Dinosaur display
dinosaur recreated
museum display
Museum photo

Explore the past at the Badlands Dinosaur Museum

Prehistoric monsters left their marks all over North Dakota

You’ve probably heard about the Wild West, but do you know how wild it really was?

Visit the Badlands Dinosaur Museum to meet the original settlers of the region and learn what went on millions of years before the buffalo roamed. 

Mighty T-Rex guards the lobby, and full-scale models of an assortment of dinosaurs stalk the main gallery, including Coelophysis, Deinomuchus, Archaeopteryx, and of course the infamous Velociraptor. Full-scale skeletal casts include Allosaurus, Thescelosaurus, and Stegosaurus. See realistic baby dinosaurs hatching from eggs in an original sculpture, and view the beautiful hand-painted murals depicting the landscapes the dinosaurs knew.

You will also meet “Bill,” an authentic and complete triceratops skull excavated from nearby Baker, Montana, and view the rhinoceros and bison bones – also excavated regionally.

The museum boasts an outstanding collection that includes thousands of rock and mineral specimens from all over the world. Then, step behind the curtain and you will find fluorescent minerals that glow in vivid colors when viewed under black light, but look just like ordinary rocks in daylight.

Be sure to visit the gift shop, too, where you will find many of the rocks and minerals that are on exhibit for sale, as well as items created from these materials. There are also a wide variety of fun and educational toys, T-shirts and other souvenirs.

North Dakota once was a tropical paradise complete with giant lakes and the giant fish that used to swim in them. There is proof that other giants used to roam North Dakota in prehistoric times and they are being uncovered all the time. Dinosaurs literally left their footprints all over this state and their skeletons now figure prominently in many museums. 

Learn more about these extinct beasts on a tour of dinosaur sites in North Dakota