Looking for a place to explore your paleontological passions?
Here are museums, parks, and other fossil-themed attractions where you can learn more about Earth’s fascinating past.
Museums, National, and State Parks:
Find Your State Below:
International locations:
Australia Canada Malta Mexico Portugal
Want to see more documented paleontological resources?
Check out the National Park Service List of Fossils!
Alabama
Museums
Alabama Museum of Natural History
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Travel to the Black Belt of Alabama in search of vertebrate and invertebrate fossils from the Dinosaur Age (late Cretaceous).
Anniston Museum of Natural History
Location: Anniston, AL
Travel back to a time when dinosaurs roamed an ever-changing landscape! Our Dynamic Earth exhibit hall features life-sized casts of dinosaurs and aquatic reptiles, as well as life-sized Pteranodon and Albertosaurus models. Learn what our prehistoric planet was like while exploring a world of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and plate tectonics. A collection of rocks and minerals from the Smithsonian Institution will dazzle with its color and texture. Discover how wind and water continue to change our planet. Immerse yourself in the cool, dim world of salamanders and bats, through a realistic reproduction of an Alabama cave environment that will bring you back to the present.
McWane Science Center
Location: Birmingham, AL
In the entire United States, Alabama is the best place east of the Mississippi River to find the remains of dinosaurs. The Alabama Dinosaurs exhibit displays actual dinosaur fossils discovered around the state. Alabama Dinosaurs features rare finds from the Alabama tyrannosaur to the dangerous dromaeosaurs or “raptors.”
National and State Parks
Little River Canyon National Preserve
Location: Fort Payne, AL
Alaska
Museums
Alaska Museum of Science & Nature
Location: Anchorage, AK
Hands-on exploration of Alaska’s dinosaur finds. Marine reptiles and flying pterosaurs that lived in Alaska alongside the dinosaurs. A replica of the pterosaur with a 32-foot wingspan that was found in Denali Park.
University of Alaska Museum
Location: Fairbanks, AK
The museum exhibits are the best introduction to Alaska’s diverse wildlife, people, and land. This top-rated Alaska destination displays the artistic creations that make the museum a leading cultural heritage center. See bears, wolves, and dinosaurs, artifacts of Alaska Native ingenuity, birds – both resident and migratory, a mummified steppe bison, and artwork spanning 2000 years of Alaska history.
National and State Parks
Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
Location: King Salmon, AK
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Location: Nome, AK
Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Location: Kotzebue, Ak
Denali National Park and Preserve
Location: Trapper Creek, AK
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Location: Bettles, AK
Glacier Bay Park and Preserve
Location: Haines, AK
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Location: King Salmon, AK
Kenai Fjords National Park
Location: Seward, AK
Kobuk Valley National Park
Location: Kotzebue, AK
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
Location: Port Alsworth, AK
Noatak National Preserve
Location: Noatak, AK
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Location: Chitina, AK
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Location: Central, AK
Arizona
Museums
Arizona Museum of Natural History
Location: Mesa, AZ
Paleontology, the study of past life, is the primary emphasis of the Natural History Section of the Arizona Museum of Natural History. The Natural History Section explores, excavates, records, prepares, conserves, and researches the fossil resources in the collection at AzMNH. In addition to working with state, university, and municipal agencies, AzMNH is an official repository for specimens collected from State, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest, and Fish and Wildlife lands throughout Arizona.
Museum of Northern Arizona
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
The Museum of Northern Arizona maintains a small geology collection that contains approximately 4,000 mineral, rock and meteorite samples. In addition to rock and mineral types commonly found on the Colorado Plateau, the collection also includes samples from outside the region. The Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) holds approximately 150,000 paleontology specimens (fossil invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and tracks and traces) from most of the fossil-bearing geologic units in the region. The collection, which contains 181 holotypes and more than 4,250 published and/or illustrated specimens, is the basis for scores of scientific technical papers on the paleontology and geology of the area.
The University of Arizona Mineral Museum
Location: Tucson, AZ
The University of Arizona Gem & Mineral Museum is dedicated to providing public education and the preservation of minerals and meteorites while also serving the research needs of professionals, students and collectors. The collection is worldwide in scope, but with specific emphasis on minerals from Arizona and Mexico.
National and State Parks
Coronado National Memorial
Location: Hereford, AZ
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Location: Lake Powell, AZ
Grand Canyon National Park
Location: Grand Canyon Village, AZ
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Location: Temple Bar Marina, AZ
Navajo National Monument
Location: Shonto, AZ
Petrified Forest National Park
Location: Holbrook, AZ
Walnut Canyon National Monument
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Wupatki National Monument
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Arkansas
Museums
Arkansas Museum of Natural History
Location: Hot Springs, AR
Arkansas Museum of Natural History displays archeological and geological artifacts from Arkansas and from around the world. See incredibly beautiful mineral specimens, as well as world-class fossils displays. A wide range of archeological remains is on display, from Joshua’s Jericho to Mt. Ararat in Turkey.
National and State Parks
Buffalo National River
Location: St Joe, AR
Hot Springs National Park
Location: Hot Springs
California
Museums
California Academy of Sciences: Kimball Natural History Museum
Location: San Francisco, CA
Learn about the fascinating role of color in the natural world, compare fossils of our early human relatives, and marvel at captivating and important specimens from the Academy’s scientific collections—all while strolling beneath the bones of some of the planet’s largest inhabitants.
Children’s Natural History Museum
Location: Fremont, CA
Explore a world of fossils from long ago including those from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Walk to more modern times with fossils of mammoths, sabertooth cats, sloths, camels, and other large mammals. Discover modern day animals through their bones. Visit the Boy Paleontologist room to see how they discovered the fossils in Fremont in the 1940’s. View the Minerals and Rocks, Hall of Small Wonders and Tools of Early Humans. Hands-on activities for small groups are located throughout the museum.
Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County
Location: Chowchilla, CA
The Fossils Discovery Center offers many different exhibits documenting prehistoric life in the San Joaquin Valley during the last Ice Age. It is located directly across the road from the Fairmead Landfill where the fossils were discovered in 1993.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Location: Los Angeles, CA
The NHM’s new Dinosaur Hall is one of the most extraordinary dinosaur exhibits in the world and the premier dinosaur experience in the western United States. Inside are more than 300 real fossils, and 20 complete dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures.
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
Location: Los Angeles, CA
After we excavate Ice Age creatures outside, we bring them inside the La Brea Tar Pits museum. It’s where out best fossils are on display, and you can watch paleontology in action.
San Bernardino County Museum
Location: Redlands, CA
A life-size mastodon and her calf will introduce you to an amazing array of fossils that represent millions of years of life in our area. Learn about plate tectonics and understand why The Big One is such a timely topic in southern California. Upstairs, “Sculpted in Time: Our Mountains, Faults, Lakes, and Caves” will introduce you to the geology of San Bernardino County.
San Diego Natural History Museum
Location: San Diego, CA
From dinosaurs to mastodons to ancient sea cows, discover the rich fossil history of our region. Ponder a mystery, examine the strong fossil evidence from the Museum’s collection, and use scientific tools to discover answers. Traveling through a 75-million-year timeline–from the age of dinosaurs to the Ice Ages–experience an unfolding of the prehistory of Southern California and Baja California, Mexico.
