La Brea Tar Pits & Museum

Reviews 3

BR

Bruce

"La Brea Tar Pits (or Rancho La Brea Tar Pits) is a group of tar pits which formed Hancock Park." La Brea Tar Pits is a registered National Natural Landmark. The "pit" originally started off as an asphalt mine. The "black tar" has been seeping up from this ground for tens of thousands of years and over the centuries, animals trapped in the tar pit were preserved. The George C. Page Museum was built next to the tar pits and is dedicated to researching and displaying specimens recovered. Construction began in 1975, and the museum opened in 1977. The oldest known material was that of "preserved wood," dating back some 38,000 years ago by the "Radiometric" system. Today, the tar pits are fenced off to protect visitors and animals from falling into "the pits (No pun intended)." The "asphalt" turns the bones of the deceased animals a dark-brown or black color. The lighter fractions of petroleum would then evaporate from the asphalt and leave behind a more solid substance, which encases the bones. The asphalt also preserved micro-fossils such as wood, skeletal remains of rodents, insects, mollusks, plants, seeds, and pollen grains. The Native American "Chumash people" used the natural resources of tar to seal the cracks of their canoes. Important milestones: 1769; The Portolà expedition, comprised of a group of Spanish explorers and led by Gaspar de Portolá, made the first written record of the tar pits. Portolá would christened them Los Volcanoes de Brea "the Tar Volcanoes". "Methane gas escapes from the tar pits, causing bubbles that make the asphalt appear to boil." 2007, UC Riverside researchers discovered the bubbles were caused by hardy forms of bacteria embedded in the natural asphalt. After the bacteria consumed the petroleum, the bacteria would release methane. Of the bacteria sampled, about 200 to 300 were previously unknown species. 2009; Formal announcement made regarding the "2006 discovery of 16 fossil deposits." The remains discovered were that of clams, millipedes, fish, turtles, saber-toothed cat, wolves, bison, horses, and an American lion. Also recovered was a nearly intact mammoth skeleton and the only pieces missing is a rear leg, a vertebra and the top of its skull, which was sheared off by construction equipment during the build of an underground parking structure. A partial skeleton of human remains were also uncovered and was dated back to approximately 10,000 years (~9,000 radiocarbon years). The remains were dubbed the "La Brea Woman." She is believed to be between the ages of 17-25 at the time of death. Our visit; Over the years, our family had planned this trip but never made it until the summer of 2012. One of our main reasons for not visiting this place was the "nightmarish" traffic just trying to navigate through this city of millions who calls it home! Then again, you wouldve never thought this place existed because its located in downtown Los Angeles, between Wilshire Blvd and W. 6th Street! I first discovered its existence through my "AAA" tour guide of the Los Angeles area! In this concrete jungle, sits this museum and park and if you were just the casual driver, you would not have noticed this place ever existed. It was fascinating to just walk the grounds where prehistoric animals once roamed and to actually see their skeletal remains displayed was a thrilling experience. The Pleistocene Garden had life-size replicas of extinct mammals depicting what life was like back when they roamed this area. Our children learn something every time we travel and learn about the culture or history and this trip was no exception. We also got a chance to actually see the volunteers working in the "pits" doing whatever they were doing and covered in black tar. Our group was told that the volunteers were closely supervised by a Paleontologist.

ER

Errhka

Whether you are a tourist looking for the best things to do in LA, or just a local looking to make something of an afternoon, the La Brea Tar Pits is one of the best attractions in the city. The La Brea Tar Pits is a group of asphalt seepages that are located in the middle of West LA. There are multiple pits, each one fenced off and all open to the public for free. There are currently two digs going on, though only one is working at any point in the year. Well made signs detail anything you would ever want to know about the pits, and guides are available in the kiosks if you have more questions. If it is during daylight hours, you will most likely see actual workers excavating, which is pretty awesome. The LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) along with the Petersen Automotive Museum are right next door - I would highly recommend making a day out of going to all of them if you are planning a visit. Parking is limited due to the high number of visitors - street parking is metered and the parking structure is $14 for the day, however if you are willing to walk a little parking shouldnt be that big of an issue. I would insist on if you are visiting the tar pits that you visit the museum. Admission is $12 for adults, $9 for students/seniors, and free for teachers with ID. If you want to see the IMAX movie its a few dollars extra. The museum is one loop around - small, but chock full of information and interesting things to do. I would say it is definitely worth the price of admission with all the time I spent in there (2 hours, but I was engrossed in everything) The museum basically details the entire history of Los Angeles from 50,000 BC to now. They have animated dioramas and TONS of skeletons of animals theyve dug up. It is truly mind boggling the number of animals and plants that theyve pulled out of the pit, and really makes you appreciate how much of a gift this place is to the paleontology field in general. The coolest part of the museum has to be the part where you can watch the scientists sort through and categorize items found in the pits. They have progress sheets that they fill out so if you come back you can see how far theyve progressed on whichever skeleton they are working on. There were multiple guides sprinkled throughout the museum, and every single one was incredible and elevated the experience (shoutout to Zwi and his lecture on ancient bison and the multiple theories of extinction for large megafauna in North America). The gift shop has some hilarious shirts and some really cool gifts (one day Ill purchase that full size replica Sabertooth Cat skull!). Im not usually one for museum gift shop crap but the person who designs the stuff has a sense of humor and knows how to make stuff look good. Its a little pricey but the proceeds help the digs (and sometimes there are some good sales on T shirts), so at least theres that. Overall, its a great place to go, whether you have kids or are just going on a fun date - The La Brea Tar Pits are one of the highlights of Los Angeles to be sure.

JU

Julie Patel

OMG, going here was one of the best hours of my entire life! The gift shop was amazing, the skeletons were astonishing, (which were right next to visual replicas to the animals living in the ice age, mainly sabertooths and mammoths.) They also had a whole wall of dire wolves skulles, which you learn about in the twenty-two minute IMAX video, which was an additional five bucks per person. THAT WAS GREAT! Also, we went on the first Tuesday of September and every first Tuesday of the month you get in to the museum for free! This is a great place for the whole family and they even have ponds full of catfish to walk through to get from place to place or to relax and sit down. After going through the museum and buying things at the gift shop we headed to the movie. I would totally recommend hanging out for this one! I would also advise going through the museum before seeing the video! I believe they have a video every hour or possibly every half an hour, when we went in there we expected there to be no one but almost all the seats were full! The history of the tar pits was fascinating to everyone in my family, and hopefully will be for yours too!

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