Museum of the Rockies

Excellent paleontology exhibits. Don’t miss the t-​Rex skulls or the triceratops growth series. Traveling exhibits are very interesting (Pompeii exhibit is coming next– which is unusual since the relics haven’t traveled outside of Italy before). Probably one of the best paleontology collections in the US.

200 reviews down, many more to come. When in Bozeman, Montana, visit the Museum of the Rockies. Who would have thought a tiny, sleepy, college town would present such an exciting museum about the history of Montana along with a large collection of the original Looney Tone’s cartoons? Well, not me. Not me, at ALL.
If you find yourself with some time to kill before leaving Montana, visit the museum and learn about Montana. Its not just a ski state, its actually interesting, and there are dinosaur bones everywhere. Paleontology isn’t boring, contrary to what I was taught in school! Plus, the stuffed bison was a sight after visiting Yellowstone.

Amazing collection of dinosaur fossils. Large and varied collection of triceratops. An excellent place to take young aspiring paleontologists.
In addition to their vast dinosaur collection, they have a great planetarium and interesting exhibits on native Americans and the early days of local Montana history.

I visited this Museum on vacation from Colorado and I have to say I was impressed. The dinosaur exhibits were amazing. The life-​size dioramas and models were amazing. So were their fossil collection. I could not believe how many Tyrannosaurus specimens were on display. Although I it was free admission, I did not get to the planetarium.

Wonderful small museum. Well known for it’s Tyrannosaurus Rex (currently on loan to the Smithsonian), and other dinosaur bones. A great planetarium. We always plan a visit when our granddaughter comes to visit!

Awesome museum. Definitely worth checking out – the planetarium was also spectacular.

As being a Trip Advisor top destination, I was certainly impressed. During my visit they had a special Warner Bros bug’s bunny exhibit with all the original drawings for the show. While not super relevant, it was interesting. However, the dinosaur skeletons were the big seller and the reconstructed T-​rex which apparently all came from Montana. Great to visit for a few hours but not really a whole day.

So while visiting the inlaws with the grandkids in tow we did the short ride over to this museum. The place is much bigger then it looks. We started in the dinosaur area which was great and fun. A few of the interactive tvs were not working. We made our way into the Native American area which was small but nice. The vehicle room was pretty neat and we really enjoyed the different vehicles and the tar room. Next onto Chocolate!!! It even smelled like chocolate. Not going to lie we rushed through this exhibit but it smelled heavenly and the giant box of chocolates was super creative. We caught the noon showing about black holes in the planetarium, that was fun and is a must see, as long as you don’t have super tiny or loud kids. It is almost 30 minutes long and was narrated by Liam Neeson. We checked out the second floor discovery area and my kids have a great time fake fishing and exploring. On to the living history house. That was my favorite part and we really enjoyed the ladies cooking on the old stove, seeing the icebox in use, pumping the well water and watering the plants. The gardens are gorgeous and smell wonderful.
So why three stars
The admission price is expensive, even with our military discount, yearly family membership is a good deal though
Front desk staff was not informative at all with us but with the people behind us they gave them a map and informed them of the planetarium showtimes

This is a real gem in the heart of fossil beds in America. Many prominent paleontologists are and have been involved with unearthing specimens in the museum’s collection. The array of T. Rex and triceratops examples is both amazing and highly educational, from juveniles to adults. Remains of other species from simple life forms to ancient sea denizens are there.
It would be hard to believe that a better collection and presentation exists anywhere. This facility is well worth the trip.

The bang for your buck is limited. The web site says there is car musuem which isn’t accurate.
If you live in a big city your local musuem will be bigger and better. If you live in Montana then it is worth the money

I did not expect to see a great historical museum in a little town such as Bozeman, Montana. The dinosaur collection is phenomenal! I never knew North America held so many dinosaur bones within its border ans there are many more to be discovered. Beyond the dino collection are the Aztec collection, Native American history in Montana, Oregon trail collection, and a history of how chocolate is made. You won’t regret it!