The Cooper Center: Ralph B. Clark Regional Park Museum of Paleontology
Location: Buena Park, CA
The rocks of Orange County contain the fossilized remains of plants and animals from every major time period since the Jurassic – over 180 million years of prehistory! At this point, only a small fraction of the collection has been inventoried – about 20,000 specimens out of an estimated 3,000,000 or more from over 1,000 localities. Notable collections include Eocene terrestrial mammals; late Oligocene-early Miocene terrestrial mammals; and Miocene-Pliocene marine mammals.
The Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology
Location: Claremont, CA
Renovated in 2002, the Hall of Footprints showcases one of the museum’s most important holdings, a unique fossil track and trackway collection that is among the largest of its kind in the United States. Featured specimens include the only known trackway of a “bear-dog” carnivore from North America. Other displays include camel, bird, cat, and elephant tracks from the Mojave Desert, as well as lizard, dinosaur, and spider tracks from Arizona and Utah. Visitors can see the inner workings of a paleontology museum, the fossil preparation lab and a collections storage room, through windows cut into the walls.
The Western Science Center
Location: Hemet, CA
The Western Science Center is one of Riverside County’s premier scientific institutions. It is home to the Diamond Valley Lake collection, containing almost 1 million archaeological artifacts and paleontological specimens. On exhibit from the collection are impressive and record-setting examples of mastodons, Columbian mammoths, and other Ice Age behemoths, as well as important artifacts recording the habitation of Diamond Valley by the Luiseno and Cahuilla peoples and by European settlers. Explore our permanent exhibitions to see what you’ll discover when you visit.
National and State Parks
Cabrillo National Monument
Location: San Diego, CA
Channel Islands National Park
Location: Ventura, CA
Death Valley National Park
Location: Death Valley, CA
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Location: San Francisco, CA
Joshua Tree National Park
Location: Twentynine Palms, CA
Point Reyes National Seashore
Location: Inverness, CA
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Location: Calabasas, CA
Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park
Location: Three Rivers, CA
Colorado
Museums
Colorado School of Mine Geology Museum
Location: Golden, CO
The Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum, home to one of the state’s two Goodwill moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission, was started in 1874 and displays mineral, fossil, gemstone, meteorite and historic mining artifact exhibits on two floors.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Location: Denver, CO
Travel through time-starting 3.5 billion years ago. Your journey begins beneath ancient seas. Life diversifies as you move through the millennia, surrounded by fearsome fish and waving sea lilies. Soon you’re out of the water and the air is filled with huge dragonflies. Foot-long centipedes crawl around you. Then the dinosaurs appear!
Dinosaur Journey
Location: Fruita, CO
Dinosaur Journey is a regional paleontological and geological museum that tells the story fo the history of life in western Colorado and surrounding areas with real fossils, cast skeletons nad robotic reconstructions of dinosaurs.
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Begin your natural history adventure at the fossil wall, where you’ll see the plants and animals that called Fort Collins home – millions of years before there was a Fort Collins! Opposite of the fossil wall is the regional biodiversity wall, home to the flora and fauna of our four ecozones of today. In between, you’ll find two creatures that connect past and present with their special stories.
Morrison Natural History Museum
Location: Morrison, CO
Discover Colorado’s dinosaurs with expert guides and hands-on exhibits at Jefferson County’s original paleontology museum. Encounter historic and modern fossil finds and sees research in progress in the fossil preparation laboratory. The Museum continues to actively study local paleontology. Recent finds have included baby Stegosaurus fossils, baby sauropod tracks, and the missing muzzle of Apatosaurus ajax.
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
Location: Boulder, CO
Explore the Paleontology Hall and the exhibit “Fossils: Clues to the Past” to see how fossils are studied and what things can be learned from them.
National and State Parks
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Location: Gunnison, CO
Colorado National Monument
Location: Fruita, CO
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Location: Gunnison, CO
Dinosaur National Monument
Location: Dinosaur, CO
Dinosaur Ridge
Location: Morrison, CO
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Location: Florissant, CO
Florissant Fossil Quarry
Location: Florissant, CO
Fruita Paleo Area
Location: Fruita, CO
Mesa Verde National Park
Location: Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Trail through Time
Location: Mack, CO
Yucca House National Monument
Location: Cortez, CO
Connecticut
Museums
The Children’s Museum
Location: West Hartford, CT
Step back in time at The Children’s Museum and experience Dinosaurs in your Backyard: A Portal to Past Worlds. Visitors will get a chance to explore dinosaurs that lived in Connecticut during the Jurassic Period through footprints, fossils, bones and more. Become immersed in this prehistoric world with 3D dinosaur models, fossil specimens and replicas, and a dinosaur game show. Through interactive exhibits, families can also learn about what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur and how we’ve determined what they look like.
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Location: New Haven, CT
New Haven has a new addition to its landscape — a life-sized bronze statue of the dinosaur Torosaurus latus. Perched on its granite base on Whitney Avenue next to the Yale Peabody Museum, the statue towers 2 stories over visitors. The fossils in this hall, from the Yale Peabody Museum’s collections in the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, belong to the main groups of mammals that evolved during the Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to the present), after the extinction of the dinosaurs. During this time mammals diversified into a wide variety of carnivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous forms. Overlooking the hall is the 60-foot mural The Age of Mammals, painted by Rudolph F. Zallinger in 1964, which dramatically illustrates the evolution of North American mammals during the Cenozoic Era.
National and State Parks
Dinosaur State Park
Location: Rocky Hill, CT
Delaware
Museums
Delaware Museum Of Natural History
Location: Wilmington, DE
Investigate nature and science indoors and outside, with natural history exhibits, STEAM trail, meadow, pollinator garden, Science in Action and Investigation Labs, and more. Gallery highlights include habitats from around the globe and the only permanent dinosaur collection in Delaware.
District of Columbia
Museums
National Museum of Natural History
Location: Washington, D.C.
The world’s most popular natural history museum is dedicated to understanding the natural world and our place in it. Delve into the fascinating story of our planet, from its fiery beginnings through billions of years of transformation, and explore life on Earth through exhibitions and activities, collection objects and research that happen in the lab and in the field. The museum is larger than 18 football fields and is home to the largest natural history collection in the world.
National and State Parks
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Location: Washington, D.C.
Lincoln Memorial
Location: Washington, D.C.
National Capitol Parks East
Location: Washington, D.C.
Florida
Museums
Florida Museum of Natural History
Location: Gainesville, FL
Drawing upon the Museum’s internationally acclaimed fossil collections, the exhibition encapsulates the last 65 million years of Earth’s history (since the extinction of the dinosaurs), using the Florida Platform as the stage on which this fascinating story is told. Learn about some of the Museum’s latest fossil research with images and specimens from the Montbrook dig site in Levy County.
Mulberry Phosphate Museum
Location: Mulberry, FL
The Mulberry Phosphate Museum’s mission is to promote and interpret the local history of Mulberry, Florida from the prehistoric to the contemporary and to examine the impact of the phosphate industry on that history.
National and State Parks
Big Cypress National Preserve
Location: Ochopee, FL
Everglades National Park
Location: Homestead, FL
Georgia
Museums
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Location: Atlanta, GA
A prehistoric battle of gigantic proportions unfolds in the permanent exhibition Giants of the Mesozoic, filling the Museum’s Great Hall. This exhibition recreates life in the badlands of Patagonia, Argentina, where the largest dinosaurs in the world were unearthed.
