The Dinosaur Journey Museum in Fruita, Colorado was listed by Travel Channel as one of the “Top 6 Dinosaur Exhibits in America,” alongside The Smithsonian and the Chicago Field Museum. Dinosaur Journey has something to offer for all ages, from interactive to informative.
Q: What makes more noise than a dinosaur?
A: Two dinosaurs!
Q: What do you call a Stegosaurus with carrots in his ears?
A: Anything you want, he can’t hear you.
Q: What museum in Fruita, Colorado is home to one of Travel Channel’s Top 6 Best Dinosaur Exhibits in America?
A: The Dinosaur Journey Museum
Anyone over the age of six can agree that dinosaur jokes range from corny to just plain terrible. For some unfortunate reason, these extinct creatures have taken the brunt of some of the worst puns of all time. But on the bright side for Stegosaurus’ everywhere, Fruita’s Dinosaur Journey Museum is anything but a joke.
The museum, located just off the interstate and within walking distance of hotels, offers a perfect mixture of educational and interactive experiences. Walking through a cave-like entrance, visitors find themselves immersed in a large cavern of dinosaur life and information. It’s impossible to be bored here, no matter what age.
For younger children, there are plenty of interactive learning opportunities. In one corner, visitors can step onto the Earthquake Machine. Instead of just reading about the stages of an earthquake, such as aftershock, you can experience them. A moving rock-layer diagram on the wall begins sliding and pulling apart as the ground quakes beneath your feet, offering a visual learning opportunity. Then on to Midnight at the Oasis, where visitors can walk onto a bridge and stare down a spitting Theropod! After spotting you, the robotic dinosaur sprays water from its mouth, soaking all in its path. For the little ones who don’t enjoy getting wet, head to the Simulated Dig Site. Kids can grab a brush and start excavating large bones from the sand that covers them. And touchable fossils are located throughout the museum, allowing visitors to see and feel aspects of the fossils that would be unnoticeable behind glass, such as teeth marks from Velociraptors!
But adults shouldn’t feel left out! There are plenty of traditional learning opportunities such as signs and full-scale skeleton displays. Some fully cast skeletons include Velociraptors and a Stegosaurus. Every summer, Dinosaur Journey receives a new exhibit displaying various content. Currently, the exhibit features “Hatching the Past: Nesting with Dinosaurs,” showing many different types of rare dinosaur eggs.
Need a rest? Head to the reading room where kids can read dinosaur books, go the theater and watch a short educational film, or watch through large glass windows as museum volunteers clean up newly excavated fossils in the fossil lab. And don’t forget to grab some merchandise from the gift shop!
For more museum information, head to Dinosaur Journey’s website.
But there’s more to experience with Dinosaur Journey than just what’s inside its doors. The museum is located in Fruita, Colorado, which is a hotbed for paleontology efforts. Visitors can sign up for a dinosaur dig program and actually go dig up real fossils at a local dig site! As much as kids liked the museum, they will love being a part of an actual outdoor excavation!
For more information on the digs or to register, head to the dig page.
