La Brea Tar Pits

The museum at La Brea Tar Pits remains closed until further notice. The park at La Brea Tar Pits is currently open, and visitors can see paleontologists working at our excavation site weekly. See NHMLAC's response to coronavirus (COVID-19).

lake pit museum in background la brea tar pits

La Brea Tar Pits and Park

While the inside of the museum is closed, the park is open. Explore the Tar Pits and our excavation sites.

Our Excavations

We literally have Ice Age L.A. in our hands with excavations happening in the park.

Dig deeper

Photo of paleontologist excavating fossils

Discoveries Made Daily

See the Ice Age at eye level

Photo of workers excavating in the 1800's

Tales from the Tar Pits

Before Wilshire Was Wilshire

Want to discover more?

Stories

Okay, now I'm curious

Musk Ox Diorama

Year of the Ox

Celebrate Lunar New Year

Puma skull from Project 23 at La Brea Tar Pits

Pebbles the Ice Age Puma

tar pit in trinidad edited

story

From Giant Ground Sloths to Tiny Poops

Bison on the range

story

An American Icon, Once Endangered

Project 23 boxes and bins

Our Rich Digs

fossils of saber-toothed cat vertebrae on trays in the La Brea Tar Pits Museum’s collections room;

Paleo Prep School

In L.A.

We try to connect nature, people, and science—all over L.A.

Sketch of Supremes Costumes

Being Los Angeles

Celebrating Women's History Month

tile image for know your tier

Know Your Tier

Find out when you can get the COVID-19 vaccine

Carrasco Mural with Truth Overlayed

story

Angelenos Building Community: Celebrating Pastor Donavan Childs

tar pits excavator walking in tar pit

Tar Pits of the World

A grizzly bear jaw from Pit 61

California Grizzly Bears

students kids classroom activities education resources

Check out all our favorite educational activities, lesson plans, how-to's, and resources designed to be used offsite

Connect from home

Witness science in action at La Brea Tar Pits.

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lake pit at la brea tar pits

Lake Pit

Project 23

observation pit at the tar pits

Observation Pit

dire wolf wall at the tar pits

Dire Wolf Wall

Analisa Rivera, a UCLA senior, examining microfossils in the Fossil Lab.

Fossil Lab

Photo of saber tooth cat teeth in the fossil lab

Ice Age Fossils

Two pedestrian paths bring people above the Lake Pit, a site for urban fiction and imagination.

Reimagine
La Brea Tar Pits

Architects WEISS/MANFREDI selected to lead the master planning process in Hancock Park.

Imagine what's next

Photograph of people looking at the Tar Pits Fossil Lab

Did you know the Tar Pits are pretty cool?

La Brea Tar Pits has been voted one of 2019's World's Coolest Places by TIME for Kids.

What are you interested in learning about at the Tar Pits?

Icon of a saber-toothed cat to represent cats

Icon of a globe and thermometer to represent climate change

Icon of binoculars to represent discoveries

Icon of a woolly mammoth head to represent mammoths

Icon of a shovel to represent digs