Comprehensive dino exhibit (might even be better than AMNH in NYC) as well as some other fun exhibits (e.g. exhibit on chocolate when we were there). And a great gift shop to boot.

This was a good experience! Good place for people of all ages, you can walk through at your own pace, and there are benches and chairs if you need to sit and rest. Make sure to plan ahead for the planetarium shows, that was the best part. We watched a couple different ones, and some you feel like you’re moving (if you get motion sickness be aware) room fills up fast, so you need to wait about 15 mins before show in line. There was some kids stuff outside with soda and mentos, tons of kids were having fun with all of that. While we were there, we got to see the chocolate exibit, something different.

My 9 year-​old loved the Planetarium and my 7 year-​old loved the Living Historic Museum.
I was pleasantly surprised by the information presented about the dinosaur bones.
The Chocolate exhibit offered more information about the history of chocolate than I ever knew was possible!

I was pleasantly surprised by this museum. I came with my husband and little baby girl, and I found the museum to be kid-​friendly (which helped me feel more comfortable being there with a baby) and I felt it was well done.
The special exhibit space had beautiful nature photography (I’m blanking on the photographer’s name) and it was inspiring to walk through there. My husband said there was another huge area behind this with more historical items, though not related to dinosaurs.
I went downstairs to use the restroom and found another whole level of meeting rooms, classrooms, and space to utilize for groups.
The gift shop was just big enough and was filled with souvenirs and goodies for the kids.
If I lived in the area I’d definitely come back!

This museum is way cool! It has an amazing dinosaur exhibit, a frontier exhibit, a mining and automobiles exhibit, and great rotating exhibits with live animals and the such as well! I highly recommend it!

I love museums, so of course, I had to visit this one on my trip to Bozeman/​Yellowstone. We only had about 1.5 hours to kill and I felt like it was not enough time for me to finish everything. Unfortunately, being a little jetlagged, I fell asleep during the planetarium showing of neutrinos, but my friend and I breezed through the rest of the exhibits just to get it all done. The gecko portion was really cool, and I was fascinated by the dinosaur stuff as well.

Love love loved this museum! Awesome placards explaining science and exhibits. Take the time to read them because it tells you that fossil displays with a «b» are real bones while «r» are replicas… Awesome display of live geckos, native American art .you could spend hours here.

We found the museum to be a great disappointment. We went to the museum hoping for an informative and enlightening experience, instead we found an environment of loosly controlled mayhem resembling a daycare facility. The museum appears to have been configured to entertain children — not inform adults interested in Paleontology. Although there are exhibits on display, don’t look for indepth information as to where the fossils were found, how they were removed and preserved or the challenges faced in these scientific endeavors. While visiting the museum, we watched two dedicated individuals working in a glass enclosed room — doing something involving fossils. No explanation was posted as to their activities, the creatures they were preserving, whether the fossils were commonly found or unique. All in all, I’m glad we went, but disappointed.

This is such a successful place on so many levels.
I noticed that many of the archeological finds on display were dated from the last 20 years or so. Considering the tremendous amount of archeological wealth still hidden in the region’s surrounding rocks, this is truly a latter day temple for dinosaur worshippers.
Downstairs, there is a working lab where excavation tools and tables and fossils are in plain view. An exhibit in an adjoining room brings visitors to a platform that could have been eye level with some of the extinct beasts. It’s like a Madame Toussaud’s museum for dinosaurs, insterspersed with glassed in exhibits showing either the actual or reproductions of found bones or eggs.
A hall billed as the planetarium is actually a cinematic viewing room, with fascinating footage projected onto a rounded ceiling on scientific topics like astronomy, narrated by internationally reknown experts from U of MT.
Although the collection on Native American peoples had interesting relics, I chafed at the idea of grouping cultural history with explorations of the natural world. Kind of like a side show that demeaned the otherwise well earned stature of the place.