1.
Wyoming Dinosaur Center - Thermopolis, WY
Besides being a world class dinosaur museum
which includes interpretive displays,
dioramas and life-size dinosaur mounts, but it has over 60 identified
dinosaur digsites in a 500-acre area. Program and activites include Digsite
tours, Dig-for-a-day programs, and dinosaur digs for kids.
2. Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
- Woodland Park, CO
It hosts
some of the most spectacular dinosaurs, marine reptiles, flying reptiles and
fish of North America’s Late Cretaceous world. Each skeleton tells a tale of how
they may have appeared in life, the environments they lived in, stories of the
discovery and excavation of each specimen. Their dinosaur and marine specimens
include: the world’s only Pachycephalosaurus, the world’s largest Mosasaur, the
world’s first 3-D giant Xiphactinus and 2 Daspletosaurs (more rare than T-Rex,
only 8 in the world)! Over 30 skeletons and life restorations on display.
3.
Dinosaur National Monument - Utah and Colorado
The visitor center has a rock wall
containing 1500 fossil bones, a paleontology laboratory, exhibits, and a
bookstore. The monument which is run by the National Park Service contain a
large deposit of fossil dinosaur bones that lived millions of years ago. Many
people think that dinosaurs were big horrible lizards because some of the
first dinosaur fossils ever found were huge bones and teeth, very lizard-like
except for their size, and so the idea of monstrous lizards was born. Today,
many ideas about dinosaurs are changing, and the fossils at Dinosaur National
Monument continue to help us learn more about these fascinating animals.
4.
Dinosaur Journey
- Fruita, CO
Dinosaur Journey is a hands-on, interactive museum and is the perfect
place to learn about your favorite dinosaurs! They have robotic displays of
Dilophosaurus, Utahraptor, T-Rex and many other displays including real bones
plus cast skeletons of Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus and
the Mymoorapelta.
5.
Peabody Museum of Natural History
- New Haven, CN
Peabody Museum of Natural History
is in New Haven, CN at Yale University. This museum was
founded in 1866 with a gift from philanthropist George Peabody, at the urging of
his nephew, Yale’s O.C. Marsh, the first professor of paleontology in North
America and the Museum’s first director. Marsh built many of the Peabody’s great
collections, and today you can see some of his most famous finds and the
dinosaurs he named, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus. Tthe
Yale Peabody Museum is also home to Rudolph F. Zallinger’s murals The Age of
Mammals. and he Age of Reptiles.
6.
Museum of the Rockies
- Bozeman, Montana
This modern museum is on the
campus of Montana State in Western Montana. Dr. John R. "Jack"
Horner, dinosaur advisor to the Jurassic Park films makes his scientific
home at the museum, and its collections benefits from his amazing finds.
You may not find many skeletons display, you will see dinosaur
recreations and lots of fascinating insights on dinosaur behavior.
7.
Field Museum of Natural History - Chicago, IL
This historic museum has attracted much attention with its permanent exhibits
that include Brachiosaurus and many other skeletons, and a walk-through
time machine experience that takes visitors on journey through
prehistoric time.
8.
Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History - Washington, DC
This Smithsonian dinosaur museum is full of real fossils, many
historic, and has had a recent facelift as well, with additions that
include a preparation station where visitors can see fossil workers
working with actual bones.
9. Academy of Natural
Sciences -Philadelphia, PA
This museum is the
nation's oldest science institution and has one of the newest
dinosaur halls. Exhibition include an enormous Giganotosaurus skeleton,
the largest predator yet discovered. In addition to the many dinosaur
skeletons on display, visitors will venture into animated environments
and kids can play in the best dig pit.
10.
American Museum of Natural History - New York (tie)
One of the premier attractions in New York City is the Museum's series
of fossil halls, including its two famed dinosaur halls. The Museum is
home to the world's largest collection of vertebrate fossils, totaling
nearly one million specimens. More than 600 of these specimens, nearly
85 percent of which are real fossils as opposed to casts, are on view.
