck. I guess the accident was a serious one as I saw a medical chopper parked on an open space further down the road. So, it's best to go slow when driving to the observatory.

As for the view from the observatory, it wasn't bad, but in my opinion, you will get better views from Mission Peak or Mount Diablo. From the parking lot, you get the usual rolling hills typical of the bay area. Downtown San Jose can be seen from there as well.

The main entrance to the observatory. Parking was limited on a good day like this. There were lots of cyclists and bikers as well.

View from the observatory parking lot looking towards the valley.

It was a clear day, but you can clearly see some haze hovering above the valley.

A hazy downtown San Jose from Lick Observatory.

Looking towards Mission Peak I think.

After a trip to the visitors center, I learned that apparently you can get shots of Yosemite's Half Dome from here. After a quick Google search, here's the view of Half Dome from Yosemite:

Taken from site: http://astronomy.snjr.net/blog/?p=416

Amazing isn't it? The other interesting bit about this area is due to the altitude of Lick Observatory/Mount Hamilton peak, it is not unusual for it to get snow during cold winter spells. Here's a comparison of what I saw and what it looks like when it's covered in snow.

Looking towards Shane Dome on a clear dry winters day.

Same view on a snowy winters day. Taken from: http://judy-volker.com/Roadtrips/200903/LaurieHatchPictures/04_Snow_Vista.jpg

I joined the free talk offered by Lick Observatory. It was quite the experience listening to the talk in the great dome housing the historical Great Lick Refractor. The talk mostly covers about the history of the observatory as well as the capabilities of the Great Lick Refractor. There was an interesting bit about the founder, James Lick. Apart from being the wealthiest man in California at the time, he was also responsible for convincing his Peruvian chocolate confectioner friend to move to San Francisco. Who was this friend of his? Domenico Ghirardelli. Nuff said. After the talk, I checked out the Shane Dome (pictured above) which houses the 120-inch Reflector.

The Great Lick Refractor. It is no longer used, but it still looks darn impressive.

Our guide for the day. The platform that he is standing on can be moved up and down vertically.

Lots of interesting facts about the observatory and observation history in general along the hallway.

It is interesting to note that Lick Observatory is old, very old. Built in 1876, it's the first ever mountain top observatory in the world, predating Mount Wilson and Griffith Observatory in the Los Angeles area by a few decades. To date, this observatory is still actively used by academia, mostly from folks from the University of California system I presume. When I visited the observatory, it was during the period where there was a threat to actually defund the observatory. This culminated in the Save Lick movement. There were impassioned pleas from faculty members to keep Lick Observatory to prevent overcrowding Keck Observatory in Hawaii, which is also co-managed by the UC system.

Last checked, the UC has withdrawn the defunding proposal. Lick has been saved for now. This site has more info about the current status: http://www.ucolick.org/SaveLick/lick_future.html

A quick breakdown of Lick Observatory yays nays:

Yays:

• An actual, fully operational observatory! Huge telescopes! 
• Lots of history! Free talk at the Great Lick Refractor! 
• There are actually night programs as well .Star gazing from here would be amazing, but I shudder at the thought of driving up/down from there in darkness. 

Nays:

• Long painful (some times dangerous) drive up Mount Hamilton. 
• The view from the top is not bad, but to me, not as impressive as the views from Mission Peak or Mount Diablo.