La Brea Tar Pits & Museum

These tar pits hold the fossils of Ice Age animals that became trapped in the asphalt deposits here. The fossils were first described by Wellesley College professor William Denton in 1875.

Natural pools of bubbling hot tar with mammoth statues desperately trying to escape, prehistoric victims of Mother Nature's molten grip. Beautiful park and lots of cool history!

A lot of guidebooks make it seem like you have to go to the museum to see the tar pits ; you do not. You can walk around, smell the tar and see excavations for free. Plus, the big rock at LACMA , too!

Check out the La Brea Tar Pits & museum to see some of the prehistoric creatures that once roamed the land that's now the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.

This is a relatively small place. When buying your ticket, be sure to say "yes" when they ask if you want to go on the excavator tour . It's included with admission and the best part of the whole time.

An awesome experience; worth the visit. Enjoy FREE admission on the first Tuesday of every month. Parking costs $10, but earn a $2 rebate by having your ticket validated once inside the Page Museum .

If you are visiting from out of town , and you have a prime membership to a museum in your home town which is in ASTC (Assn. of Science and Technology Centers), you can get free general admission.

The museum is good but you can see plenty around the park for free. If you’re lucky you might be able to tag along with one of the tours . They’re very informative

Getting into the underground parking structure is an absolute pain to get into, at least when I was there. While they'll tell you it's strictly for LACMA , you can park there, anyway.

When you visit, be sure to check out either the food trucks outside LACMA or walk over to the Fairfax Farmer's Market ! there are tons of great eats within a fifteen minute walk of here

If you do miss the parking garage , there are 2 other options: further up, on the left-hand side is a parking lot where you do have to pay, and then, there is an underground parking garage further up.

The La Brea Tar Pits are a National Natural Landmark . Take a walk around the tar pits themselves and then visit the museum to see the fossils excavated from those very pits.

This is a great place to visit. Interesting to learn what this area was like during pre-historic times. Everyone will enjoy! I recommend!

Site of the richest discovery of Ice Age fossils in the world, 100 tons of bones representing 200+ species of mammals, birds & reptiles have been unearthed from asphalt dating back to prehistoric time

The tar pits show what life was like during the time of the cave man. If you visit on the second Tuesday of the month you can also visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA ) next door.

the museum is worth going to, but it is free to walk around and check out the tar pits .

Best viewing pit: #91, north side of the Japanese pavilion of LACMA . Go inside to see an actual excavation with big bones sticking up from the tar.

Become a member and have free access to the Natural History Museum downtown as well . Great places to take out of town guests and children.

See a unique natural history museum for fossils excavated from the La Brea Tar Pits , which trapped animals here for the past 50,000 years (the period before the Ice Age), right in the middle of LA!

There is a tiny pit closer to the Japanese Pavillion at LACMA where you can actually reach through the fence and play with the tar. Try it out...but don't fall in!

I donated some skeletons in my closet to this museum .

This is indeed one of the most historical places in Los Angeles. Over 100 tones of dinosaur bones have been dug up from the tar pits . They are still very active.

No dinosaurs (the time period the museum covers is more recent), but it's a working paleontological site still digging up fossils of ice age animals and plant life.

Fun to walk around a learn some history. Go in the museum totally worth it!

Strong stench but I loved seeing and learning about the tar pits .

Discover one of the world’s most famous Ice Age fossil collections, right in the heart of LA! And, of course, make sure to snap a photo or two of the huge Wooly Mammoth replicas!

It was kool saw art alot of bands kool beautiful women free cookies and soda got me some sunglasses free:-)B-)

The first place you'll want to park is the parking structure on Museum Way. Stay in the slow lane so you don't miss it.

Need a clearer explanation on the website as to what is happening the first Tuesday of every month. “Free” and “closed for repairs” are very different concepts.

This is more of a curiosity than a phenomenal destination, but it's worth stopping by to witness the tragic scene of a baby wooly mammoth watch its mother sink into a pit of tar.

At 16:20 and after the admissions drops by 50% closing time is 17:00 that's plenty time to see the exhibits .

It was really cool seeing the tar pits for the first time, but it looked like mostly water and moss

Enjoy the pleasant smell of tar as you gaze into the trash-filled pits. It's truly a lovely pocket of LA!

Museum not worth the price, just enjoy the tar pits outside, go down the sidewalk path toward the art museum , they have an active dig site you can visit.

Marvel at the La Brea Tar Pits , then grab a bite from one of the food trucks on Wilshire Blvd.

Wow! Tar pits were incredible. I wished I lived here just to go back a hundred times

The elephant looks so real. Worth to visit!

Surely doesn't look like the tar pits from the movies .... BUT it's a nice park by LACMA to take a quick rest at.

Very cool exhibits and interesting film short . Lots of fire Pokemon too

Japanese art collection nearby is impressive. Cool elephants in the tar pits too!

You'll know you're here by the fumes! Watch the methane bubble up!

Go in the summer and you can see the digs being worked. Well worth it

This place stinks. Other than that, it is a good place to walk around and see some cool fossils .

This place is awesome! Wish we had gotten there in time to check out the site excavation

The fossils are amazing!

Great place for picnic !

The fossils are incredible!

Older museum but well done. Seeing paleontology being done was incredible.

The tar pits are worth a trip

A must for anyone visiting LA