La Brea Tar Pits

Right in the heart of L.A. sits the world’s most powerful gateway to the Ice Age. The asphalt seeps at La Brea Tar Pits are the only active urban fossil dig site in the world. Plants and animals from the last 50,000 years are discovered here every day. Outside, you can watch excavators carve fossils out of the asphalt. Inside the museum at La Brea Tar Pits (established in 1977 as the George C. Page Museum), our staff prepares these discoveries in the see-through Fossil Lab. You'll see the final result in our exhibitions: extraordinary saber-toothed cats, mammoths, dire wolves, and mastodons, as well as the tiny, but scientifically significant, microfossils of insects, plants, mammals, and reptiles. The Tar Pits help us understand life around Wilshire Boulevard long before we got here, and what lies ahead as climate and habitats continue to change.

Location

5801 Wilshire Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Contact

(213) 763-3499
Website

Opening Hours

9:30 am–5 pm

Open Days

Every day

Region

Mid City

Type

Science and Nature

Features

Accessible by public transit, Daily tours, Family-friendly, Great for kids, Indoor, Outdoor, Parking: On-site, Parking: Paid, Shopping on-site

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