For nearly 25 years, the only place to see the Ice Age fossils unearthed in the La Brea Tar Pits was at the adjacent Observation Pit. The circular 1954 building led visitors down a spiraling walkway to a staged “excavation” of actual bones from saber-toothed cats, mastodons, ground sloths, and dire wolves (longtime locals may remember it from childhood field trips). The midcentury modern structure was closed in the early ’90s, but in summer 2014, the Page Museum renovated and reopened the Observation Pit, and now visiting La Brea is more interactive than ever before. You can tour a live dig site on one of the new daily Excavator Tours or watch a staff paleontologist brush off fresh finds at the Fossil Lab—a thrilling, behind-the-scenes peek for budding scientists.
For nearly 25 years, the only place to see the Ice Age fossils unearthed in the La Brea Tar Pits was at the adjacent Observation Pit. The circular 1954 building led visitors down a spiraling walkway to a staged “excavation” of actual bones from saber-toothed cats, mastodons, ground sloths, and dire wolves (longtime locals may remember it from childhood field trips). The midcentury modern structure was closed in the early ’90s, but in summer 2014, the Page Museum renovated and reopened the Observation Pit, and now visiting La Brea is more interactive than ever before. You can tour a live dig site on one of the new daily Excavator Tours or watch a staff paleontologist brush off fresh finds at the Fossil Lab—a thrilling, behind-the-scenes peek for budding scientists.
