La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of asphalt pits in Los Angeles, California. The Hancock Park was formed around these pits. 'Brea' is tar in Spanish and this tar been collected and seeped up to the ground level over thousands of years.

Over these years in history, many animals fell into these pits and their bones were preserved in these pits, which are mainly displayed at the George C. Page Museum. Some of the fossils date from the Ice Age and the pits are one of the most important sources of fossils from the Ice Age. The La Brea Tar Pits has been registered as a National Natural Landmark.

At the museum at the Pits, there are more than 1 million fossil exhibits that have been recovered from there. The skeletons of saber-tooth cats, sloths, mammoths, wolves and giant buffalos interest people at a large scale. The main attraction is the 40,000 year old wood fragment that has people lurking about for glances and information.

Apart from the marvelous and fascinating exhibits, the museum provides for a short film regarding how the pits were formed and how the contents in the pits were found and investigated. The first Tuesday of every month is a free entry to the museum, so the people like to avail this opportunity to the fullest.

Outside the museum the lake near the Wilshire Boulevard is one of the primary attractions with oil slick on the surface and methane bubbles constantly popping up. The pits are open for access on all days of the year except the 4th of July, the Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year Day.

It's really amazing! There's an exciting spot to explore prehistoric dinosaurs and saber-tooth tigers in the urban heart of LA. The La Brea Tar Pits consist of the world's best and most important research sources for Ice Age Sources. How did the Pits trap so many animals, plants, mammals and even dinosaurs since the Ice Age in North America? The George C. Page Museum is working to solve the mysteries. The museum is dedicated to researching and displaying animals' specimens that died there.

As a National Natural Landmark, select exhibits from over 1 million fossils are discovered at the area. Pit 91 is considered to be the most productive pit. Various collections are on display at Rancho La Brea, like mammals, birds, flora, invertebrates and fish & amphibians & reptiles.

Research & Collections at Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits

http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections

What are the hours and admissions? The museum is open from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. You can get free admission on the first Tuesday of each month. But the museum is closed on some select days and you cannot visit on these days, including Independence Day (July 4), Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. If you want to know more info about special extended holiday hours or unexpected closures, please call 323-934-PAGE.

Do not worry! Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits will not break your bank. It charges a flat admission rate. Adult admission price is $7 while the ticket fare for seniors over 62 and students with I.D. is $4.5. Youths between 13 and 17 years old pay $4.5. Children aging from 5 to 12 years old will be charged $2. Members and children under 5 can enjoy free admission. The museum has school tours and special group sales for different groups. Click the websites below for more info:

Group Sales at La Brea Pits

http://www.tarpits.org/info/group_sales.html

School & Group Tours at the Page Museum

http://www.tarpits.org/education/visits.html

Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits offers ongoing fun for visitors with a collection of activities. There are different activities at the museum to entertain guests every day.

Dinosaur Encounters - It's one of the most inspiring and innovative programs at the museum. Visitors can experience and get up close with a realistic, life-sized juvenile T. rex. Dinosaur Encounters is located in Level 2 North American Mammal Hall. It's free with Museum admission. From Wednesday to Friday, it's open to tourists at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. You can get close to count the dinosaur's teeth at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Dinosaur Encounters

http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/dinosaurs/dinosaur-encounters

Ice Age Encounters - Prowl up to Level 2 in the North American Mammal Hall. Ice Age Encounters can guide you to the world's first full-suit animatronic prehistoric cat for live audiences. Bring you camera! You'll be marveled at what you see and you will not believe your eyes. Come to visit at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and at 1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Ice Age Encounters

http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/ice-age-encounters

Story Time - Located in the Discovery Center, Story Time can lead you to and through the history of La Brea Tar Pits. Story Time begins at 2 p.m., Monday through Friday and starts at 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Gallery Exploration Tour - Meet every day at Dueling Dinos at 2 p.m. to tour around the Museum gallery.

