Dedicated to illuminating the natural world and the place of humans within it, the Natural History Museum of Utah has fascinating collections from across the state and beyond. Bring the kids to spend hours viewing artifacts from giant dinosaur bones to tiny insects.
Dinosaurs are always popular with kids. See bones and reconstructions of a dozen species in the paleontology collection. Marvel at a multi-horned Diabloceratops eatoni, an armored Stegosaurus armatus and a “new” tyrannosaur, the Lythronax argestes, whose discovery was announced in 2013. The entire exhibit has more than 30,000 specimens.
The 200,000 specimens from the entomology collection are fascinating on a smaller scale. See the infamous brown tarantula and black widow spider and the less well-known Mormon cricket. Native Americans preserved these black chirpers with salt from Great Salt Lake. Later the crickets caused havoc for Mormon settlers. Join the Salt Lake Bug Lovers to continue learning about native creatures after your visit.
The vertebrate zoology section has thousands of specimens from mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian families. Get tips on how to differentiate between species. Learn all about malacology when you view displays from the approximately 40,000 specimens of marine mollusks, many from Utah’s freshwater lakes and rivers.
The museum’s anthropology collection has approximately 1 million artifacts, dating back to 11,500 B.C. See moccasins, baskets and other objects from Utah’s Native American people in the ethnographic displays and relics from dry caves in the archaeology exhibits. Browse through the botany and mineralogy collections to see plants and rocks from the Wasatch Front, Salt Lake Valley and other areas of Utah.
While the displays inside are outstanding, the building itself is also a marvel. The six-story Rio Tinto Center, opened in 2011, is wrapped by seam copper from the Bingham Canyon Mine, presenting varying shades of oxidation from orange to green. Enjoy views of Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Valley from its terraces.
Visit the Natural History Museum of Utah any day. Wednesdays also have evening hours. Admission is reduced for children and seniors. Stop here for an interesting break during a hike along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.
