Explore LA: La Brea Tar Pits and Downtown

See the fossils of a saber-tooth tiger and the huge tusks of a wooly mammoth at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

We also went to downtown Los Angles to view the skyline from the 27-floor observation deck at the L.A. City Hall.

(We did a summer trip to Las Vegas and then drove to Los Angeles and back. This drive allowed us to see both places out West!)

Start of the Day

We took a train downtown and then transferred to the Los Angeles D Line (Purple) which currently ends at Wilshire/Normandie Station.

Slated to be extended to Wilshire and La Brea in which then you will be able to take it to the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum.

In our case, I had to go above ground and then take Bus 20 westbound to a stop near the museum.

LA BREA TAR PITS

You enter the grounds and to the left is the tar pit pond that still has tar oozing around it.

My son Andrew said, “Ewww.” The tar still bubbles up out of the pond and the nearby ground. Along the shore is a recreation of a stuck mastodon with mastodons on the shoreline. The ice age era site in the middle of Los Angeles is still being excavated.

Entering the Museum

The museum is circular with a garden in the middle. We purchased our tickets and then explored.

Seeing Ice Age Animals

Andrew checked out a display on one of the pits, which are dense with bones from long-dead ice-age animals.

Then he looked at Harlan’s Ground Sloth. It was 1,500 pounds at over nine feet in length. Considered to medium size. The largest species at the time could grow up to 20 feet in length. Its living relatives today are armadillos and small tree sloths.

Antique Bison fossils here helped scientists learn that bison did not live here full time. Bison fossils fall into distinct age groups showing them going south and then returning north through the year.

He stood in front of the bones of a California Saber-Tooth. Theorized that after a saber-tooth brought down a mastodon or mammoth, it stabbed the underbelly of the animal. Then retreated as the young animal died in order to escape a mother or another member of the herd.

Andrew looked small in front of the huge tusks of an American Mastodon that lived from 2 million to 10,000 years ago. (Main blog story photo)

Along the way was a recreation of a Pygmy Mammoth that lived 100,000 to 10,000 years ago. It was a separate species that lived in the Ice Age on the California Channel Islands. Adapting a smaller size with fewer resources on an island.

Then we looked at the bones of the Dire Wolf. It is closely related to the living timber wolves. They were pack animals and wolf bones in the pit showed evidence of serious injuries that later healed, like a crushed paw or broken limb.

He looked small also compared to the large bear and next to it a skull from it.

What Is It Like to Be Trapped in Tar?

Metal poles go down into different tubs filled with tar in a hands-on exhibit.

Andrew had asked, “Could you step slightly into the tar and get out?”

This hands-on exhibit allowed him to answer this question since the tubs are filled to different heights and the more filled it was the tougher it was to lift the poles out of the tar.

Can You Help the Mastodon Grow Its Tusks?

You can use a lever, to push the cones up and out of the mastodon skull. Real tusks grow like this: in layers that up to weeks, months, and years.

Science Lab

Scientists work behind a glass wall and you can watch what they are still learning about the animals once trapped in the tar.

Gift Shop

A large gift shop includes some science experiments. We purchased Popcorn Rock. You put the rock in white vinegar and crystals grow out of it.

Final Thoughts

Andrew enjoyed the many interactive activities at the museum including one where you used these metal mastodons that fought with their tasks. Also, he liked seeing all the fossils and using the metal bars to plunge in and out of the tar.

DETAILS

Located at the corner of Curson Avenue and 6th Street is museum parking. Enter from the western side of Curson Avenue. The cost is $15.

If you choose street parking, please read all parking signs carefully, as restrictions apply. Most importantly, do not park along Wilshire Boulevard between the hours of 7-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. (Monday – Friday), or your car will be ticketed and towed. This even applies to metered parking.

Admission: $15, Adults; $12, Seniors; $12, Students; $7 Child

3D Theater $6 and Show $6

Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Wednesday-Monday, Closed Tuesdays

Address: 5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90036

Lunch: Koreatown at a mom-and-pop restaurant near the subway station

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES

We got off the subway at the Pershing Square Station and walked up to the Grand Central Market where we had ice cream.

Grand Central Market

Hours: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Address: 317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Ray Bradbury Building

Across South Broadway is the Ray Bradbury Building used in the movie Blade Runner.

If you want to check it out Blue Bottle Coffee is in the building.

Hours: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., Daily

Address: 300 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Next, we walked two blocks down Third Street from the Bradbury Building then went left on Main Street. This is not the safest area so just be aware of your surroundings to go to the Los Angeles City Hall.

Los Angeles City Hall

You can only enter the building from Main Street and You will first have to go through a metal detector and let security know that you are doing the observation deck.

You will need to do the elevator that goes up to that level.

When you get off the elevator you will enter an open room and outside is a walkway that goes around the top. Here you can take photos and take in the views. It is not a high view, but it is free and since the tall buildings are at a distance you gain a view of the skyline.

Address: 200 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Hours vary so check the website for more information.

Olivera Street

We walked northeast above Santa Ana Freeway and to historic Los Angeles.

In this area, you can see the Chinese American Museum, the historic Plaza Firehouse, and on Olvera Street the Avila Adobe, the oldest house in Los Angeles.