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La Brea Tar Pits for FREE: The Smelliest Experience in Los Angeles – and we LOVED it!

Big Cities Nature West

The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California was on our MUST SEE list during our epic 9000 mile road trip. I’d always heard how it was right in the heart of LA but wasn’t prepared for how LITERALLY right next to everything it was!

On one side of the street are beautiful little apartments, and right across the street are bubbling ponds of tar, well, asphalt really. You will SMELL the La Brea Tar Pits before you see them!

La Brea Tar Pits Los Angeles California

Are the La Brea Tar Pits free?

Yes! Well, the grounds are free to visit which includes all of the actual tar pits and outdoor observation areas! If you want to visit the museum you will need to purchase tickets.

How much is parking at the La Brea Tar Pits?

On-site parking for $15 per vehicle  or the No. 20 bus also stops by the property.

La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

It is ALWAYS free to walk around the tar pits outside in LA! NO admission is necessary. 

We put the address in our GPS and headed to the La Brea Tar Pits. When we arrived we pulled into this slim packed parking lot a little confused as to where we actually needed to go. You’ll actually walk down to the end of the parking lot and come to a vast open field of sidewalks and see SOME of the tar pits right there fenced in!

Hold your nose! They are STINKY!!! But the grounds are VERY well kept (and free!) and arriving at this fencing is JUST the beginning of what you need to see before leaving the La Brea Tar Pits! There is a stunning museum AND far more pits to discover around the property! In fact my favorite one was the last thing we discovered before leaving!

Each fenced off tar pit had signs to read about the area which was absolutely fascinating and gave you a greater understanding of what you were looking at…..and smelling! It’s amazing to think you’re looking at this bubbling pit of goo that scientists have pulled up enormous amounts of skeletons from! Very primal!

La Brea Tar Pits Museum:

tar pit exhibit

You can visit the La Brea Tar Pits (outside) for FREE, but the museum has a fee. We found it cheapest to buy a package deal on the Go City Card for the various attractions we needed in California.

Perhaps one of my kids’ favorite exhibits was in the beginning of the La Brea Tar Pits Museum when we got to try and pull things out of trapped tar! It really gave us a better realization of just how hard it was for these animals to try and escape once they were stuck.

How many fossils have been found at the La Brea Tar Pits?

Over 3.5 MILLION fossils have been discovered at the La Brea Tar Pits! WOW! They have discovered snakes, mollusks, sloths, mountain lions, dire wolf, saber tooth cats, mastodons, bees & insects, plants, birds and even an occasional squirrel gets trapped.

skeleton at La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

As you can imagine the museum was FULL of skeletons, skulls, and other bones from animals that have been pulled out of these tar pits over the years. Although my 4 year old moved through the museum pretty quickly, my older kids and I spent a LOT more time here.

skeleton La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

The museum felt very open with plenty of space to move around.

woolly mammoth La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

The quality of the exhibits were impressive. Make sure you look up too! Some of my favorite pieces from the exhibit were displayed far up above your head near the ceiling!

family photo at La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

Inside the museum is also a beautiful nature walk area that makes a PERFECT spot for photos near the waterfall! And you absolutely CAN’T MISS the Dire Wolf Wall – it’s absolutely astounding and my favorite “WOW” moment in the museum!

Outside on the Grounds of the La Brea Tar Pit:

active digging tar pit at La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

After we visited inside the museum we realized that there were MORE tar pits outside that we didn’t know about! DON’T MISS THESE!!

Aside from the one or two large fenced in tar pit areas when you arrive on the grounds there is an entire “tar pit walk” including the above area (my favorite area outside!) where you can actually see an ACTIVE “digging” site!

Looking at this area not only gave you a greater grasp on just how DEEP these tar pits are but also how incredibly sticky and messy the work is that these scientists are doing!

project fossil crate La Brea Tar Pits LA Los Angeles

The pathways will wind you through various lab areas and storage crates holding specimens from the pits.

teen boys posing with large animal statue

There is even a giant ground sloth (actually a few!) that is fun for kids to take pictures with! There’s plenty of green grassy areas to run around with the kids on the grounds of the La Brea Tar Pits – just watch your footing because little bubbly areas of gooey tar are popping up everywhere! It was incredible!

