Top Dinosaur Attractions

• Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
  
  This is the largest museum in the Western United States and contains 33 millions specimens and artifacts covering 4.5 billion years of natural history. Dinosaur exhibits include a complete skeleton of Mamenchisaurus, a fine Tyrannosaurus rex skull, and models of Allosaurs and Carnotaurus.

• Dinosaur National Monument
  
  A US National Monument ran by the National Park Service that lies on the border between Colorado and Utah. It is best known for the Dinosaur Wall which is a very steep rock layer which has been chipped away to reveal hundreds of dinosaur fossils. The Wall is located within the Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center, but unfortunately, because of structural problems with the building, it has been (as of the time of writing this article - March 2007), closed indefinitely. However, there are some fossil displays set up in a Temporary Visitor Center.
  
  The two nearest towns are Dinosaur in Colorado (wonderful name!) and Vernal, Utah. If you visit Vernal, you'll notice a large pink model dinosaur at the Western end of the town.

• Peabody Museum of Natural History
  
  A museum located at Yale University in New Haven. The Great Hall of Dinosaurs contains a mounted juvenile Apatosaurus and 110 feet long (34 meters) mural, entitled "The Age of Reptiles".

• Fernbank Museum of Natural History
  
  A natural history museum in Atlanta. There are hundreds of exhibits including dinosaur fossils, as well as an IMAX Theater.

• Field Museum of Natural History
  
  A world famous natural history museum located in Chicago. The museum includes many spectacular exhibits, but the big attraction for dinosaur fans is "Sue", perhaps the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex yet found.

• Science Museum of Minnesota
  
  A science museum in St. Paul. Its Dinosaur and Fossils Gallery contains both real and replicated dinosaur skeletons.

• Museum of the Rockies
  
  Located in Bozeman, this museum contains the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in any museum in the country. These include the largest Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, as well as Tyrannosaurus rex thigh bone containing the remains of soft tissue.
  
  The museum's curator is Jack Horner, who inspired some elements of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park series.

• New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
  
  The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is an impressive museum in Albuquerque. There are two statutes of dinosaurs at the entrance, and complete skeletons of these prehistoric creatures may be found within.

• American Museum of Natural History
  
  The American Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in New York City. The museum includes five floors of exhibits and includes two dinosaur halls.

• North Carolina Museum of Life and Science
  
  The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science is a museum in Durham. The museum's grounds include a number of dinosaur models.
  
  
• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
  
  This museum in in Raleigh focuses on the natural history of the state. Exhibits include a Acrocanthosaurus skeleton and a fossilized dinosaur heart.

• Dakota Dinosaur Museum
  
  This museum, which is located in Dickinson, contains 14 full-scale models of dinosaurs (11 inside and 3 outside) and a real triceratops skeleton.

• Cleveland Museum of Natural History
  
  This is a natural history museum located in Cleveland. Its dinosaur exhibits include the only specimen of the small tyrannosaur Nanotyrannus lancensis, and the most complete Coelophysis bauri yet found.

• Carnegie Museum of Natural History
  
  This is a natural history museum in in Pittsburgh that is well-known for its dinosaur exhibits. The museum is home to the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull yet found.

• Dinosaur Park
  
  Dinosaur Park in Rapid City is an outdoor park containing seven large sculptures of prehistoric creatures. The creatures depicted are: Dimetrodon (which is not actually a dinosaur, but rather is a mammal-like reptile), Apatosaurus, Protoceratops, Stegosaurus, Trachodon, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus rex.
  
  
• Wall Drug
  
  Wall Drug (in Wall!) is a famous cowboy-themed shopping mall. However, unlike a traditional mall, all the shops and restaurants operate as part of a single company. There are quite a few things to see at Wall Drug, but for dinosaur fans the big attraction is an 80 feet (25 meters) long Apatosaurus model.

• Hartman Prehistoric Garden
  
  Located in Austin, the Hartman Prehistoric Garden is one of a number of gardens within the Zilker Botanical Garden. The garden has been planted to resemble a Cretaceous habitat, and contains an actual-size sculpture of Ornithomimus.
  
  
• Texas Memorial Museum
  
  Located on the University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, this museum includes an entire floor of fossilized prehistoric creatures (including, of course, dinosaurs), as well as an impressive set of fossilized dinosaur tracks (in a separate building just outside the entrance).

• Dinosaur National Monument
  
  A US National Monument ran by the National Park Service that lies on the border between Colorado and Utah. It is best known for the Dinosaur Wall which is a very steep rock layer which has been chipped away to reveal hundreds of dinosaur fossils. The Wall is located within the Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center, but unfortunately, because of structural problems with the building, it has been (as of the time of writing this article - March 2007), closed indefinitely. However, there are some fossil displays set up in a Temporary Visitor Center.
  
  The two nearest towns are Dinosaur in Colorado (wonderful name!) and Vernal, Utah. If you visit Vernal, you'll notice a large pink model dinosaur at the Western end of the town.
  
  
• Moqui Cave
  
  Moqui Cave is a large sandstone cave containing a natural history museum. Located near Kanab, the museum contains artifacts from ancient Americans, as well as dinosaur tracks and fossils.
  
  
• Utah Museum of Natural History
  
  This natural history museum in Salt Lake City contains diorama's of the state's natural habitats, as well as casts of dinosaurs.

• National Museum of Natural History
  
  This is a large natural history museum in the capital. The museum's collection includes 125 specimens, including of course fossils, some of which are dinosaurs.

• Dinosaur Fossil Cabin Museum
  
  Not quite a dinosaur attraction, but nevertheless fascinating. This is a cabin constructed from around 26,000 fossils, located on U.S. Highway 30 near Medicine Bow.
  
  
• Wyoming Dinosaur Center
  
  Located near Thermopolis, this museum contains 12,000 square feet of exhibition space that is filled with dozens of mounted skeletons, including over 20 dinosaurs.

Related Links

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• Dinosaurs News
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• Dinosaurs Parks
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