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Location
Visitor tip
The museum features touchable artifacts and is very hands-on friendly for kids, making it ideal for younger visitors who learn best through interactive experiences. The entire venue is designed to engage children while also satisfying adult paleontology enthusiasts.
Visitor tip
Don't skip the gift shop - while noted as slightly pricey, it offers unique souvenirs like real megalodon teeth, mineral samples, and high-quality replicas that directly support the institute's ongoing paleontological research and discoveries.
Visitor tip
The museum is expanding to a larger building soon. Visit now to see the impressively curated collection in its current intimate setting before the move, as this compact presentation of world-class specimens is part of what makes the experience special.
About Museum @ Black Hills Institute
Cool place with natural history displays. Dinosaur skeletons, minerals & meteorites featured in an unfussy exhibit space with a gift shop.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Natural History Museum
- Collection Focus
- Fossils from Black Hills region collected for nearly 50 years
- Highlights
- Largest Tyrannosaurus rex compilation, Stan™ dinosaur replica, ammonites, marine mammals, Green River fossils
- Notable Discoveries
- Dozens of new species, several new genera, and a new family of fossils
What visitors say
This was another cool museum to see. Fossils, Stones, and history. The staff was very nice.
For 7.50, I thought this museum was hands down worth it. I am not sure what lured me to go here, but I went on my own to visit. I was amazed at how many dinosaur, mammal, and aquatic animal bones they fit into one room for display. Not…
We LOVED this place!! It was a last minute addition to our family vacation, and I'm SO GLAD we went. I am amazed at how many fossils and artifacts they were able to fit into a relatively small space. About half the space is the museum,…
From 523 Google reviews Read all reviews
Did You Know?
- The museum features the largest compilation of Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons, including Stan™, one of the most complete T-Rex fossils ever discovered in South Dakota
- The Black Hills Institute discovered both Sue and Stan, the two most complete T-Rex fossils to date, both found in South Dakota
- The museum displays specimens from diverse geographic origins including Madagascar, Peru, the Middle East, and North America, representing multiple geological periods from the Late Cretaceous through the Oligocene
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