Is it worth it to visit the La Brea Tar Pits museum?

This was a question we debated for quite some time as a family, simply because we were already driving 9000 miles on our road trip and we had to justify the expense of every attraction to decide what we wanted to do the most.

I will say the museum is high quality and beautifully done and certainly helped us understand the vast spectrum of research and importance of the tar pits. If you’re traveling from a far distance I do recommend adding the museum on your list to do. It was a fascinating experience and this makes a great couple hour to half day trip in LA.


Other Pacific Coast Adventures:

Winchester Mystery HouseAlcatraz Island visitors tips

 

By Crystal Leave a Comment

The Winchester Mystery House Story – The Facts Behind the Mystery

Big Cities Historical Oddities West

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California has always fascinated me! The more I hear about it the more I wish I could step back in time and talk to Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester. She was the heiress to a large part of the Winchester Repeating Arms fortune (so quite wealthy!)! A special thanks to the Winchester Mystery House who provided me a ticket to visit and learn more about this story in person!

Winchester Mystery House

Sarah’s story is truly heartbreaking. Her infant daughter died and just a few short years later her husband passed as well. I can’t even imagine! Legend has it she sought guidance from a medium to deal with the grief and guilt, but no one really knows. What started as an eight room farmhouse quickly grew into a monstrosity of curiosities. Stairs leading to nowhere. Hidden doors. Sometimes……with a deadly result.

strange door to nowhere

Notice anything odd about this photo above that I took standing outside of the house? That is the famous “Door to Nowhere”. You would not want to accidentally walk out that door! This is just one of many unusual things about this house.

How many doors and windows are in the Winchester Mystery House?

Visiting the Winchester Mystery House is so much more incredible than I could possibly imagined. I just couldn’t wrap my head around a house with 24,000 square feet including 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 52 skylights, 17 chimneys, 47 stairways and fireplaces, 160 rooms, 13 bathrooms and 6 kitchens! Just let some of those numbers sink in a bit. Check out some of the gorgeous stained glass windows below!

stained glass window Winchester Mystery House

If walls could talk, right? Maybe they can at the Winchester Mystery House. Why did Sarah continue this strange obsession of building staircases that end into walls? No one really knows. My boys are pretty obsessed with conspiracy theories, aliens, ghosts, etc. After watching an episode of Ghost Adventures of the Winchester Mystery House I was rather nervous about visiting to be honest!

Can you stay at the Winchester Mystery House?

Unfortunately (or fortunately?!) there are no overnight accommodations at the Winchester Mystery House. Although if you’re lucky enough you might be in town when they offer a night time tour. *shivers*

How much does the Winchester Mystery House cost?

There are actually a variety of tours and tickets offered to visit the Winchester Mystery House and it changes throughout the year! The more tickets you bundle together the more you save! A basic adult mansion tour ticket price runs about $39 ($20 for kids 6-12).

You can view the current available tour options and ticket prices here.

Winchester Mystery House

How do I buy tickets for the Winchester Mystery House?

Please visit the Winchester Mystery House website to Buy Tickets.

Is the Winchester Mystery House haunted?

antique typewriter lamp and desk

I suppose that depends if you believe in ghosts right? I’m not sure but I was pretty creeped out after searching online for ghostly experiences there. (Check out this Ghost Adventures episode!) Although visiting the location in person was far less spooky then I’d expected, it was really a beautiful house even with it’s oddities. I loved realizing that there was so much to explore on the grounds.

Highlights of the Mansion Tour at Winchester Mystery House:

Since I had my 4 year old with me we could only attend the Mansion Tour, not the Explore More Tour (there is an age limit). I was thrilled with how much of the house we were able to go through and felt like we covered a LOT of ground. Our tour guide was surprisingly HILARIOUS and really brought life to the tour and stories. It felt like he was there with Sarah during her lifetime.

