Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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"Listed among Smithsonian highlights, this museum draws significant interest and, like many high-profile museums in the city, may require advance reservations during busy periods despite free general admission." - Nicholas DeRenzo Nicholas DeRenzo Nicholas DeRenzo knows where to eat, stay, and play in almost any locale. A travel writer and editor, he has contributed articles to Condé Nast Traveler, BBC Travel, Travel + Leisure, New York magazine, The New York Times, and Sunset. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines

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"Aligned with the La Brea Tar Pits, this museum's big draw is fossils: the Dinosaur Hall features three T. rex recreations, Triceratops skulls, and a unique pregnant plesiosaur, while a massive Mosasaur skeleton hangs from the ceiling; exhibits like 'Becoming Los Angeles' trace regional history from indigenous peoples through the city's modern development, and the campus houses extraordinary Ice Age collections." - Maxwell Williams

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"One of the city’s oldest institutions and the largest natural history museum in the American West, with millions of specimens spanning a timeline of some 4.5 billion years and fantastical fossils and skeletons. In 2024 the museum debuted a 75,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor wing containing a theater, coffee shop, welcome center, and gallery, enhancing its appeal for visitors of all ages." - Travel + Leisure Editors

On the Grid : Natural History Museum

"You could easily spend a whole afternoon at the Natural History Museum. It’s the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Their permanent collections, including, Becoming L.A. and Dinosaurs are excellent! The detail, lighting, and backdrop paintings in the life-size dioramas of North American and African mammals are something to see with your own eyes. If you come between September and October, you won't want to miss their special exhibit, The Butterfly Pavilion." - Ben Loiz Studio

"Since the early 1900s, L.A.'s Natural History Museum has been playing host to millions of artefacts from the past five or so billion years—and the collection keeps growing. (In 2011, they opened Dinosaur Hall.)"