Located in the happening area between Koreatown, Fairfax District, and Hollywood, Hancock Park has a desirable location. The park contains three cultural institutions to warrant an entire day of exploring and is built upon an active site of Ice Age fossil excavation—the only dig of its kind in an urban setting. See the excavated bones on display in the Page Museum, or simply smell the sulfurous tar and visit the wooly mammoth sculptures stuck in the tar-filled Lake Pit.
Next door, at LACMA, the West’s largest art museum, you’ll find artwork spanning both the ages and the globe. Like the Tar Pits, you can access many of its features without stepping inside the museum, including museum dining, free concerts, and public sculptures, including “Levitated Mass,” a 340-ton boulder perched above a walkway.
LACMA is free to everyone on the second Tuesday of each month and to Bank of America cardholders on the first full weekend of every month.
LA residents enjoy significant ticket discounts, including free youth membership (called NextGenLA), free weekday entry before 3pm, and discounts for Metro Pass holders.
There are three dining options at LACMA, including light bites and coffee at C+M (Coffee + Milk), a full-service menu with indoor and outdoor seating at Ray’s, and craft cocktails and lounge seating at the Stark Bar.
Favorite experiential attractions at LACMA include the floating rock of Levitated Mass, the walk-through noodles of Penetrabile, the streetlight sculpture, Urban Light, and the kinetic car sculpture called Metropolis II.
Over a million bones have been excavated in the Tar Pits since the early 1900s, and the best of these are displayed at the Page Museum, having been caught in “tar” between 11,000 and 50,000 years ago.
The shady residential streets of Hancock Park are worth driving or walking for the historic cultural monuments found there, as well as a sampling of 1920s-era Tudor revival, Spanish colonial revival, and châteauesque architecture.
Hancock Park is in central Los Angeles, with the Miracle Mile (Wilshire Boulevard) running through it. The area is sandwiched between the 101 Freeway, running north and south, and Interstate 10, running east and west. Either freeway offers easy access to this leafy area full of not-to-miss Los Angeles attractions.
While the museums within Hancock Park are open year-round, this area is most engaging in the warm weather months. Experiences include indoor and outdoor elements, including ongoing fossil excavation sites, public artwork, and community gatherings. Friday nights are especially lively when LACMA hosts free music concerts from April through November.
Although tickets are required to enter LACMA, there is plenty to enjoy for free on the museum grounds. The entrance on Wilshire Boulevard contains Chris Burden’s Urban Light assemblage sculpture, made up of restored street lamps from the 1920s and 1930s. On select days, the Boone Children’s Gallery hosts free art classes (sign-up required), and from April through November, visitors can enjoy free Friday evening outdoor concerts.
