 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Inspiring wonder, discovery and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds — the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is one of the preeminent natural and cultural history museums in the United States. Founded in 1913, the Museum serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education. From fossils to fish, there is something for everyone to explore. The Museum has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history — more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. The Museum also curates new, immersive exhibitions that incorporate technology, video imagery and sound, and urge visitors to explore its specimens in new ways — through perspectives such as music and art. Permanent exhibition halls include dramatic collections of fossils and dinosaurs, exquisite gems and minerals, grand animal dioramas with flora and fauna appropriate to each region, and a California History Hall. The kid-friendly Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center welcomes children and families with hands-on natural history specimens. The accompanying Insect Zoo, the largest in the Western United States, presents live insects from around the world.
900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90007. Open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. $9 for adults, $6.50 for students and seniors, and $2 for children ages 5-12. Admission is free for children under 5 and Museum members. Admission is also free for everyone on the first Tuesday of every month. For further information, visit the Museum’s website at www.nhm.org or call (213) 763-DINO.
 Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
Located in the heart of metropolitan Los Angeles, the world famous Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits represents the only active urban paleontological excavation site in the United States. This unique Southern California attraction displays Ice Age fossils of animals from sticky asphalt deposits 10,000 to 40,000 years old, including saber-toothed cats, mammoths, dire wolves and mastodons. Also on display are the fossilized remains of microscopic plant remains, insects and reptiles. Daily, visitors can watch scientists and volunteers clean, repair, and identify fossil remains inside the glass-enclosed Fishbowl Lab. During the summer, visitors can watch the live excavation of fossils.
5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90036. Open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. $7 for adults, $4.50 for students and seniors, and $2 for children ages 5-12. Admission is free for children under 5 and Museum members. Admission is also free for everyone on the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, visit the Museum’s website at www.tarpits.org or call (323) 934-PAGE.
 William S. Hart Museum and Ranch in Newhall
Silent film star William S. Hart purchased a ranch house and surrounding property in Newhall, north of Los Angeles, in 1921. He built a 22-room mansion and filled it with Western art, Native American artifacts, and early Hollywood memorabilia. Hart bequeathed the 265-acre estate to Los Angeles County for the enjoyment of the public at no charge. Tours and programs such as silent movie screenings take place frequently at the mansion. Among the ranch’s permanent residents is an assortment of animals, including a small herd of bison, a gift from the Walt Disney Studios in 1962.
24151 Newhall Avenue, Newhall, CA, 91321. Open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with tours every half hour. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Museum's website at www.hartmuseum.org or call (661) 254-4584.
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