Visiting La Brea Tar Pits - A Live Showcase of Natural History

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.