10.
Thanksgiving Point - Lehi, Utah (tie)
Sleep under the belly of a Brachiosaurus or the mighty Tyrannosaurus
Rex. Tour exhibits, watch a movie, participate in a paleontology class,
and enjoy snacks, breakfast, and other activities. Bring the kids and
spend a night at the world's largest dinosaur museum.
Honorable Mention
Museum of World Treasures -
Wichita, Kansas
The Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, Kansas is the top-rated Kansas
attraction by Yahoo!Travel offering visitors a chance to tap into their
inner explorer with artifacts from around the world. Its feature
exhibit—a battling dinosaur display includes a nearly 70% complete
T.rex; one of the few this complete in the world standing approximately
15 ft tall, an Edmontosaurus, a Daspletosaurus, and a Thescelosaur. All
are real. The museum offers self-guided scavenger hunts, educational
programs for youth, guided tours for groups and camp-ins. The museum is
conveniently located in the heart of downtown in a popular historic
district full of variety for shopping and dining.
Listing of Dinosaur Museums throughout the United States
Arizona
Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ -
Website
California
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA -
Website
UC Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, CA -
Website
Colorado
Colorado University Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO -
Website
Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, CO -
Website
Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison, CO -
Website
Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah -
Website
Dinosaur Valley Museum: Museum of Western Colorado, Grand Junction, Colorado -
Website
The Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Woodland Park, Colorado -
Website
Connecticut
Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, CT -
Website
Peabody Museum New Haven, CT -
Website
Georgia
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA -
Website
Hawaii
Honolulu Community College Dinosaur Exhibit -
Website
Illinois
Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford IL. -
Website
The Field Museum, Chicago, IL. -
Website
Kansas
Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, KS -
Website
Museum of World Treasures - Wichita, Kansas
- Website
Massachusetts
Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA -
Website
Pratt Museum of Natural History, Amherst, MA -
Website
Michigan
University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, MI -
Website
Minnesota
The Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN -
Website
Montana
The Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana -
Website
Nebraska
University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska -
Website
New Jersey
Hadrosaurus foulkii Leidy National Historic Site Haddonfield, New Jersey -
Website
New Mexico
Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, Tucumcari, New Mexico -
Website
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, New Mexico -
Website
New York
American Museum of Natural History -
Website
Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, NY -
Website
North Carolina
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC -
Website
North Dakota
Dakota Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson,
North Dakota -
Website
Ohio
Cincinnati Museum, Cincinnati, OH -
Website
Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH. -
Website
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK -
Website
Pennsylvania
Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA -
Website
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, PA. -
Website
Texas
Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, TX -
Website
Fort Worth Museum of Science, Fort Worth, TX -
Website
Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX -
Website
Texas Memorial Museum, University of Texas, Austin, TX -
Website
Utah
Mill Canyon/Copper Ridge Dinosaur Tracks, Moab, UT -
Website
College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price, UT -
Website
The Dinosaur Museum, Blanding, Utah -
Website
Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Jensen, Utah -
Website
Thanksgiving Point - Lehi, Utah -
Website
Utah Field House of Natural History State Park, Vernal, UT -
Website
Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake, City, UT -
Website
Washington
Burke Museum, Seattle, WA -
Website
Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution's Dinosaurs,
Washington, D.C. -
Website
Wisconsin
Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI -
Website
Wyoming
The Geological Museum, Laramie, WY -
Website
Tate Geological Museum, Casper, Wyoming -
Website
Wyoming Dinosaur Center Thermopolis, Wyoming -
Website
Dinosaur Links
RareResourse - Our site has complete
resource structure of dinosaur exposing a rich cache, right from abelisaurus to,
even more complete skeletons of dinosaurs which have become a part of world
culture, and have remained consistently popular, especially among children.
This listing of the Top Ten Dinosaur Museums is constantly being revised as we experience and learn
new things about new museums and as old museums get new exhibits. So, if
you feel we
are missing one,
please email us and let us
know!