First-Timer's Guide to Dodger Stadium

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The quick read

Dodger Stadium is the biggest park in baseball and the third-oldest, and the thing that trips up a first-timer has nothing to do with either. It is the way you get in. The park is built in stacked tiers cut into a hillside, the parking lots are terraced to match, and the level your ticket is on decides which lot you park in and which gate you walk through. Get that wrong and you are climbing or hiking across the complex before first pitch. The rest is a short list of rules, the day-game sun warning, and the walk-to list for a first visit.

If you read only one section on this page, read the next one.

Verify before you go: bag, alcohol, gate, and parking rules can change season to season. Confirm specifics against the official Dodgers A-Z guide on mlb.com/dodgers before you go.

Park and enter at your level

At most parks the only seat question is which side to sit on. At Dodger Stadium the first question is which level, because it decides where you park, which gate you use, and what you can walk to once you are inside.

The park is stacked tiers cut into the Chavez Ravine hillside: Field Level at the bottom, then Loge, then Reserve, then Top Deck, plus the outfield Pavilions. The lots are terraced by elevation to match, each tier feeds off its own lots and gates, and historically you enter at the level of your ticket rather than walking up from the bottom. Get these straight before you leave the house:

• Park to match your ticket. Top Deck seats want the upper lots and the Top Deck entrance. Field Level seats want the lower lots. The wrong tier means a climb or a long walk around the complex.
• Use the gate that matches your level. The gates are Sunset Gate A, Scott Gate B, Golden State Gate C, Academy Gate D, and Downtown Gate E, each feeding particular lots and levels. These are the auto and parking entrance gates, not pedestrian turnstiles, so if you are walking up or getting dropped off you are looking for the nearest pedestrian entrance instead.
• Movement between levels has historically been limited. Plan on staying on your ticket’s level, and do not count on roaming down to the field or up to the cheap seats.

The non-negotiables

The rules that will actually trip you up:

• Stadium gates open approximately 2 hours before first pitch, and parking gates about 2.5 hours; gate times may vary. Build a buffer into your arrival plan.
• Bags: a clear bag up to 12 by 12 by 6 inches, or a small non-clear wristlet or clutch up to 5 by 8 by 2 inches. No backpacks, no coolers hard or soft, no beach bags, no large purses. Diaper bags are allowed when you have an infant with you. Plan on not having anywhere to stash a banned bag if you show up with one. Simplest is to bring nothing but a phone and a card. Factory-sealed non-alcoholic drinks of 1 liter or less and outside food in a clear bag are allowed. Vapes and smokeless tobacco are prohibited.
• There is no tailgating in the lots. The team prohibits it on stadium property, eating and drinking in the parking lots included, before, during, or after a game. Eat downhill before you drive up, or eat inside.
• Alcohol is served through the 7th inning, with a maximum of 2 drinks per person per purchase, 21 and over only. That cutoff is a separate event from the seventh-inning stretch, which happens in the middle of the 7th. Sales can stop earlier at the team’s discretion, and no outside alcohol comes in.
• Tickets are mobile. Pull yours up in the MLB Ballpark app before you walk to the gate.
• Buy parking in advance or take the free shuttle. Prepaid parking is cheaper than paying at the gate and gets you in faster. If you would rather skip the lot entirely, the Dodger Stadium Express runs from Union Station and five South Bay stops, free with your game ticket.

The day-game sun warning

Dodger Stadium is mostly a night-game park, so most visits land on comfortable LA evenings and sun is a non-issue. Day games are the exception. Right field takes the worst of the sun in this park: the Right Field Pavilion bakes through an afternoon game, and seats down the lines in the lower bowl can pick up sun too, depending on the date. Left field is generally the shadier pavilion of the two. For a day game, bring a hat and sunscreen, and think twice about the right-field bleachers unless you want the full sun.

What to expect

Dodger Stadium seats 56,000, the biggest in baseball, and it is the third-oldest park in the majors, behind only Fenway and Wrigley. It opened in 1962. A park that big and that old could feel like a stadium you get lost in, but it is terraced into the hillside, so the lower levels still feel close to the field. A summer night in LA is as comfortable as baseball nights come. The one thing that takes work is the access: this is the most car-centric park in MLB, the lots are huge, and they take their time emptying after the final out. Plan the getting-there and the getting-out, and the game itself is easy.

The first-visit tour

Half the reason to come is the stuff a newer park does not have. Walk to these:

• The view from the upper tiers. From the Reserve Level and the Top Deck, especially on the third-base side, you get the San Gabriel Mountains beyond the outfield and, from spots, the downtown LA skyline. It is one of the best backdrops in baseball.
• The statues. Jackie Robinson’s statue went up in 2017 near the main entry, Sandy Koufax’s in 2022, and a Fernando Valenzuela statue followed in 2025.
• The retired numbers. Robinson’s 42, Koufax’s 32, and Valenzuela’s 34 (retired in 2023) headline a set that runs from the Brooklyn era forward.
• The mid-century design. The wave-shaped roofline over the upper deck, the wavy sun-shade roofs over the outfield Pavilions, the hexagonal scoreboards, and the pastel seat tiers (yellow and gold, light blue, dark blue, orange) are the instantly recognizable look of the place.
• The Centerfield Plaza. New with the 2020 renovation, with concessions and room for kids to move.

The backstory behind all of it, including the Chavez Ravine history, is in the history guide.

Which gate

The right gate is the one that matches your ticket level first and sits closest to you second, because the gates here have historically been tied to the lots and the seating tiers. If you drive, the choice is made the moment you pick a lot, which is why parking to match your ticket comes first. If you ride the Dodger Stadium Express, it drops behind the pavilions, in Lot G from Union Station and Lot I from the South Bay, so head for the entrance nearest your drop that matches your level.

For the full breakdown of the lots, the free Express, rideshare, and prepaid parking, see the transit guide.

First-timer checklist

• Park to match your ticket level, use the gate that matches that level, and plan on staying on that level once inside. The one thing to get right here.
• Stadium gates open about 2 hours before first pitch, parking gates about 2.5, though times may vary. Build in a buffer.
• Bag: clear, 12 by 12 by 6 inches or smaller, or a small clutch up to 5 by 8 by 2 inches, or just bring none. No backpacks, coolers, or large purses, and plan on nowhere to stash a banned bag if you forget.
• No tailgating in the lots. Eat before you drive up, or eat inside.
• Ticket in the MLB Ballpark app, queued up before you reach the gate.
• Buy parking in advance, or take the free Dodger Stadium Express from Union Station or the South Bay.
• For a day game, bring a hat and sunscreen, and know the Right Field Pavilion bakes.
• Expect the biggest, third-oldest park in baseball, comfortable summer nights, and a slow post-game lot exit. Plan the getting-there and getting-out.
• Walk the upper-tier mountain and skyline view, the statues, the retired numbers, and the Centerfield Plaza.
• Alcohol is served through the 7th inning, 2 per purchase, 21 and up.

Know Dodger Stadium better than we do? Tell us what we got wrong, or where we should be sending people instead.