Hancock Park La Brea

Hancock Park—not to be confused with the affluent neighborhood of the same name—sits atop a literal mine of goo-soaked preshistoric bones. You probably know this oily animal trap better as the La Brea Tar Pits, which for over 100 years has unearthed everything from saber-toothed cat to mammoth fossils. You don't need to pay for admission to the Page Museum to walk around the Pits, and the same goes for opposite end of the park, where you can pose in the Instragrammable Urban Light sculpture without a ticket to LACMA. The green expanse between the two institutions is picnic and dog-friendly, and overall a wonderful place to enjoy the outdoors within a stone's throw of LA cultural icons (not to mention the row of museums on the opposite side of Wilshire).