Georgia Southern Museum
Location: Statesboro, GA
The shallow ancient oceans that swept back and forth for millions of years formed this unique region. The Museum’s permanent exhibits tell the story of the coastal plain’s changing environments, animals, and cultures that have called it home since:
Tellus Science Museum
Location: Cartersville, GA
Stare into the mouth of a Tyrannosaurus rex, catch a glimpse of a saber-tooth cat and discover how life on Earth began in the Tellus Fossil Gallery. This walkthrough history will take visitors past millions of years of dinosaurs, reptiles and giant mammals that dominated the land, sea and air before becoming extinct.
National and State Parks
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Location: St. Marys, GA
Hawaii
National and State Parks
Haleakala National Park
Location: Makawao, HI
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Location: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI
Idaho
Museums
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Location: Pocatello, ID
The Ice Age exhibit explores the wonders of the large prehistoric animals that roamed the Snake River Plains. Visitors will encounter the short-faced bear, saber-tooth cats, Bison latifrons, and a giant ground sloth. Take in the Helicoprion shark display, which lived over 230 million years ago and were found right here in Idaho. Learn more about how Native Americans hunted with the atlatl and dart. Our Buzzsaw Shark exhibit has traveled the country, delighting audiences exceeding over 500,000 people. We’re excited to bring this one-of-a-kind attraction back to Pocatello, literally where it all began. The Buzzsaw shark–Idaho’s weirdest fossil–swam the ancient ocean that once covered our state eons ago.
Museum of Idaho
Location: Idaho Falls, ID
Walk among dinosaurs and trace how their discovery in the 1800s inspired Charles Darwin to explore how life has adapted and changed over millions of years. Highlights include 85 rare artifacts from Darwin’s life, work, and voyage on the HMS Beagle.
National and State Parks
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Location: Arco, ID
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Location: Hagerman, ID
Illinois
Museums
Burpee Museum of Natural History
Location: Rockford, IL
We have a diverse collection of exhibits covering the spectrum of natural history; including “Jane” the juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Field Museum of Natural History
Location: Chicago, IL
In the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet, get to know the many creatures that have roamed the earth throughout history, from single-celled organisms to our extended human family. Experience a variety of fossils, animated videos, and hands-on interactive displays that tell the story of evolution, the process that connects all living things on Earth.
Fryxell Geology Museum
Location: Rock Island, IL
The museum is named after Dr. Fritiof Fryxell, professor of geology from 1929-1973. It began in the late 1880s with a modest natural history collection. Today it has more than 1,500 rock, mineral, and fossil specimens. Highlights include a wall of glowing, fluorescent rocks, a cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, and a complete 22-foot long skeleton of Cryolophosaurus, a large crested carnivorous dinosaur discovered in Antarctica.
Indiana
Museums
Indiana State Museum
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Ocean in Indiana? Sharks in South Bend? Yes…in a sense. Believe it or not, ancient oceans once covered our state. Dive into Ancient Seas for a look at the creatures that could have swum right in the area where your bedroom now sits. From the oldest marine fossils to pioneering land plants and animals, this experience is packed with diverse fossil collections to help you explore the ancient life that shaped the state.
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Thundering footsteps. Unusual plants. A brilliantly colored sky and changing weather, where are you? You’ve been transported to the land of dinosaurs—over 65 million years ago. Be on the lookout! Tyrannosaurs, Triceratops, Maiasauras, and more are roaming nearby.
National and State Parks
Falls of Ohio
Location: Clarksville, IN
Iowa
Museums
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
Location: Iowa City, IA
Outstanding displays in Mammal Hall include a specimen of the rare giant panda from China, a complete skeleton of a 47-foot Atlantic right whale, and musk oxen from the Barren Grounds of northern Canada. Specimens from aardvark to zebra are represented, with many animals collected by University of Iowa faculty and students during expeditions around the world.
National and State Parks
Devonian Fossil Gorge
Location: Iowa City, IN
Kansas
Museums
Fick Fossil and History Museum
Location: Oakley, KS
The museum houses replicas of Oakley’s first Depot, a sod house, Prather’s Creamery, and Oakley’s General Store. The museum also houses a large, impressive collection of rocks and minerals from the Oakley area and around the world including the remains of ancient tombs! Among its more than 11,000 sharks teeth and many fossils, there is the world’s oldest known mosasaur fossil, a 15-foot Xiphactinus Audax prepared by well-known fossil-hunter George Sternberg, and other rare fossils.
Keystone Gallery
Location: Scott City, KS
Since our inception, we have hosted numerous visitors from fascinating backgrounds, including many states and foreign countries. Our visitors’ interests vary widely; they include the local Monument Rocks formation, Kansas fossils, and the various fossils and minerals for sale in the gallery. Some visitors just stop by out of curiosity about the building’s history or the buffalo herd.
KU Natural History Museum
Location: Lawrence, KS
Explore the many fossils on display to learn more about mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, Xiphactinus and other Cretaceous period animals. You can touch the fossilized femur of Camarasaurus, learn about the evolution of plants, discover invertebrate fossils, see our T. rex, the Kansas dinosaur Silvisaurus, mammoths and more.
McPherson Museum
Location: McPherson, KS
Skeletons of a dire wolf, saber-tooth cat, and a giant ground sloth from the famed La Brea “Tar Pits” are featured. These skeletons, as well as other bones from the deposits, were collected by the first collegiate graduate of McPherson College – James Zacchaeus Gilbert. Ice Age fossils of mammoth and mastodons are on display including a mammoth tusk over six feet long and a rare shovel tusk mastodon jaw. These were found in McPherson County and other places in Kansas.
Museum of World Treasures
Location: Wichita, KS
Our Fossil Hall allows you to take a look at what life would be like to walk next to dinosaurs. Learn more about the way the dinosaurs lived from the fossilized skeletons of Ivan the Tyrannosaurus-rex, Cutie the Daspletosaurus, and Ed the Edmontosaurus, along with a number of other pre-historic specimens. The exhibit also includes a fossil and cast touching station, as well as a case demonstrating how casts and molds of fossilized bones are created.
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Location: Hays, KS
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History features a realistic Cretaceous diorama, redesigned exhibits from the original museum, along with displays of specimens not previously on exhibit. Also new at “the dome” is the Discovery Room, an interactive area of the museum where visitors can explore the wonders of nature.
Kentucky
Museums
Explorium of Lexington
Location: Lexington, KY
Discover the teeny truths about insects! Find out which bug glows under blacklight, and even wave hello to our Goliath Bird-eating Tarantula, Hercules! Dig through the past in our Dino Dig, make your own dinosaur footprints, create a dinosaur and dino name, play games about dinosaurs. Bone Zone is sponsored by G and J Pepsi.
Kentucky Science Center
Location: Louisville, KY
In our Natural History gallery, learn about anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology. A beautifully-curated collection of specimens, from gems and fossils to a real life-size alligator, give guests plenty to explore and observe.
W.G. Burroughs Geology Museum
Location: Berea, KY
The W. G. Burroughs Geology Museum contains over 2,200 cataloged specimens in the museum inventory. These specimens are arranged into displays of minerals, rocks, gemstones, fossils, and artifacts. To add to the learning experience of visiting the museum, each display has a detailed explanation written out for each sampling.
