Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90007
Hours: 9:30 am - 5 pm Daily
General Admission + Butterfly Pavilion: Adults $18, Senior $12, Kids $10
Take your kids to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and you won't regret it.
I certainly didn’t, even though we were unfortunate enough to visit when the entire second level, three-quarters of the ground level and most of the lower level were closed due to their fundraising event. I don’t begrudge them these events because it keeps their doors open and our entrance fees affordable. I must admit, I got a teeny tiny bit frustrated when we had to go all-the-way-around to get from one open section to the next.
Since we parked by the California Science Center (yes, it is in the same campus), we came by the NHM at the east entrance. The facade is still the same stately "brick and cement" facing the Rose Gardens, which has not yet flowered.
The Edible Garden found by the East Entrance is educational and inspirational. I'm very grateful for the numerous labels placed among the plants: without them, I would be completely clueless as to what flora I was looking at. That's right, even mommies don't know their vegetable sometimes. Only sometimes, though. The orange blossoms are filling the air with their strong sweet scent and are giving me major nostalgia.
The Nature Gardens is beautiful and teeming with flowers and urban wildlife. "Spring is here" after all. As soon as we got the the Nature Gardens, the kids shot out like bullets from the barrel of a badly-aimed gun. They tried to go everywhere and do everything at the same time. There are benches for us older people to rest our feet and park our bee-hinds.
The gardens were organized into different sections: The Pollinator Garden is beautiful this time of the year; The Get Dirty Zone was a welcome break for both parents and kids; The fountain was refreshing.
Various gadgets, equipments, and doodads, as well as explanations for them, are spread throughout the various sections of the Nature Gardens and they are very much appreciated. Now the kids (ok, I guess the adults too) know what a rain meter looks like and how underground water sounds like.
The Nature Lab is an engaging way to learn about how much "life" is in our homes, our yards, our neighborhood and the rest of LA! There are specimens, stories from locals and interactive displays.
The Becoming LA is also very interesting historical exhibit. The good, the bad, and the ugly were mentioned. It covered the history of Los Angeles from the Spanish to Mexican to modern era and mentioned events that helped shape the City to what it is today culturally, geographically and economically. Names, photographs, and artifacts are on display. I now know where the names from some of our streets came from when I saw these names in the exhibit. e.g. Lankershim and Petit.
In my past visits, two and three decades ago, I remember thinking that this is what a museum is supposed to be like: old, brick and grand. Museums now have embraced what I call "modern" museum architecture that uses a lot of windows to provide better lighting and a less "stuffy" feel.
I don't object.
One such modern wing houses the "Age of Mammals" exhibit that displays North American mammals. It is well-lighted, well-labeled and well-spaced. We all had fun trying to guess what type of animal a skeleton used to be.
The Butterfly Pavilion is a fully-enclosed clear-colored-tent. It's small and beautiful and has a wonderfully curated gift shop just outside. Each entry is timed and limited to thirty minutes. From past experience at other butterfly pavilions, I was afraid half an hour wouldn't be enough, but for LAC's NHM, it was enough. The handy-dandy butterfly guide NHM provided made butterfly "hunting" much more exciting, interesting and educational.
There are several exhibits I didn't get to see during our visit like the gems, the dueling dinosaurs and the dino lab. I was reassured that they weren't eliminated in the museum's re-imagining but I was disappointed they were closed at the time.
The north entrance has a new addition: A ginormous skeleton of a wingless dragon!
I was vetoed and told "no, it's not", but who's to say I'm wrong when we weren't allowed to even walk up to the gate so we could ask a docent? It's barely visible in this photo, and it's possible, I guess, that it's a whale. If you absolutely must insist.
Whatever that thing is, guests will get to (have to?) cross this walkway over the beautiful gardens and walk under the skeleton as they enter the museum from the ticket booths. This giant glass "display cage" is obviously one of the modern additions to the brick building
Bottomline: I highly recommend visiting with your kids and bringing friends along too. I highly recommend visiting even if you don't have kids! Just make sure you call ahead and check if any exhibits are closed.
Tips:
- Parking is $12 at the Exposition Park and it is CASH ONLY.
- There are plenty of picnic spots to choose from.
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