Live Animal Presentations - Have you ever encountered live animal presentations? If not, come to the Discovery Center at the Museum for unique and instructive live animal presentations. Meet fantastic living animals to know what they eat and where they are from and more. It's scheduled at 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday. The weekend hours are at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Endless fun is offered for families and kids to the museum. Critter Clubs for 3 to 5 years old and Junior Scientists for 6 to 9 years old are all available on weekends. And you can view unique items not usually on display in Curator's Cupboard. If you are interested, the upcoming schedules are listed as follows.

Critter Clubs

http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/critter-club

Schedules:

- Everyone Loves Babies:

Friday, February 11, 2011; 10 a.m. PAID w/reservation

Saturday, February 12, 2011; 10 a.m. and 11a.m. free

- Critter Commotion:

Friday, March 11, 2011; 10 a.m. PAID w/reservation

Saturday, March 12, 2011; 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. free

Junior Scientist

http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/junior-scientist

Schedules:

- Purrrfect Predators

Time: Saturday, February 19, 2011; 10:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. sessions

Location: Grand Foyer, Level 1

- The Evolution of Minerals

Time: Saturday, February 19, 2011; 10:30 a.m. & 1:30 sessions

Location: Grand Foyer, Level 1

- Santa Monica Mountains Science Festival

Time: Friday, April 15; 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. & Saturday, April 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills

The museum abounds in a well collection of fun activities for adults. Roam the Museum after hours. Cutting-edge music and discussion are available in first Fridays. Nostradamus Edition will be taken out for the 2011 First Fridays. The scientific crystal ball will be used to ask what may be in your future. The latest dates are Mar. 4, Apr. 1, May 6 and Jun. 3. Browse through the website below to check for updates on schedules.

2011 First Fridays

http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/first-fridays

Sustainable Sundays is another fun-filled activity for grown ups. Workshops, indoor and outdoor activities and film screenings are all prepared for you. If knowledge is power, Sustainable Sundays can be the key to turning the power into your practical action.

Details on Sustainable Sundays

http://www.nhm.org/site/activities-programs/sustainable-sundays

Schedules:

- The Dirt on Soil

Time: Sunday, February 27, 2011; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location: Grand Foyer, Level 1

- Film Screening

Time: 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

Location: Times Mirror Room, Level G

- Edible Landscape

Time: Sunday, April 17, 2011; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location: Grand Foyer, level 1

- Urban Wild Parks

Time: Sunday, may 22, 2011; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Location: Grand Foyer, Lever 1

La Brea Tar Pits Calendar

http://www.nhm.org/site/calendar

The La Brea Tar Pits, also known as Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, is one of the famous pits around the world located in the state of California. The address is 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90036.

This place is famous because of asphalt that leaked up from the ground for over thousands of years. Scientist and researchers have also found out that most animals before came to drink into the well and sank in the tar and were preserved as bones. Tourists who plan to visit La Brea Tar Pits will find it convenient because of Los Angeles CA Hotel is situated near the famous sites.

The La Brea Tar Pits is a large pool that existed for many centuries. It is one of the famous excavation sites for ice age fossils. Tourists who plan to visit La Brea Tar Pits can find different animals being featured in the ranch. Aside from that, you can also find many fossils of animals and dinosaurs.

http://www.tarpits.org/education/guide/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Brea_Tar_Pits

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=192236

Located in Los Angeles urban neighborhood, some place called Hancock Park is a cluster of asphalt pits which have a rather lulling Spanish name, La Brea. The name essentially denotes asphalt in Spanish, which has oozed from the grounds of this area for several millennia.

The tar has done a good job of immortalizing long extinct ice age flora and the accompanying animal life. The water that covers the asphalt attracts a whole array of fauna which are characterized by a large predator to prey ratio. This is normal with tar pits the world over.

Some of the known ancient fauna fossilized in La Brea's bowels include several pre-historic species which include the dire wolf, the Saber-toothed cat which serves as California's state fossil, ground sloths and the behemoth mammoths. A whole catalogue of the fossils uncovered at the pits can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Brea_Tar_Pits

http://www.tarpits.org/

While staying at hotels in Los Angeles California it may be beneficial to expand your information on the city by visiting the George C. Page Museum which is located at the Pit's grounds and has currently made new discoveries as they undergo the construction of an underground garage.