National and State Parks
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park
Location: Hodgenville, KY
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Location: Middlesboro, KY
Louisiana
Museums
Lafayette Science Museum
Location: Lafayette, LA
The first-floor atrium features fossil casts from the Cenozoic Period, also known as the Age of Mammals, which began 65 million years ago and continues to the present. The display includes an American mastodon, a giant ground sloth, and saber-toothed cats. The last of these mammals appear to have become extinct about 10,000 years ago. Beyond the atrium, a fossil of an extinct giant camel, called Megatylopus, is on display as part of the UL Lafayette Geology collection. The fossil is the most complete skeleton known of the creature, which stood 12-14 feet tall and functioned much like a giraffe. The excavation and transport of the 7 million-year-old fossil found in Oregon were completed by Dr. James E. Martin, curator of paleontology and research professor with UL’s School of Geosciences. In the lobby and on the second floor, students can examine dinosaur fossil casts from the late Jurassic Period including Allosaurus, Camptosaurus, and Stegosaurus. The Jurassic Period is also known as the Age of Dinosaurs. During the Jurassic Period, from about 199 to 145 million years ago, the supercontinent of Pangaea split apart opening up basins that would form the Atlantic Ocean.
Louisiana Art and Science Museum
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
See images from the Hubble Space Telescope, interact at two hands-on stations, learn about some of history’s most famous astronomers, take in the giant model of our solar system overhead, and view the planetarium’s former and historic Zeiss star projector. You can also now see our recent addition to the Solar System Gallery –- a 65-million-year-old, 1,500-pound Triceratopsskull nicknamed “Jason” after the man who discovered him. Measuring 86 inches long, Jason was unearthed in 2011 on a private ranch in the Hell Creek Formation located in Garfield County, Montana, an area well known for its fossil findings. This colossal fossil is on loan from Raising Cane’s & The Graves Family.
University of Louisiana: Monroe Museum of Natural History
Location: Monroe, LA
Includes Rocks, gems, and minerals. Models and fossils of dinosaurs, ancient vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and many others. Some of the best projectile points, pottery, utensils, and tools of the local Native American cultures dating back more than 5,500 years. Highlights of the local natural history include snake skins, bird nests, oddities, seashells, exotic skins, native plants, and many insects. A 240-gallon saltwater reef tank featuring beautiful tropical fish and corals. A 150-gallon freshwater tank simulating a tropical aquatic system.
Maine
Museums
Maine Discovery Museum
Location: Bangor, ME
Dig up and identify fossils, read about dinosaurs and discover fossil hunting in Maine. Based on paleontology, the study of prehistoric life, DINO DIG gives museum visitors a glimpse into the work of a paleontologist. What were dinosaurs like? What did they eat? What is a living fossil?
National and State Parks
Acadia National Park
Location: Bar Harbor, ME
Maryland
Museums
Baltimore Aquarium
Location: Baltimore, MD
Stunning exhibits and more than 20,000 aquatic animals, including Blacktip Reef and a Megalodon jaw, making this Inner Harbor destination Baltimore’s most popular attraction.
Calvert Marine Museum
Location: Solomons, MD
The paleontology gallery opens with a prehistoric time line that fills the entire entry wall. This large mural includes many iconic fossils from Earth’s prehistoric past to show where the fossil from Calvert Cliffs fit into the grand scheme of things. Our exhibits also include original fossils of all the known groups of sea shelled animals that occur in the Miocene deposits of Calvert Cliffs, as well as the remains of sharks, fish, turtles, crocodiles, birds, whales, and land animals from this prehistoric time.
Maryland Science Center
Location: Baltimore, MD
In the Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit, you’re the paleontologist. Walk under, over, and through a landscape filled with over a dozen full-size dinosaurs, dig pits, a field lab, excavation site and other areas of discovery.
Peale Museum
Location: Baltimore, MD
The featured exhibit at the opening was the famous skeleton of the mastodon unearthed by Rembrandt’s father, Charles Willson Peale. Also displayed were military artifacts and stuffed birds, animals, and fish.
National and State Parks
Antietam National Battlefield
Location: Sharpsburg, MD
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Location: Williamsport, MD
Dinosaur Park
Location: Laurel, MD
Fort Washington Park
Location: Fort Washington, MD
Greenbelt Park
Location: Greenbelt, MD
Monocacy National Battlefield
Location: Frederick, MD
Piscataway Park
Location: Accokeek, MD
Massachusetts
Museums
Beneski Museum of Natural History
Location: Amherst, MA
Dinosaur skeletons and footprints, dazzling minerals and more await you at the Beneski Museum of Natural History.
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Location: Cambridge, MA
Ungulates, or hoofed mammals are the most diverse group of mammals living today. With few exceptions they are herbivores. The first cat-sized ungulates appear in fossil record near the end of the Mesozoic Era, but they bore little resemblance to modern hoofed mammals. After the extinction of large Mesozoic reptiles 65 million years ago, ungulates and other mammals began to diversify into the myriad forms we know today. This marked the beginning of the Cenozoic Era–The Age of Mammals.
Nash Dinosaur Tracks
Location: Granby, MA
One of the most productive sites for dinosaur tracks is the Nash Dinosaur Track Site. It was discovered in 1933 and bought in 1939 by Carlton S. Nash. Since that time it has produced thousands of dinosaur tracks that have been sold to museums and private individuals all over the world. The Nash Dinosaur Track Site and Rock Shop is located about one mile from where the first dinosaur footprints in the Connecticut River Valley were found in 1802 by a farmer’s son named Pliny Moody. Since Carlton S. Nash’s death in 1997, his son Kornell Nash has carried on the work. Currently closed for the season, check regularly to get opening dates.
Springfield Museum
Location: Springfield, MA
Be among the first to experience our latest special exhibit. Using a combination of captivating computer simulations and incredible lifelike models, Dinosaur Discoveries introduces a dynamic vision of dinosaurs and the scientists who study them.
National and State Parks
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Location: Boston, MA
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Location: Springfield, MA
Michigan
Museums
Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan
Location: Alpena, MI
The Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan seeks to inspire curiosity, foster community pride, and cultivate independent legacy through art, history, and science, so the Lafarge Fossil Park exhibit is a perfect fit. Besser Museum offers two individual fossil park experiences. Both outdoor Fossil Park exhibits contain fossil material generously donated by Lafarge Alpena Plant and Specification Stone Products of Alpena. One of the Fossil Parks is located in the museum’s backyard and is included with regular museum admission. The Fossil Park is accessible Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. as weather permits. The Fossil Park is not accessible during winter months due to snow coverage.
Cranbrook Institute of Science
Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI
Come face to face with a full-sized Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton cast and examine natural selection and evolution by exploring the question “Are birds the descendants of dinosaurs?” Learn about animals that went extinct by the close of the last ice age like Mammut americanum, the American mastodon; Smilodon fatalis, the saber-toothed cat; Camelops hesternus, the western camel; and Glyptotherium floridanus, the North American glyptodont.
Kingman Museum
Location: Battle Creek, MI
Take a walk through Michigan habitats, get an up-close look at how the human body works, and see exotic animals and insects of the world. New classes explore the past, present, and future with activities investigating dinosaurs, outer space, and our own planet Earth. See one of our 20 planetarium shows and night sky talk under the stars.
