The Gray Fossil Site & Museum
Rhinos without horns? Camels without humps? A Red Panda?
They roamed the Earth more than 5 million years ago—and today, they roar back to life at the Gray Fossil Site & Museum.
Located just two miles off Interstate 26, the site transports you back in time to the late Miocene period—millions of years before humans, and well before the last ice age. It's an ultramodern scientific center, providing a fascinating look at a much different world than we know today.
Built on top of a 5-acre fossil deposit, the 33,000-square-foot museum welcomes visitors with life-sized skeletal recreations and fossilized remains of saber-toothed cats, shovel-tusked elephants, short-faced bears, the world’s largest deposit of tapirs, and a host of other now-extinct species. The museum also features dozens of interactive displays—where visitors can dig for fossils, examine ancient bones, explore a prehistoric forest with an x-ray scope, and experience scientific discovery first-hand.
But this isn’t any ordinary museum. In fact, it’s the only one of its kind in the world.
Just outside, paleontologists continue to excavate and extract fossilized remains on a daily basis. From there, the discoveries are brought back in to the museum’s laboratory, where scientists examine, analyze, and re-build skeletons right before your eyes. Watch as they create castings, compare bone structures, and brush away the dirt to reveal million-year-old bones. You’ll even get the chance to make your own groundbreaking discovery -- by finding a piece of history untouched by any other human hand.
With each new discovery, the site reveals more and more about the geography, climate, and history of North America—giving us critical insights on migration patterns and procreation trends. It encourages critical thinking among children, giving them a real-life application for science and history.
The museum is open to the general public, and welcomes school groups, civilian organizations, and corporate functions. But for the most insightful learning experience—and to become a paleontologist for a day—take one of the museum’s guided tours, offered every hour.
|
HOURS OF OPERATION: Open daily, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. COST: Self-guided tour (Basler Exhibit Hall only)
|
 |
