How to visit the La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, California


When I lived in Los Angeles, back in the 1980s, I use to love to visit the La Brea Tar Pits. Part of the reason is because it was free. And it still is.

No, I don't mean that you can go into the museum for free. But the Tar Pits are free. That is, the open space between Wilshire Boulevard and 6th Street between Fairfax and Curson. Yes, those are the tar pits. And it's what the greater Los Angeles area looked like before it was all covered up with concrete, freeways, donut shops, and malls. It was tar.

I went there a few years ago with my brother, who, naturally, seemed puzzled when I said, "We're here!" as we walked out into the open space.

The Tar Pits isn't a museum, it's a place. It's a place of oozing tar, which was been oozing for over a thousand years. When you walk there, the bottom of your shoes get black with tar, which is oil. You know, Black Gold, Texas Tea.

The land under the greater Los Angeles area is richer in oil than Texas. But instead of pumping all of the oil out, it has become a place where people love to live. And looking at the La Brea Tar Pits makes you wonder how that area became a place where people could live?

The oil was cleaned up. And so was the swampy area (La Cienega means swamp) to sell Real Estate. And it worked! So the Real Estate people became rich, but a tiny area was preserved. That's the La Brea Tar Pits.

I recommend that you visit there, no entrance fee.
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