The fossils announced formally in February 2009 have since been transported to the Museum and the construction has continued in earnest. The specimen taken from the site was packaged in over 20 accumulations and transferred separately; this included a nearly intact mammoth fossil. The top of its skull had unfortunately been shaved off by the construction workers.

La Brea Tar Pits, one of the world's most significant sources of Ice Age fossils, makes it possible to bring us back to Los Angeles 25,000 years ago. There you can explore how the "Tar Pits" formed, why so many animals were trapped at the Pits, and how climate has changed over the past forty thousand years.

Adjacent to La Brea Tar Pits, a museum was established to do research on and display fossils excavated from tar pits. It is named Page Museum after George C. Page, the founder of the museum. Page Museum boasts a wide collection of over 1 million fossils including skeletons of saber-toothed cats, short-faced bears, mammoths, giant sloths and much more. To appeal to kids, Page Museum has introduced the intriguing "A Children's Story about an Ice Age journey" and "What It's Like to be Trapped in Tar" exhibit.

Get ready for your Ice Age adventure? To start with, let's find out where La Brea Tar Pits is.

La Brea Tar Pits is in the urban heart of Los Angeles, within walking distances to Hancock Park. La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum, along with Los Angeles County Museum of Art, are in the "Museum Row" area of historic Miracle Mile district. The street address is 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA. To help you find it easier, both Google maps and local area map are offered:

La Brea Tar Pits on Google Maps

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=%20La%20+%20Brea%20+%20Tar%20+%20Pits

Local Area Map

http://www.tarpits.org/info/prtmap.html

While looking at the above map, you can find that La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum are bordered by four major freeways: I-10, US-101, I-110 and I-405. So in the following part, we are going to share with you driving directions from the four major surrounding freeways:

Coming from I-10 Eastbound

- Take I-10 east till exit the Fairfax Avenue

- Proceed north on Fairfax Avenue

- Make a right turn at Wilshire Boulevard

- Continue on Wilshire Boulevard for 5 blocks till reach Curson Avenue

- Make a left turn on Curson Avenue

- Drive to the end of the block

- Get to the parking lot on your left hand

Coming from I-10 Westbound

- Take I-10 west till exit the La Brea Avenue

- Proceed north on La Brea Avenue

- Make a left turn at Wilshire Boulevard

- Continue on Wilshire Boulevard for 10 blocks till reach Curson Avenue

- Make a right turn on Curson Avenue

- Drive to the end of the block

- Get to the parking lot on your left hand

Coming from US-101 Northbound

- Head north on US-101 to reach the I-10

- Take I-10 west till exit the La Brea Avenue

- Then follow direction from I-10 Westbound

Coming from US-101 Southbound

- Take US-101 south

- Exit Highland Avenue

- Head south on Highland Avenue to Wilshire Boulevard

- Make a right turn on Wilshire Boulevard

- Proceed on Wilshire Boulevard for 15 blocks to reach Curson Avenue

- Make a right turn on Curson Avenue

- Drive to the end of the block

- Get to the parking lot on your left hand

Coming from I-110 Northbound

- Take I-110 north to I-10

- Follow I-10 west to exit the La Brea Avenue

- Then follow direction from I-10 Westbound

Coming from I-110 Southbound

- Take I-110 south to I-10

- Follow I-10 west to exit the La Brea Avenue

- Then follow direction from I-10 Westbound

Coming from I-405 Northbound

- Take I-405 north to I-10

- Follow I-10 east to exit the Fairfax Avenue

- Then follow direction from I-10 Eastbound

Coming from I-405 Southbound

- Take I-405 south to I-10

- Follow I-10 east to exit the Fairfax Avenue

- Then follow direction from I-10 Eastbound

We suggest you to Mapquest your directions if necessary since your exact departure site is not clear to us. You can Mapquest it at:

Mapquest

http://www.mapquest.com/

Putting the following information to the boxes on Mapquest:

Address or Intersection: 5801 Wilshire Blvd

Zip Code: 90036