La Brea Tar Pits

The museum at La Brea Tar Pits closed in July 2026 for a two-year renovation, so the indoor exhibits are off the table for now. The tar isn't. Parts of Hancock Park and the outdoor excavation sites are still open, and you can still see asphalt that has been seeping up through the middle of Los Angeles for tens of thousands of years.

What's Worth Seeing

The Lake Pit in front of the museum is the landmark here. It's actually left over from asphalt mining in the late 1800s. Rain and groundwater sit on top of the bubbling asphalt, and the bubbles and the smell come from an oil field deep underground. Models of mammoths and mastodons stand around it.

From there, paths wind through the park past active excavation sites and the Pleistocene Garden. The museum describes this as the only actively excavated Ice Age fossil site in an urban location anywhere, with more than 3.5 million fossils dug up so far. Only some outdoor areas are open during construction.

Asphalt still seeps up throughout the park, so watch where you step and wear shoes you don't mind getting dirty.

If you want more than the public paths, the Insider Tour goes behind the fences and lets you sort real microfossils. It's outdoors, it's for ages seven and up, and tickets come in batches, so check whether any are on sale.

How to Get There

The address is 5801 Wilshire Blvd. Metro's D Line stops at Wilshire/Fairfax, and that's the simplest way in right now.

The Tar Pits car park is closed to the general public and only open to tour ticket holders. Use the garages at LACMA, the SAG-AFTRA building or the Petersen Automotive Museum instead. If you park on the street, read every sign. Wilshire itself is a tow zone during weekday rush hours, even at a meter. The parking page has the exact hours.

Nearby

• LACMA is next door, and its outdoor art, including Urban Light, needs no ticket.
• The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is at Wilshire and Fairfax.
• The Petersen Automotive Museum is at 6060 Wilshire Blvd.
• The Natural History Museum in Exposition Park is the Tar Pits' sister museum, and it's where the museum sends you for indoor exhibits while this one is closed.