Lakeshore Museum Center
Location: Muskegon, MI
For 10,000 years people have been coming to Muskegon County to work, play and raise their families. Listen to stories of families who settled or immigrated here, and learn why they call this area home. See a life-sized mastodon, visit a fur trader’s cabin, see tools used during the lumbering era, and learn about the area’s earliest industries. Visitors can also see real mastodon bones discovered in nearby Rothbury displayed in Michigan Through the Depths of Time Gallery.
Michigan State University Museum
Location: East Lansing, MI
The Hall of Evolution exhibit at the MSU Museum is constructed as a timeline with exhibits of fossils arranged in chronological order from the Cambrian Period (about 540 million years ago) to the Pleistocene Epoch or “Ice Age” that ended about 10,000 years ago. The specimens and illustrations serve as tools to show the gradual changes that have occurred on our planet according to fossil records.
University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
The Museum of Paleontology provides the facilities enabling direct hands-on study of plants and animals preserved as fossils, and study of the environmental, ecological, and paleogeographical conditions in which they lived. These can be studied statically at fixed times in the past or present, and dynamically as they are seen to change through evolutionary and geological time.
Minnesota
Museums
Bell Museum of Natural History
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Explore the far reaches of the universe in the Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium, see a glimpse of the diversity of life on Earth and throughout Minnesota, travel back in time to meet a woolly mammoth, and learn about University of Minnesota researchers imagining a better future.
Science Museum of Minnesota
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Millions of years of history creating millions of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ for visitors of all ages. One of only four real Triceratops on display in the world and the largest complete specimen on display, it’s a museum favorite. See a recreation of an Allosaurus hunting two Camptosaurus. At 82-feet, it’s one of the largest creatures to have roamed the earth.
National and State Parks
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
Location: St Paul, MN
Mississippi
Museums
Dunn-Seiler Geology Museum
Location: Mississippi State, MS
The Dunn-Seiler Museum houses an extensive mineral, rock and fossil collections that help visitors visualize and understand the 4.6 billion year history of our planet. Our public displays feature specimens that include a Triceratops skull cast, a Cretaceous crocodile skull, minerals from around the world, recent donations and exhibits about the geologic history of Mississippi.
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
Location: Jackson, MS
Meet Mississippi’s extinct species through a self-guided tour of our prehistoric exhibit.
National and State Parks
Natchez Trace Parkway
Location: Kosciusko, MS
Vicksburg National Military Park
Location: Vicksburg, MS
Missouri
Museums
Bollinger County Museum of Natural History
Location: Marble Hill, MO
Our museum showcases the treasures of our area both in natural history and historical exhibits including a duck-billed dinosaur known as the Hypsibema missouriensis.
Branson Dinosaur Museum
Location: Branson, MO
The Branson Dinosaur Museum has been designed with the young (and young-at-heart) in mind! Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? This educational museum brings them up-close-and-personal…from the small, four-winged microrapter; a dinosaur that measured only one-foot-tall, and was the most abundant of non-bird dinosaurs…to everyone’s favorite, the enormous tyrannosaurus rex, fondly referred to as T Rex; a beast with a massive skull, balanced by a long, heavy tail.
Missouri Institute of Natural Science
Location: Springfield, MO
The Missouri Institute of Natural Science Museum houses hundreds of animal, plant, and mineral specimens. With free admission and a chance to come face-to-face with a triceratops, you have every reason to visit and no reason not to.
National and State Parks
Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Location: Van Buren, MO
Montana
Museums
Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum
Location: Glendive, MT
The museum houses more than 24 full-size dinosaurs plus numerous singular fossils. It also houses informative exhibits explaining the origin of the geologic column, the fossil record, the age of the earth, as well as a Biblical history exhibit, a theater and a gift shop.
Museum of the Rockies
Location: Bozeman, MT
View highlights of the country’s largest collection of North American dinosaur fossils consisting entirely of discoveries made in and around Montana. MOR has become world-renowned as a dinosaur research facility because of the work of our paleontologists and graduate students. Museum of the Rockies houses the most T. rex specimens anywhere in the world – currently 13. Notable displays in this Complex include the growth and behavior series of Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex, Montana’s T. rex skeleton, the Catherine B. rex specimen, and many, many other one-of-a-kind dinosaur finds.
National and State Parks
Glacier National Park
Location: West Glacier, MT
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Location: Crow Agency, MT
Nebraska
Museums
University of Nebraska State Museum
Location: Lincoln, NE
Visit our world famous collection of ancient elephants and see spectacular fossil rhinos, giant camels, and horses that once lived in Nebraska.
National and State Parks
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
Location: Harrison, NE
Chimney Rock National Historic Site
Location: Bayard, NE
Niobrara National Scenic River
Location: Valentine, NE
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Location: Gering, NE
Nevada
Museums
Nevada State Museum: Carson City
Location: Carson City, NV
View the self-guided exhibit as you blast to the past and view our prehistoric relics like the great wooly mammoth and many more!
Nevada State Museum: Las Vegas
Location: Las Vegas, NV
The Nevada State Museum offers an interactive visitor experience that interprets the history of Nevada dating back millions of years to the present. Across a 13,000 square-foot permanent gallery visitors hear how geology shaped the Great Basin, learn about the plant and animals that inhabit our great state, and see Nevada’s state fossil the ichthyosaur. Hear the story of Native Americans, pioneers, early settlers, miners, railroaders, ranchers and entrepreneurs.
W. M Keck Earth Science And Mineral Engineering Museum
Location: Reno, NV
Located in the Mackay School of Mines Building at the University of Nevada, Reno, the W. M. Keck Museum houses an outstanding collection of minerals, ores, fossil specimens and photographs, in addition to mining related relics. The museum is also home to some of the spectacular Mackay Silver Collection, created by Tiffany & Co., for John Mackay and completed in 1878.
National and State Parks
Berlin Ichthyosaur Historic State Park
Location: Austin, NV
Great Basin National Park
Location: Baker, NV
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Location: Boulder City, NV
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument
Location: Las Vegas, NV
New Hampshire
Museums
Children’s Museum of New Hampshire
Location: Dover, NH
Learn how geology affects where paleontologists dig for dinosaur remains with our Augmented Reality Sand Table. You can shape the landscape, creating rivers, mountains, dams, even making it rain or snow!
New Jersey
Museums
New Jersey State Museum
Location: Trenton, NJ
The Museum is pleased to announce the addition of two life-size, complete fossil casts. NJ’s State dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii, and Mosasaurus maximus, a 50-foot marine reptile discovered in southern New Jersey, have joined the Dryptosaurus aquilunguis on display in the Written in the Rocks exhibition.
Rutgers Geology Museum
Location: New Brunswick, NJ
The Rutgers Geology Museum enhances university teaching and outreach programs through its presentations of geological, mineralogical, paleontological, and anthropologic materials for the education and enjoyment of its visitors.
New Mexico
Museums
Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory
Location: Tucumcari, NM
The Exhibit Hall at the Mesalands Community College’s Dinosaur Museum houses a host of replicated and original fossils from tiny footprint cast to the 40′ long skeleton Torvosaurus, a rare carnivore relative of Tyrannosaurus rex which hails from the Jurassic period.
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Our permanent exhibits offer a rich variety of things to see and do. Meet dinosaurs, see a Mars Rover replica and a moon rock, and discover New Mexico’s wildlife.
