Museum of the Rockies: Bozeman, MT
When I was a kid, my family and I took “yearly family vacation” ski trips out west. (Yep. A bunch of southerners on skis…I blame my parents’ Yankee friends).
Somehow, though, we never went to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. This past winter, I decided to rectify that oversight.
Museum of the Rockies = DINOSAURS
Think back to being a kid and being told dinosaurs existed. That’s right, animals bigger than cars used to roam the earth, pushing down trees, getting into HUGE dinosaur battles, and basically stomping anything in their way (see: The Land Before Time [Fun fact: that movie came out in 1988. Don’t you feel old?]).
What I’m saying is, kids love dinosaurs (I’m looking at you, little niece who has a million dinosaur figurines that I keep finding in my sofa cushions a year later), and I was no different. So, why M & D, why did you never take us to the Museum of the Rockies??
Fast forward a decade
Lucky for me, I procured a couple of tickets (M & D making up for their previous oversight), and I got to check it out with my friend Jackie from The Budget-Minded Traveler.
I discovered something at the Museum of the Rockies this year: Dinosaurs are no less awe-inspiring to me as an adult than they were when I was a kid.
Staring up at these huge skeletons and individual bones, I felt small. I felt like the oversight. I also remembered why Jurassic Park was so daggum terrifying (Velociraptors).
Interactive Exhibits
At the Museum of the Rockies, you’ll find interactive technology that allows you to explore the dinosaur era and learn more about each species as well as where their skeletons were found. Even without participating in most of these, Jackie and I easily spent 1.5-2 hours in the museum. There’s also a kid’s play area, a museum store (of course), and some other historical exhibits on the American West and Native American tribes.
The Museum is also home to the world’s largest T-Rex skull (that was sadly traveling elsewhere when we visited).