La Brea Tar Pits - Los Angeles, California

A walk back in time

One of the tourist spots you can visit in Los Angeles is the famous La Brea Tar Pits, which are collection of tar pits. It is located in the affluent and historic urban neighborhood of Hancock Park.

This accessible and famous paleontological site was created from asphalt or tar that has infiltrated from the ground for thousands of years. As a result, hundreds of sticky pools of tar were formed. Of the hundred pits in the park, Pit 91 is the most famous because it is visited by tourists every summer. One of the exhibits of the site is the regular excavation of the site for fossils that last for two months.   

For years, a rich collection of fossils have been unearth from these tar pits. Some of these fossils are from prehistoric mammals, insects and plants. With the discoveries of these fossils and microfossils, it gives a picture of what the Los Angeles basin looks like during the glacial age, which is a cooler and moister environment that maintains a rich collection of flora and fauna.  

 If you want to see these fossils, you can visit the George C. Page Museum, which is located also in Hancock Park. This museum is considered as a part of Los Angeles County’s Natural History Museum.

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