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LA BREA TAR PITS

Over 50,000 years ago in the very spot where modern day LA with its busy freeways, bustling streets, prosperous industry and close to 4 million residents exists today was a vast open savannah where hundreds of species of creatures from mammoths to birds to insects roamed in an environment that rivaled the plains of Africa. In a certain area of these plains geologic forces created natural tar pits that looked like black spots in the land where these creatures would roam into and become trapped. As these creatures struggled, their predators would then venture in after them also become trapped. Eventually these creatures would die, their corpses would sink into the pit and their bones forever perfectly persevered. Fast forward to today the bones of these creatures have been excavated and placed on display at the George Page museum in an exhibit called the La Brea Tar Pits.

 

Located in the heart of the Miracle Mile district in museum row on Wilshire Blvd, the La Brea Tar Pits is an exhibit that displays the excavated bones of hundreds of creatures that died in the tar pits over 50,000 years ago. Upon entering the museum grounds, the strong odor of tar cannot be ignored and you will immediately see several tar pits on the perimeter all around the museum. The biggest tar pit at the entrance cannot be missed with the depiction of trapped elephants the display gives the visitor the feeling of a Disney exhibit. The museum itself is located further back.

 

The museum offers exhibits of a variety of creatures excavated from the tar pits including the saber tooth tiger, camels, ancient elephants and other extinct creatures including birds and mammoths. In addition the museum offers a variety of 10 minute movies educating the public on how the tar pits came into being and the types of creatures that roamed the area and were trapped over 50,000 years ago. One of the more popular exhibits is the lab where scientists clean and examine remains found in the pits. Surrounded by a glass wall, visitors can peer in and watch the discoveries as they take place, from cleaning to examination. To date over 1 million remains have been discovered and excavated from the La Brea Tar Pits. Many of the skeletons excavated are pieced together and placed on display for the public to see. Other creatures have been artistically rendered to fit their appearance and size to match their existence of 100,000 years ago.

 

Some of the exhibits visitors will encounter is the Woolly Mammoth, a gigantic furry version of an elephant that walked the earth 100,000 years ago. The museum has a scaled reconstruction of the Woolly Mammoth as well as complete skeletal sets. There is a wall that has dozens of sculls of wolves that roamed this area of Los Angeles as well as reconstructions of the the Sabertoothed Tiger that is now extinct but also lived in this area of Los Angeles over 100,000 years ago.

 

The grounds outside the museum are vast and expansive and there are over 5 unique pits to visit and see excavations in progress. The La Brea Tar Pits are located on Museum Row and its next door neighbor is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Combined the museums can easily create an entire day of education and learning on this one stretch of Wilshre Blvd.

 

Admission to the museum is $7.00. There is parking in the back, meter parking along Wilshire Blvd and some parking on side residential streets. If parking on residential streets, read all signs first as many of the streets in this area are parking by permit only.