National and State Parks
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Location: Carlsbad, NM
Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Location: Nageezi, NM
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Location: Mimbres, NM
Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
Location: Mountainair, NM
White Sands National Monument
Location: Holloman AFB, NM
New York
Museums
American Museum of Natural History
Location: New York, NY
Everyone knows Tyrannosaurus rex. But do you know how this mega-predator evolved to become the most fearsome carnivore of the Mesozoic? This exhibition will introduce you to the entire tyrannosaur family and reveal the amazing story of the most iconic dinosaur in the world through fossils and casts, life-sized models, engaging interactives, and a virtual reality experience.
North Carolina
Museums
Asheville Museum of Science
Location: Asheville, NC
While few fossils are found in western North Carolina, due to limited amounts of sedimentary rock, there is fossil evidence that a distant cousin of T. curriei once lived in North Carolina. The Tyrannosauroidea genus, Appalachiosaurus, may also have once roamed North Carolina during the same period. Visit these prehistoric creatures today!
Aurora Fossil Museum
Location: Aurora, NC
Our mission is to increase knowledge of the geology, paleontology, and prehistory of coastal North Carolina in an engaging and enjoyable manner. We accomplish this mission through exhibits, interactive inquiry-based activities, outreach programs, events, field studies, and involvement in the annual Fossil Festival held on Memorial Day weekend.
Mineral & Lapidary Museum of Henderson County
Location: Hendersonville, NC
The museum’s goal is to be a primary resource for education and information to the community on the earth sciences related to geology and paleontology.
Museum of Life and Science
Location: Durham, NC
Step into the world of the late Cretaceous period on the Museum’s Dinosaur Trail and enjoy an up-close look at over a dozen life-sized dinosaurs. Discover what a Parasaurolophus’ skin might have felt like and even snap a one-of-a-kind photo! Grab a shovel and search for real marine fossils in the Fossil Dig site, including shark teeth and fossilized coral.
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Location: Raleigh, NC
Do you dig dinosaurs? Do you have a passion for paleontology? Do you feel strongly about fossils? If so, take this tour to see the best of all things extinct at the museum.
The Schiele Museum of Natural History
Location: Gastonia, NC
Travel back in time on a journey through the Mesozoic Era – the Age of Dinosaurs. See full-bodied models of incredible creatures that time forgot. Observe predators stalking an armored Stegosaurus and her calf, get eye-to-eye with a 15-foot tall Brachiosaurus and stand in the path of a charging Triceratops. See dinosaur fossil specimens, enjoy hands-on exploration in the Dino Safari Lab, and find out how scientists unearth stories of this ancient world.
National and State Parks
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Location: Hatteras, NC
Cape Lookout National Seashore
Location: Harkers Island, NC
North Dakota
Museums
Badlands Dinosaur Museum
Location: Dickinson, ND
Established in 1992, Badlands Dinosaur Museum features an evolving exhibit of fossils and minerals, a public preparation lab, and a vibrant research and fieldwork program. The largest number of dinosaurs on display in North Dakota, including full skeletons of Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, Albertosaurus, and Thescelosaurus.
North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum
Location: Bismarck, ND
The Adaptation Gallery: Geologic Time introduces you to the fascinating story of geology and life in North Dakota from 600 million years ago to the appearance of humans about 13,000 years ago. See impressive life-sized casts of a T. rex and Triceratops engaged in battle.
National and State Parks
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Location: Williston, ND
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Location: Medora, ND
Ohio
Museums
Cincinnati Museum Center
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Location: Cleveland, OH
The permanent and traveling exhibits at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History illustrate and interpret science and the natural world to visitors. Dioramas, fossil displays and interactives allow visitors to experience the past, see the formation of the universe and explore the lives of early humans without leaving the building. The “living galleries” of the Perkins Wildlife Center provide an up-close understanding of nature and the importance of preserving it.
Karl E. Limper Geology Museum
Location: Oxford, OH
The Karl E. Limper Geology Museum, located in Miami University’s Shideler Hall, provides displays of quality geological specimens intended to help students and visitors better understand and appreciate basic geological concepts. The Limper Museum contains hundreds of specimens of the world-famous fossils of southwestern Ohio as well as minerals, rocks, fossils, and meteorites from all over the world.
Orton Geological Museum
Location: Columbus, OH
The Orton Geological Museum was founded in 1893 by Edward Orton, Sr., a geologist and the first President of The Ohio State University. Originally the Museum contained about 10,000 specimens from Dr. Orton’s teaching collection. Today the Orton Geological Museum holds more than 54,000 numbered specimens and is visited by scholars from around the world. The displays and collections are an important part of many Ohio State University courses and the Museum is also open to the public.
National and State Parks
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Location: Brecksville, OH
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
Location: Chillicothe, OH
Oklahoma
Museums
Museum of Osteology
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a unique educational experience. Focusing on the form and function of the skeletal system, this 7000 square ft. museum that displays hundreds of skulls and skeletons from all corners of the world. Exhibits include adaptation, locomotion, classification and diversity of the vertebrate kingdom.
Sam Noble Museum
Location: Norman, OK
Life in Oklahoma has existed for quite a long time – over 4 billion years, to be exact. Step into the past as you tour Oklahoma’s rich prehistory, from the formation of the planet through the last Ice Age in the Siegfried Family Hall of Ancient Life. In this remarkably detailed gallery, the past comes to life through spectacular models, interactive tools, detailed dioramas and exhibits featuring the paleontology collection’s most impressive specimens. Begin your journey by gazing upon a cutaway model of Earth as you discover how our planet was formed.
Oregon
Museums
Crater Rock Museum
Location: Central Point, OR
When you visit the Fossil Room, look for the fossil fish specimens from the Green River Formation. The Green River Formation is from the Eocene era (50 million years ago!) and records the sedimentation in a group of lakes in three basins along the Green River in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Our Green River Formation is from Wyoming. Our particular fossil slab is extremely rare and features an abundance of perfectly preserved fossil fish on both sides.
Douglas County Museum of History and Natural History
Location: Roseburg, OR
Museum featuring natural history & history exhibits with a local focus, including their Ice Age mammoth and mastodon tusks on display.
Rice NW Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Location: Hillsboro, OR
The Fossil Gallery is full of mysterious things from the distant past. Ever wanted to see a full dinosaur skeleton up close? How about some fossilized dino-dung? From ammonites and trilobites to mammoth tusks, to dinosaur eggs; you’ll get a heavy dose of deep history (prehistory, in fact!) when you visit this awesome display. The Fossil Gallery features “Tucker”, a three-dimensional baby Psittacosaurus dinosaur. Learn about fossils and trace fossils, dinosaur eggs, and see prehistoric relics of land, air and sea creatures from the Northwest and around the globe. Touch and identify fossils, rocks and minerals on an interactive table – test your geologic knowledge!
Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon
Experience the dynamic forces that shape Oregon’s landscapes, climate, and ecosystems. Meet the sabertooth salmon, the giant sloth, and other amazing animals from across the millennia. Through interactive displays, striking imagery, and rare specimens, you’ll go deep into Oregon’s past and join a conversation about our collective future.