Sarah Winchester's Bedroom in the Winchester Mystery House

Sarah Winchester’s bedroom, of course, was a much anticipated stop on the trip I was not prepared for how beautiful and spacious this room was! I guess after hearing the story, in my mind, I was expecting a tiny hole in the wall to match the eccentric behavior of its occupant. As you can see it’s stunning and grand!

garden room Winchester Mystery House

Perhaps one of my personal favorite rooms is the fabulous conservatory area that Sarah Winchester had built into her house. Look at all that natural lighting! I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful this old house really was. All you hear about and think about is how strange the story is, but it’s really a well cared for meticulous location. You can tell they’ve taken immaculate care of the grounds.

Check out this video tour overview of our visit:

 

What else can you do at the Winchester Mystery House property?

fruit drying shed red barn

Above you see the fruit drying shed but there are actually quite a few old buildings to see around the property after you’ve completed your tour. At your own leisure you can also tour the Foreman’s House, Tank House, Aviary, Gas Lighting Shop, Greenhouse, Gardener’s Tool Shed, Pump House, Garage and various fountains and courtyards. You’ll also find on site various Victorian Gardens, vintage arcade games and shooting gallery, various mini museums on site, gift shop, a cafe, and of course there are restrooms to use!

Whether you’re a history lover or ghost chaser I definitely recommend adding Winchester Mystery House to your itinerary. I definitely want to go on their Explore More tour if I make it back to the San Jose area!

Have you ever been to the Winchester Mystery House? I’d love to know what you thought of the grounds! Did you have any spooky encounters?


Other Things to Do in San Francisco and San Jose:

Alcatraz Island visitors tips

Take a tour of Alcatraz 
California Academy of Sciences
The Tech Interactive Museum
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
13 other Weird & Obscure things

By Crystal Leave a Comment

Tips for Visiting Alcatraz Island, Tickets + The Great Alcatraz Escape

Big Cities Historical West

Visiting Alcatraz Island is a popular historical attraction that is at the top of many people’s bucketlist. Should you take your kids to Alcatraz? Is it worth the price to get to Alcatraz? How DO you get to Alcatraz? Did anyone really escape from Alcatraz? What famous criminals lived on Alcatraz Island? This and SO MUCH MORE below! PSSST – We actually MET one of the former Alcatraz INMATES!

Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay

First, getting to Alcatraz sounded a little more confusing online when I was researching it than it really was! We decided to just show up the day of (with plenty of time of course!) to search for somewhere to park. Just scroll through below for tips on the logistics of how to get to Alcatraz, buying tickets, and where to park. Then keep scrolling past that for our experience on Alcatraz Island and things you should know before you go! A special thanks to Alcatraz Cruises for providing me a media ticket to visit the island.

white Alcatraz Cruises ferry boat

How do I buy tickets for Alcatraz?

There are 3 ways to purchase tickets for Alcatraz:

Alcatraz Island Cruises Ferry Tickets

  • Buy Tickets Online here!
  • Over the phone: 1-415-981-ROCK
  • At the Pier 33 Alcatraz Landing Ticketbooth.

Note – Although National Park Passes are not accepted, they do offer family ticket discounts!

Alcatraz Cruises ferry ticket

Alcatraz Cruises is the official concessioner to the National Park Service so I highly recommend using Alcatraz Cruises for your tickets so that they are guaranteed and the lowest price! PLUS don’t forget to look up at the top of the ferry boat! They have solar panels and special wind turbines that help to propel the boat, powers lights, light up displays, work the audio system and more!

Alcatraz Cruise ferry boat

How Far in Advance Should I Buy my Tickets?

I recommend buying them as soon as you know you want to visit – at least a week or more in advance if you can! As you can imagine with over a million visitors a year, Alcatraz is a popular destination! You CAN walk up and try to get a ticket but they are extremely popular and seem to be always sold out so I definitely wouldn’t go this route if you have another option to pre-plan.

Where can I park to go to take the ferry?

