Visiting Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Location & Parking

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located in downtown LA near other popular attractions like the California Science Center and the LA Memorial Coliseum.

There is a small museum parking lot adjacent to the museum, which costs $20 for the day. The entrance to the parking lot is located off Bill Robertson Lane.

From there, it’s just a short walk to the museum entrance. Finding parking and getting to the museum was easy and not a big hassle.

After parking, walk to the north ticket booth that is located outdoors. Then you’ll need to show your wristband to security and enter the museum by crossing a small bridge that goes over the nature gardens.

Museum Location: 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Our Experience Visiting The Natural History Museum of L.A. County

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has three floors that feature permanent exhibits. There’s also a Mezzanine Level, where you can see some of the exhibits from up top.

During our visit, we spent around 3 hours exploring the various halls and didn’t see it all. We didn’t have enough time to see the temporary exhibits like the ‘Fierce! The Story of Cats’, or watch the 3D dinosaur film that I’m sure our toddler would have loved.

I recommend setting aside half a day if you really want to explore all of the museum halls.

Entrance

After crossing the bridge, you will reach the main entrance. The first thing you’ll notice as you enter the museum is a giant skeleton of a fin whale suspended in the air.

From there, you’ll need to walk through a museum store to enter the main hall.

Level 1

As you enter the main floor, you’ll see ‘Dueling Dinos’. This is a centerpiece showcasing skeletons of two enormous dinosaurs – the Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

This is a great opening piece, and our little toddler was very excited to see dinosaur skeletons in person. 

Dinosaur Hall

Since dinosaurs are our toddlers’ favorites, we first ventured into the Dinosaur Hall. We were amazed by the Dinosaur Hall, which has two rooms featuring 20 dinosaur skeletons and 300 fossils.

In the first gallery, you’ll see a large display of a Triceratops that was recreated from four different dinosaurs. Triceratops was one of the last large dinosaurs to go extinct, around 65 million years ago.

It is rare to find complete dinosaur fossils, so displays are often created by mixing and matching the bones of several different specimens from various locations. This Triceratops was created by using bones found in Montana and Wyoming.

In the same room, you’ll also see a large exhibit of a Mamenchisaurus hovering over the entire room. Mamenchisaurus had the longest neck of any known dinosaur.

This dinosaur lived around 160 million years ago, and scientists still don’t fully understand how it could support its long neck.

In the second gallery, you’ll see a giant centerpiece with three Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons in various age stages, from baby to juvenile to sub-adult.

After touring both rooms, I recommend taking the elevator to the Mezzanine Level to see the Dinosaur Hall from above – quite the sight!

At the end of the Dinosaur Hall, you can stop by the Dino Store to check out dinosaur-themed toys, books, and clothing.

The Age of Mammals

From the Dinosaur Hall, we hopped around to different exhibits. The next one up was The Age of Mammals.

After dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, mammals replaced dinosaurs as the dominant land animals.

This hall showcases skeletons of various mammals, including the American mastodon, which looks like a giant elephant.

North American Mammal Hall

The North American Mammal Hall spotlights some of the best diorama-style displays I have seen at a museum.

Here you can see life-size three-dimensional dioramas of animals that lived in North America, such as wolves, moose, grizzly bears, and bison, along with others.

The displays are made to look very realistic, placing the animals in their natural habitats. Some of the animals are showcased in action, like hunting, while others are in more relaxed poses, like sleeping.

Even though the dioramas are over 90 years old, they are definitely one of the biggest highlights of the museum!

African Mammal Hall

Moving on, the African Mammal Hall also displays life-size dioramas with a focus on African mammals.

Living in the US, we don’t often get to see many of these animals in real life, so it was quite impressive to see them displayed at the museum.

Becoming L.A.

Becoming L.A. is a great gallery to explore for California locals. There is so much to learn here about how Los Angeles was established through various artifacts and stories. One of the rooms even has a giant display of LA. City.

Level 2

While you could spend an entire day in Level 1, be sure to set aside time to explore the other levels as well. There were other exhibits on Level 1 that we didn’t get to see before heading up to the second floor.

Bugtopia

Bugtopia is a great area for the little ones to explore. In this room, you can see bugs from all over the world.

Here you can see a few really colorful and artistic displays of bugs on the walls.

Our toddler also enjoyed pretending to be an ant and crawling over the bright green ant obstacle course.

Paleo Play Zone

Located in the same room, the Paleo Play Zone is a fun, interactive display where your little ones can dig for dinosaur fossils. The sand is made of rubber pieces, so it’s mess-free!

North American Mammal Hall

Similar to the hall on Floor 1, this room also displays diorama animals from North America, such as sheep, polar bears, deer, and walrus.

The dioramas truly look like a work of art with so many intricate details.

Dino Lab

While walking to the next exhibit, you will pass by the Dino Lab. Here you can see paleontologists work on dinosaur fossils in real life. 

We didn’t see any working during our visit, but it’s such a cool concept! I’m sure it inspires many kids want to become paleontologists themselves.

Bird Hall

I was so impressed when we entered the Bird Hall! This hallway has hundreds of taxidermized birds on display behind the glass walls.

Unlike the mammal halls where the animals are displayed in natural habitats, these birds are lined up in an organized way.

It was wild to see so many bird species in one place! There is so much to look at here that it can feel a bit overwhelming.

Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness

This is a temporary exhibit that was on display during our visit. This hall has been closed for decades and was reopened in 2024 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the museum dioramas.

Visible Vault

This is a small hall where you can see stone, metal, and ceramic artifacts from the Aztec, Maya, and Ica civilizations. All of the artifacts are displayed behind glass walls so you can see them up close.

Nursing Room

As a mom of a 3-month-old, I was so happy to find a nursing room on the second level where I could feed my little one.

The door to enter the nursing room has a lock with a code. You can try to flag down a staff member to open the door or call the main museum phone number to get the entry code.

Level G

We spent the least amount of time in Level G. By the time we got down here, our kids were getting antsy and ready to leave.

Neighborhood Grill

Since our toddler is a picky eater, we brought our own food and snacks for him. But if you’d rather buy food at the museum, head to Neighborhood Grill on Level G.

You can order the food at the counter, including sandwiches, pizzas, kids’ meals, and snacks. There is plenty of seating inside, or you can enjoy the food and fresh air in the outdoor seating area.

Fierce! The Story of Cats

This is a special exhibit that focuses on cats. It cost extra, and we ran out of time to see it, but it would be fun to come back for it another time.

There was a small gift shop by the exhibit selling stuffed animals and souvenirs with a cat theme.

Nature Lab

This hall covers animals and wildlife that live locally in LA. This is a great place for older kids who enjoy hands-on experiments.

Nature Gardens

The outdoor area of the museum is beautiful and features an urban waterfall, ponds, trees, and hiking trails. Walking along these trails was a great way to end our visit and enjoy a bit of fresh air.

We walked to the end of the trail, where we saw an edible garden with growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Have you visited the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County? Let us know your favorite exhibits in the comment section below!

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This post is written by Laura. Hi, I’m a California local and the founder of the California Wanderland travel blog. I currently live in Ventura County and help 50,000 readers a month discover things to do in Central California! Read more about me here.

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