Location: Eugene, OR
National and State Parks
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
Location: Kimberly, OR
Oregon Caves National Monument
Location: Cave Junction, OR
Pennsylvania
Museums
The State Museum of Pennsylvania
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Travel through time and experience the ancient flora and fauna, from the Precambrian to Cenozoic periods. See the Marshalls Creek Mastodon, one of the most complete specimens of its kind in North America and immerse yourself in the forests of the Carboniferous.
National and State Parks
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site
Location: Gallitzin, PA
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Location: Bushkill, PA
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
Location: Farmington, PA
Gettysburg National Military Park
Location: Gettysburg, PA
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Location: King of Prussia, PA
Puerto Rico
Know of any paleontology museums or parks in Puerto Rico? Let us know!
Rhode Island
Know of any paleontology museums or parks in Rhode Island? Let us know!
South Carolina
Museums
Bob Campbell Geology Museum
Location: Clemson, SC
The Bob Campbell Geology Museum (BCGM) houses a collection of more than 10,000 minerals, rocks and fossils from locations in South Carolina and across the globe. The BCGM features a wide variety of geological and paleontological exhibits and is an invaluable resource for science students, teachers, researchers, and anybody interested in exploring Earth history.
Mace Brown Museum of Natural History
Location: Charleston, SC
The Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences is home to a Paleontology Museum that displays almost 1,000 fossils. The displays includes: dinosaur bones, crinoids, Oligocene mammals of North America, mosasaurs, cave bears, Pleistocene mammals of the Carolinas, ocean life through time and fossil plants. A favorite exhibit for many is the reconstructed jaw which houses real teeth from the giant extinct shark Megalodon.
National and State Parks
Congaree National Park
Location: Hopkins, SC
South Dakota
Museums
Everything Prehistoric and Museum at Black Hills Institute
Location: Hill City, SD
The Museum @ Black Hills Institute is a modest but incredible natural history museum. Natural history enthusiasts can rest assured; you will find something unique in this treasure trove of amazing dinosaurs, fossils, minerals and collectibles from all over the world.
Museum of Geology
Location: Rapid City, SD
Geology is a fascinating and broad science that incorporates many other sciences! At the Museum of Geology, you’ll find many compelling exhibits focusing on paleontology and mineralogy.
The Dinosaur Museum
Location: Rapid City, SD
Info: While most museums only display fossils and skeleton replicas, the dinosaurs at the Black Hills Dinosaur Museum are life-like. They show you what dinosaurs looked like when they were alive.
National and State Parks
Badlands National Park
Location: Interior, SD
Jewel Cave National Monument
Location: Custer, SD
Wind Cave National Park
Location: Hot Springs, SD
Tennessee
Museums
Earth Experience – Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
The Earth Experience, the Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History, is the first natural history museum in Middle Tennessee. The museum has displays from all over the world but has a very large number of items from Tennessee. Come see our dinosaurs, fossils, gems, minerals, rocks and archeological relics.
Gray Fossil Site and General Shale Natural History Museum
Location: Gray, TN
The Gray Fossil Site is a place where visitors can view and learn about an active Pliocene-era fossil dig site. Scientists believe the site was formed by an underground limestone cave that collapsed and created a sinkhole. This left a vast fossil deposit that dates back approximately 5 million years ago. Animals that have been unearthed so far include saber tooth cat, alligator, tapir, rhinoceros, short-faced bear, and a mastodon as well as hundreds of plants and other animals.
National and State Parks
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Location: Middlesboro, TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Location: Gatlinburg, TN
Natchez Trace Parkway
Location: Kosciusko
Stones River National Battlefield
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Texas
Museums
Texas Memorial Museum
Location: Austin, TX
The Hall of Geology and Paleontology features a diverse group of vertebrates that share a set of characteristics not seen in other reptiles.
National and State Parks
Amistad National Recreation Area
Location: Del Rio, TX
Big Bend National Park
Location: Big Bend National Park, TX
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Location: Salt Flat, TX
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area
Location: Fritch, TX
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River
Location: Big Bend National Park, TX
Waco Mammoth National Monument
Location: Waco, TX
Utah
Museums
BYU Museum of Paleontology
Location: Provo, UT
The BYU Museum of Paleontology was built in 1976 to prepare, display, and house the rock and dinosaur fossils collected by Dr. James A. Jensen and his crews.
Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point
Location: Lehi, UT
Roam among the dinosaurs, explore a Carboniferous Forest, and dive deep into a Cretaceous Ocean at the Museum of Ancient Life. Come visit one of the world’s largest displays of mounted dinosaurs with 60 complete dinosaur skeletons in our galleries, along with more than 50 hands-on exhibits. This is the destination to enjoy learning about our pre-historic animals, playing with toy dinosaurs in the Erosion Table, and digging for fossils in the quarry dig.
Natural History Museum of Utah
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Utah’s past worlds are brought to life in displays that capture plant and animal diversity, sights, sounds and smells long lost ecosystems. Participate in the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry mystery by “casting your vote” on the theory you agree with most, be a paleontologist for a day in our dinosaur dig, and be a guest at an Ice Age dinner party. In this gallery there are dozens of skeletal reconstructions on display, including a Gryposaurus (duck-billed) dinosaur made of original fossil material, and the world’s largest display of horned dinosaur skulls.
The Dinosaur Museum in Blanding Utah
Location: Blanding, UT
At The Dinosaur Museum, the complete history of the world of the dinosaurs is presented. Skeletons, fossilized skin, eggs, footprints, state-of-the-art graphics, and beautifully realistic sculptures present the dinosaurs from the Four Corners region and throughout the globe.
USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum
Location: Price, UT
The Prehistoric Museum creates an understanding and appreciation of natural and cultural processes that formed the geologic, fossil and prehistoric human records found in eastern Utah. We do this through educational and interpretive programs based on our academic research, preservation programs, authentic exhibits, and the creative efforts of our staff and community.
Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum
Location: Vernal, UT
Discover the prehistoric world, dig for fossils, and explore the dinosaur garden. Within an 80-mile radius of Vernal, evidence of the entire Earth’s history is visible. Utah Field House reveals this geologic story with hands-on exhibits and activities.
National and State Parks
Arches National Park
Location: Moab, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park
Location: Bryce, UT
Canyonlands National Park
Location: Moab, UT
Capitol Reef National Park
Location: Torrey, UT
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Location: Brian Head, UT
Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry
Location: Elmo, UT
Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackways
Location: Moab, UT
Dinosaur National Monument
Location: Jensen, UT
Dinosaur Stomping Ground Trackways
Location: Moab, UT
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
Location: Lake Powell, UT
Hovenweep National Monument
Location: Cortez, UT
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trails
Location: Moab, UT
Poison Spider Dinosaur Trackways
Location: Moab, UT
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
Location: American Fork, UT
Willow Springs Dinosaur Trackways
Location: Moab, UT
Zion National Park
Location: Springdale, UT
Vermont
Museums
University of Vermont’s Perkins Museum of Geology
Location: Burlington, VT
The museum is dedicated to presenting geologic concepts and processes to students, scholars, and the interested public in a manner that both informs and entertains.
