MOTA Day 2022 Activities
Join us on Sunday, May 22 to celebrate the diverse mix of art, architecture, and history of the Arroyo Seco area.
Please NOTE: Shuttles
Click on each museum to see what special events/happenings they will present for Museums of the Arroyo Day 2021!
Engage and Support MOTA Partners
While MOTA Day is not taking place in 2020, there ARE virtual events/activities happening at some of our partner museums. We encourage you to visit and bookmark pages for all MOTA museums as well as follow them on social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, to keep up-to-date on upcoming remote events.
Additionally, many of our MOTA partners are nonprofit museums that are experiencing a tremendous loss of income from closing their doors because of the COVID-19 crisis. We hope you consider supporting them. For 31 years, our MOTA museums have generously opened their doors free of charge to the public on MOTA Day. Consider a financial donation, a membership purchase or a visit to one of their online stores. Your support matters.
Thank you. Stay safe everyone!
MOTA Partners and Virtual Experiences
While MOTA Day is not taking place in 2020, there ARE events/activities happening at some of our partner museums! We encourage you to visit and bookmark pages for all MOTA museums — like the Pasadena Museum of History and the Autry Museum of the American West — as well as follow them on social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, to keep up-to-date on upcoming events.
Additionally, many of our MOTA partners are nonprofit museums that are experiencing a tremendous loss of income from closing their doors because of the COVID-19 crisis. We hope you consider supporting them. For 31 years, our MOTA museums have generously opened their doors free of charge to the public on MOTA Day. Consider a financial donation, a visit to one of their online stores or a membership. Your support matters.
Thank you. Stay safe everyone!
Cancelled: MOTA Day 2020

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay safe everyone!
MOTA Day 2020 CANCELLED

Advice for MOTA Day Visitors
We know it’s exciting — six museums! Free admission! Fun!
But we strongly encourage visitors to only plan to tour three maybe four museums on MOTA Day. Spend time and enjoy. Don’t rush. Don’t miss your shuttle back to your car.
Remember, MOTA Day is noon – 4pm.
MOTA Day offers so many sights to see…and you can always come back next year to check out museums you didn’t see this year!
Save the Date for MOTA 2020!
Mark your calendars for Museums of the Arroyo Day 2020 – Sunday, May 17.
From noon – 4 pm , you can explore all the MOTA museums for free with free shuttles connecting all.
Stay tuned for more details!
How to Get to MOTA Day
There are many ways to get to MOTA Day!
DRIVE YOURSELF
The MOTA museums are conveniently located off the 210 and 110 freeways in Pasadena and Los Angeles.
Heritage Square is located just north of downtown off of the Pasadena (110) at the Avenue 43 exit; Gamble House and Pasadena Museum of History are located off of the Ventura (134) freeway on either side of Orange Grove, north of Walnut Avenue. The other museums are located between these two points.
Parking will be available on the surrounding streets around each museum.; there is limited parking at the Los Angeles Police Museum’s parking lot. Please note parking at Heritage Square: There is NO PARKING ON HOMER STREET near Heritage Square. Walkers can use front entrance of Heritage Square, but there is no parking on Homer or the adjacent dirt lot. Heritage Square has a back gate at 3515 Pasadena Avenue and visitors can park nearby, or use ride share to enter the museum from there.
TAKE THE GOLD LINE
You can easily reach MOTA Day by taking the Gold Line and exiting the train at the Heritage Square stop.
WALK THE MUSEUMS
Our southern Highland Park museums — Heritage Square and Lummis Home — are within walking distance of each other. Download our Highland Park walking map for directions.
Likewise, our Pasadena museums — The Gamble House and Pasadena Museum of History — are virtually across the street from each other.
SHUTTLE SERVICE BETWEEN THE MUSEUMS
NOTE: The Highland Park Shuttle DOES NOT stop at Heritage Square.
Museums of the Arroyo Day will have a continuous shuttle loop. There will be shuttles operating between the Gamble House/Pasadena Museum of History and Los Angeles Police Historical Museum and the Lummis Home/Heritage Square. NOTE: The Highland Park shuttle does NOT stop at Heritage Square. Museum-goers must walk to Heritage Square from Lummis Home, a few short walk.
Download our Shuttle Service/Parking map for directions. Please plan accordingly.
Remember, MOTA Day is from noon to 5 p.m. with last museum entrance at 4pm.
When making plans to visit, arrange your time appropriately. We advise you visit no more than three museums on MOTA Day!
Please note: Many of these historic museums have limited accessibility for handicapped individuals. Please check with each museum’s website for additional information.
About MOTA Day
Celebrating a diverse mix of art, architecture and history of the Arroyo Seco area, MOTA Day features five unique history-based museums that preserve and perpetuate early Los Angeles life. The public can visit one or all of the museums during the day at no charge.
MOTA museum participants for 2024 include The Gamble House, Heritage Square Museum, the Los Angeles Police Museum, the Lummis Home, the Pasadena Museum of History.
In addition to its ongoing regular displays and exhibits, each museum will feature a distinctive slice of Southern California history.
For more information on the 33th annual MOTA Day, please join the fun on Facebook and on Instagram by becoming a fan.