This was the most confusing part of my research, especially not being familiar with the San Francisco area! If you’re not familiar with the area there are several Piers off of the Bay that you will come across as you drive down The Embarcadero. You’ll see Pier 3, 7, 9, 15, 27, 29, 31, 33, 39….you get the idea. Alcatraz Landing, where you will meet to buy/pick up tickets and get on the ferry boat, is at Pier 33. Just before you get to Pier 33 on the right hand side (the bay) there are several parking lots easily visible and accessible from the street! Parking costs varied but ran from $20-$35ish depending on how far you wanted to walk. We got cheaper parking about a block from the pier (approximately 5 minutes walk).

Since we were a little early for our tour we decided to continue walking down to Pier 39 which has plenty of sea lions to enjoy in the bay!

Take a 90 Second Tour of Alcatraz Island:

 


Alcatraz Island

What famous criminals were in Alcatraz?

Although there were over 1500 inmates housed at Alcatraz in it’s years of operation, here are a few names you might recognize: Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, Frank Morris, Joseph Bowers, Al Capone, Meyer Cohen, Theodore Cole, Volney Davis, Herbert Allen Farmer, Ellsworth Raymond Johnson, Alvin Francis Kapavicz, George Celino Barnes, James C. Lucas, Robert Stroud, and Irving Wexler…..to name a few.

How many people escaped Alcatraz?

Over the 29 years that Alcatraz operated as a Federal prison, 36 men (including two who tried to escape twice) were involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Of these, 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed during their escape, and 2 drowned.

Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris made the great escape from Alcatraz in 1962, although to this day there is no public knowledge of what actually happened to these men. You can imagine the conspiracy theories swirling around this mystery! For many years it was assumed they didn’t make it past the San Francisco Bay, but fairly recently that idea has been challenged with multiple other theories. There has been no final conclusion and these men remain on the “wanted” FBI list to this day. Allen West was supposed to have escaped with the 3 in 1962 but a series of unfortunate events made his escape impossible.

Also in 1962, inmate John Paul Scott successfully swam from Alcatraz to Fort Point (the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge) where he was found be teenagers and suffering from hypothermia. After recovering in a local hospital he was sent back to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz Island visitors tips

Why did they close Alcatraz?

March 21, 1963 Alcatraz Prison closed it’s doors and transferred its last prisoners. Famously known as “The Rock”, this 12 acre island has been known in history as one of the most inescapable prisons. Although many people believe that Alcatraz was closed down due to the 1962 prison escapes, the real reason is much simpler. It simply was too expensive to continue in operation. You can read more about the history and specific details about the cost of operations here.


Inside Alcatraz:

laundry room at Alcatraz

When we first got off of the ferry we had absolutely no idea where to go. There were no signs or directions from rangers. We literally just started walking until we could figure out where we were. We discovered an open room not far from port that had an interesting video about the history of Alcatraz Island – not just about the popular known jail itself. It was home to far more than simply a prison. In fact many kids lived on the island as well!

3 kids visit Alcatraz island

The Audio Tour:

For the actual “prison” side of Alcatraz I wish we had known to start at the very top of the hill, up where the cell block was. There we had access to free audio tours which gave us far more history and background to the island than we arrived knowing. You begin by walking through the shower room, laundry room, and then you will wind around through the cell blocks.

The audio tour will tell you exactly where to go and turn if you are interested in following along with that. Signs for the cellblock row “names” are hanging just above your head on each row of the prison. The displays are great although more than likely will be very busy!

The headsets were very easy to use and you could pause them at any time you felt you needed more time to look around.

visiting cell block Alcatraz prison

Can you go INSIDE the prison cells at Alcatraz?

YES! Well, you can go inside SOME of the prison cells including several solitary confinement cells! Some are closed of course due to deterioration and for safety reasons (many toilets are broken with jagged pieces of ceramic sticking out) but there are enough cell blocks for photos and to get the feel of being inside one. You can see the audio tour headphones around our neck above.

exotic garden at Alcatraz

Alcatraz Facts:

  • Did you know that some of the first metal detectors EVER were used at Alcatraz?
  • The first lighthouse in California was on Alcatraz!
  • Alcatraz Island actually had a Civil War fort and military prison in 1907.
  • The average cell block size in the prison was 5 feet by 9 feet.
  • There is an extensive garden on Alcatraz Island! Originally a volunteer garden from the 1860’s-1963 it is now flourishing again.
  • In 1969, a group of Native American Indians claimed Alcatraz as Indian land with the hope of creating a Native American cultural center and education complex on the island.
  • Alcatraz became part of the National Park Service in 1972 and opened to the public in 1973.