Virginia
Museums
Virginia Museum of Natural History
Location: Martinsville, VA
As the state museum of natural history, the Virginia Museum of Natural History has award-winning exhibits, ground-breaking scientific research and collections, and transformational educational programs for all ages. Along with the museum’s permanent exhibitions, the current special exhibits Dinosaurs: Reign of the Giants and Stories from Skeletons help to translate the museum’s groundbreaking scientific research into easily understood language and concepts that supplement and highlight the Virginia Standards of Learning and the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
National and State Parks
Colonial National Historical Park
Location: Yorktown, VA
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Location: Manassas, VA
Prince William Forest Park
Location: Triangle, VA
Shenandoah National Park
Location: Luray, VA
Washington
Museums
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Location: Seattle, WA
Currently, the museum is under construction to prepare for the new Burke exhibits. Natural and cultural history isn’t just about the past. It’s the study of the world around us—the life right in front of us. Explore your world through the stories of plants, animals, land, water and people below.
National and State Parks
Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park
Location: Vantage, WA
Olympic National Park
Location: Port Angeles, WA
San Juan Island National Historical Park
Location: Friday Harbor, WA
West Virginia
Museums
West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey Mini Museum
Location: Point Pleasant, WV
Showcasing the rich and varied story of West Virginia’s geology is the mission of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey’s Museum of Geology and Natural History. Housed in the lobby of the Survey’s headquarters on Cheat Lake, near Morgantown, the museum displays rock, mineral, and fossil specimens and offers an opportunity for visitors to sample the scope of West Virginia’s vast natural heritage.
National and State Parks
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Location: Williamsport, WV
Gauley River National Recreation Area
Location: Glen Jean, WV
New River Gorge National River
Location: Glen Jean, WV
Wisconsin
Museums
Colossal Fossils Downtown Museum
Location: Wausau, WI
Our goal is simple: To serve and educate as many people, primarily children, about our planet and the creatures that have lived on Earth throughout its 4.6 billion year history. We are an educational, science-based organization and we teach children about concepts such as evolution, life cycles, geology, history, root words, and biology.
National and State Parks
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
Location: Madison, WI
Saint Croix National Scenic River
Location: St Croix Falls
Wyoming
Museums
Glenrock Paleontological Museum
Location: Glenrock, WY
Learn about the unique natural history of Wyoming through fossils and exhibits. You can also join a team of dinosaur enthusiasts with a common goal of sharing and educating others! Fossil casts, museum tours and volunteer opportunities are just a few of the services the Glenrock Paleontological Museum has to offer.
University of Wyoming Geological Museum
Location: Laramie, WY
The UW Geological Museum features a variety of displays to illustrate Wyoming’s past environments, highlighted by a 75-foot Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) skeleton that dominates the museum’s exhibit hall. Another highlight is “Big Al,” a display of the most complete Allosaurus fossil ever found.
Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Location: Thermopolis, WY
This non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of education, outreach and research. We provide outstanding hands-on geologic and paleontological experiences that are engaging and enjoyable for visitors of all ages. This world-class facility displays one of the largest and most unique fossil collections in the world and our dig sites have some of the richest fossil-bearing strata in the western United States.
Wyoming State Museum
Location: Cheyenne, WY
Wyoming is a dinosaur graveyard and the state’s dinosaur and other fossils can be found in museums worldwide. This gallery tells of fossil discovery competitions in the nineteenth century and looks at some of the state’s earliest prehistoric residents. Featured is a cast of a full-sized Camptosaurus skeleton, one of the first dinosaurs found in the state.
National and State Parks
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Location: Fort Smith, WY
Fort Laramie National Historic Site
Location: Fort Laramie, WY
Fossil Butte National Monument
Location: Kemmerer, WY
Grand Teton National Park
Location: Moose, Wy
Yellowstone National Park
Location: Yellowstone National Park, WY
Australia
Museums
Australian Age of Dinosaurs
Location: Corfield QLD, AU
Not many dinosaurs are known from the Mesozoic of Australia. In fact, only 22 have proper scientific names based on fossil material. Even though dinosaurs first evolved in the Triassic Period, no dinosaur bones of this age have ever been found in Australia. And yet, we know dinosaurs lived in Australia during the Triassic, since footprints have been found in Triassic rocks from southeast Queensland.
Australian Museum
Location: Sydney, AU
Fossils are a part of our natural heritage and while the vast majority of fossils found by amateur collectors are worth very little in monetary terms, they may be important scientifically.
Canada
Museums
Royal BC Museum
Location: Victoria, BC
Travel to the distant past in the Green House-Ice House gallery. Gaze upward at a fantastic panorama of subtropical Vancouver Island. See spectacular palm and ammonite fossils from the land and sea when our region had a subtropical climate 80 million years ago.
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Location: Drumheller, AB
See the world’s best-preserved armored dinosaur, Borealopelta, and other new discoveries that have been found during housing and road construction, mining, wind turbine development, and oil and gas activities.
Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
Location: Morden, MB
Our galleries provide a great interpretation of life in the Western Interior Seaway from the late Cretaceous period of earth’s prehistory. Our extensive collection of marine reptile fossils is the largest in Canada and is very well represented in our gallery space.
Malta
Museums
National Museum of Natural History
Location: Mdina, MDN
The display areas in the museum cover various topics such as Maltese Geology and Palaeontology, exotic mammals, marine fauna, insects, shells and birds and other topics like human evolution. One hall is dedicated to skeletal anatomy of vertebrates, Dioramas that display Maltese habitats comprise, among others, one dedicated to birds of the Maltese cliff habitat, one depicting the importance of rubble walls and one showing the diversity of animals that frequent valleys. Another interesting display highlights the ecological importance of the islands of Filfla, Fungus Rock, St. Paul’s and Comino. The L. Mizzi Hall is dedicated to minerals. This display shows just a small part of Lewis Mizzi’s vast collection. It includes at least 850 pieces of rocks and minerals, with both raw material and worked pieces of art and jewelry.
Mexico
Museums
Museo del Desierto
Location: Coahuila, México
The Museum of the Desert was inaugurated on 25 November 1999 by then-President Ernesto Zedillo and also the directors of the Amigos del Desierto de Coahuila foundation. The project was intended to promote an ecological culture by showing the wealth of life and the evolution of species through time in an interactive way. The project was conceived in the 90s when they began to make important discoveries in the area of about the geology, anthropology, paleontology and biology in the region, as part of a collaboration in all these work areas.
Museum of the Institute of Geology of the UNAM
Location: Mexico City, MEX
In this room are exhibited fossils of invertebrates and vertebrates. The first ones are ordered based on their geological age, that is, they follow a chronological order of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods.
Most of the specimens come from marine fossiliferous beds. The fossils of vertebrates are mostly Pleistocene, except for the dinosaur Pico de Pato and the ichthyosaur that are Mesozoic and the skull of the dinoterium, of tertiary age.
Step by step fossil remains is observed starting with the first organisms that populated the Earth through time to reach the most recent organisms, such as elephants and horses.
Portugal
Museums
Sociedade de História Natural
Location: Ramalhal, PT
The Natural History Society is a non-profit scientific organization based in Torres Vedras (Portugal). It develops paleontological research, in particular on fossil vertebrates, and also aims to promote paleontological and geological heritage. Other initiatives in the field of scientific research and pedagogical activities, especially in the area of archaeological and human paleobiology, are also developed within the institution. In addition to scientific research, the Natural History Society is an entity dedicated to the management of the paleontological and geo-historical heritage, taking care of one of the largest paleontological collections in the country, composed of vertebrate fossils and Jurassic invertebrates Higher.