‘Mammoths and Mastodons' Now Tar-Pitting Up Our Lives

Travel back to another age via a new exhibit at the La Brea Tar Pits Museum.

What to Know

  • La Brea Tar Pits Museum
  • Miracle Mile
  • Included with admission

When we say "the tar pits" 'round Southern California, we of course, and without argument, are talking about Wilshire Boulevard's world-famous La Brea Tar Pits (or "the the tar tar pits," if you want to get a little cheeky, which people are wont to do when discussing the La Brea Tar Pits).

And when we say the "La Brea Tar Pits," we might be talking about the actual burbling, gooey pits, which are bubbling, as you read this, along the Miracle Mile in mid-city.

Or? We might be referring to that glorious repository of Ice Age wonders that neighbors the largest tar pit.

That mighty repository is the La Brea Tar Pits Museum, a science-loving sibling to the also science-loving Natural History Museum, and it is like a giant gift box filled with fossils and facts detailing how this particular slice of the planet looked thousands of years ago.

And thousands of years ago, mammoths and mastodons ruled the place where museums and shops now stand, as well as a wider swath of future Los Angeles.

Which is just way cool, and anyone who says differently is making a mammoth mistake. 

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Eager to know more about these beasts of old, and to delve further into their fur-covered, tusk-terrific stories?

Best stomp, stomp, stomp over to the museum to check out the new "Mammoths and Mastodons" display. This brand-new museum experience includes "new life-sized replicas" of the big animals, as well as "... interactive experiences that will give you a hands-on understanding of the science behind excavating and analyzing these fascinating creatures."

How to stomp, stomp, stomp into the La Brea Tar Bits for an eyeful of these wayback behemoths?

Seeing these giants is included with your admission.

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