Hoover Tower's Observation Deck Is Closed Until Jan. 25. Here's What You Can Still See

Hoover Tower is the tallest landmark on the Stanford campus. Its observation deck is one of the best viewpoints on the Peninsula, but it's off-limits for now.

What's closed

The Hoover Institution's visitor page says the Lou Henry Hoover Observation Deck is closed from Aug. 14, 2026, through Jan. 25, 2027, and that the tower is closed on weekends until Jan. 25. The page doesn't give a reason. When the deck is open, tickets are $8, children under 3 are free, payment is by card only, and Stanford affiliates get in free with a guest. The last elevator goes up 30 minutes before closing.

What's open

Exhibitions in the galleries and rotunda are free. The current exhibit, Choosing Freedom: Lives That Defied Tyranny, runs through May 9, 2027, and features first-hand accounts of people who fled authoritarian countries. The tower is also showing a centennial exhibit on the history of the Hoover Institution. The Hoover page warns there are no public restrooms in the tower and that the nearest visitor parking is about a 15-minute walk away.

The tower's story

The Hoover Institution says Herbert Hoover commissioned the tower, which was dedicated on June 20, 1941, to house rare library and archival materials. Wikipedia says it is 285 feet tall, was designed by Arthur Brown Jr., and was inspired by the tower of the New Cathedral of Salamanca in Spain. Its observation platform is about 250 feet up. Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn lived on the 11th floor for a time before moving in 1976.

Near the top is a carillon. According to Wikipedia, its original 35 bells were cast in Belgium for the Belgian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair and given to Stanford in 1940 after World War II stranded them. The Hoover Institution says the carillon now has 48 bells, and that the largest bears the inscription 'For Peace Alone Do I Ring.'

A Stanford Daily columnist who made the trip last winter described the view from 13 floors up, taking in the Main Quad, Green Library and the Dish. While the deck is closed, the nearby Cantor Arts Center is a free alternative.