Dinosaur Museum In The Black Hills

I love dinosaurs!
There I’ve said it and I’m not ashamed.

Pretty much every time we come across something in our travels that mentions dinosaurs we stop. They mention they have mini-golf too and I will just hand over whatever money they ask for without question.

The Dinosaur Museum is located between Reptile Gardens and the Founding Fathers Exhibit in Rapid City off Highway 16. You will know you’ve reached your destination when you spot the giant T-rex standing guard outside.

The museum has close to 100 life-size replicas of dinosaurs. Some of the displays are in skeleton form while most are realistic looking. Could this be what they possibly looked like when they once roamed the Earth?

A gift shop is in the building as you enter. There is a fossil dig for the kids and a fun mirror maze that we finished way to fast. We ended up not making one wrong turn which I thought was impressive. There is a movie theater showing a film on the day in the life of a dinosaur. They also have an authentic Dinosaur leg bone you can actually touch.

On the side of the building is a dino-themed mini-golf course which is included in the price of admission. It’s small and relatively easy to play, but hey it’s mini-golf and I never turn down mini-golf.

One of my favorite attractions was a display case showcasing various bird eggs where you could see the extreme differences in size. I also enjoyed an exhibit of skulls showing the evolution of man. I also highly enjoyed the Platecarpus and Trinacromerum replicas (I’m a sucker for the sea monsters). Jamey always falls in love when he sees a Ground Sloth skeleton.

I’ve read a lot of not so positive reviews about this place. People complain about the building, because it basically looks like a barn. There’s no air conditioning and people think it’s mostly catered to kids and costs too much.

I say ignore the negative nancies.

You can find coupons that cut the price in half if you go before noon. Any kid will love this place and if you’re an adult who loves dino’s you will completely appreciate these lifelike replicas. Yeah the building looks like a barn, but I’m not there to look at the walls of the building I’m there to check out some epic looking dinosaurs.

So in conclusion…go see dinosaurs, take some Instagram worthy selfies and play some putt-putt.

Did I forget to mention you can bring your furry friends with you as long as you keep then on a leash?
I give you my guarantee that not one ancient reptile will try to gobble them up for a snack.