Step into an Ice Age adventure. Unearth mysteries deep beneath your feet, witness fossil discoveries, and explore exhibits of mammoth proportions. Dive into a unique journey through time, as you investigate the science and history preserved by the Tar Pits.

La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years.

Plan your visit to La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Get tickets for admission, exhibits, 3D movies and films, shows and tours.

Located in the heart of L.A., La Brea Tar Pits are one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, where more than 100 excavations have been made! It’s a fascinating piece of land. Over time, this area has been ancient forest and savannah, ranch land and oilfield, Mexican land grant, and Los Angeles County Park.

Right in the heart of L.A. sits the world’s most powerful gateway to the Ice Age. The asphalt seeps at La Brea Tar Pits are the only active urban fossil dig site in the world. Plants and animals from the last 50,000 years are discovered here every day. Outside, you can watch excavators carve fossils out of the asphalt.

La Brea Tar Pits is an important active archaeological dig site from which fossils dating back to the last Ice Age emerge almost daily. The site features a museum with an impressive collection of fossils and life-size reproductions of prehistoric animals and an outdoor area with large pits filled with tar that has solidified over the millennia ...

Located in the heart of metropolitan Los Angeles, the La Brea Tar Pits are one of the world’s most famous fossil localities. Explore the world’s only active, urban Ice Age excavation site. Inside the Museum is where we showcase the best fossils, animals, and plants that have been discovered here — mammoths, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves ...

L.A. County Residents get free Museum admission from 3-5 pm Monday through Friday. Tickets are available onsite only. See Museum Free Hours and Admission. Explore special rates and packages for groups on our Group Visits page. Become a member! Become an NHMLAC insider!

Located in the middle of what’s known as the Miracle Mile museum district, the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum is within easy walking distance from such attractions as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the Peterson Automotive Museum.