Morgue on Alcatraz Island:

morgue on Alcatraz Island

For those interested in the darker side of life like I am, you will find this makeshift morgue on Alcatraz Island interesting. It has a rather lackluster history as it was never actually used for an autopsy and only saw one body for an overnight stay. There were actually not many deaths at the prison itself that required use of a morgue but above you can still see the interior.

Birds of Alcatraz:

baby seagulls Western Gulls

There are 5 main bird species found nesting on Alcatraz Island:

  • Western Gull (babies seen in the photo above)
  • Cormorants
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Snowy Egret
  • Black-crowned Night-Heron

family with kids on alcatraz

What I wished I knew before visiting Alcatraz:

  1. Bring water and snacks! I wish I had thought of bringing lunch with us because we were SO hungry! Thankfully Alcatraz Cruises has fabulous tables and chairs and a snack bar on the ferry which we took full advantage of after our tour!
  2. You can bring strollers! We took our umbrella stroller and it was easy peasy! A few things to note, however. Strollers cannot go everywhere but if you’ve got a munchkin who needs a stroller I’d rather have one than not have one! We just left it outside when we went inside any of the buildings. I will say though, that pushing a stroller up those steep hills is no easy feat!
  3. You CAN wear flip flops! So this tip is for those of you who are DIE HARD flip flop wearers like me. I was deterred from wearing flip flops due to the strong cautions against it but I regretted wearing sneakers and got plenty of blisters from my visit. If you hike, sleep, and breathe in flip flops – don’t worry, I would wear them if they are more comfortable for you! You will be doing a lot of walking, and more importantly – STEEP walking. Wear what you would normally wear for such an occasion.
  4. Bring a jacket or sweatshirt! We visited in the end of June and it was FREEZING out on the bay. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful sunshine! There are places you can sit indoors on the Alcatraz Cruises ferry boat but I wanted my first visit to Alcatraz Island to be up front and center. I asked the captain where the best view would be and staked my claim there – for better or for worse. It was frigid! Painfully frigid. You’ll probably warm up though hiking around the island so be warned you might need to carry your jacket eventually.
  5. There are multiple gift shops on the island! I was surprised that there are multiple gift shops on the island – and they are all different. So if you’re looking for a souvenir I definitely recommend checking out each of the gift shops – they really had some fantastic stuff!
  6. Alcatraz maps are for donation so bring a dollar! The map layout is simple but really great and we found it beneficial to have one.

Meeting a former inmate of Alcatraz:

Bill Baker Alcatraz inmate

One thing that I didn’t know before I visited the island was that we would have the absolutely incredible opportunity to meet a former inmate of Alcatraz! YES – an INMATE! We met Bill “William” Baker, former inmate #1259 who was  an inmate in Alcatraz prison from 1957-1960. He originally landed in the prison due to 3 escape attempts and 3 previous prisons and made use of his time in the “Rock” by learning how to make counterfeit checks which landed him in and out of prison for the following 50 years.

Since then he has written a book and can often be found in the gift shop on the island signing his books and talking with visitors. In fact my son had the chance to talk to him and Bill signed his postcard! I really wish I’d gotten a better photo but I LOVE the fact that my son now has a small connection to the history of this iconic prison in history.

A few more photos around the island:

Alcatraz Island courtyard

Courtyard on Alcatraz where children played – looking at San Francisco.

ruins on Alcatraz Island

fading administration building eagle alcatraz

military baracks Alcatraz

red brick history alcatraz

red brick history alcatraz

Alcatraz Island lighthouse

Alcatraz Cruises ferry boat

 

By Crystal Leave a Comment

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