Museum of the Rockies
When you walk through the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State university you'll travel through more than four billion years in time. You'll experience the Northern Rocky Mountain region and life that emerged upon it from the beginning of time to the present. more info
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Bozeman Cottage & Vacation Home Rentals
Many of our guests visit the Museum and make it a primary part of the trip to Bozeman. Our historical homes are a good fit for natural history lovers. Reserve online.
(406) 580-3223
Start your travels outside the Taylor Planetarium where a huge wall mural will orient you to our place in the universe. Then test your knowledge of space at the interactive "space station." Your next stop is Landforms / lifeforms where you'll learn about the geologic formation of this region including the mountain building in Yellowstone, Glacier and Teton National Parks. Spectacular dioramas will introduce you to the earliest life forms that lived here and show their fossilized counterparts. There's also a video about the super continent, Pangea, a pinball game about extinction, and a number of artifacts and activities to touch or try.
Then it's on to the Berger Dinosaur Hall. One Day 80 Million Years Ago takes you back in time to the Egg Mountain dinosaur nesting colonies near present-day Choteau, Montana. You'll meet Maiasaura Peeblesorum and her babies and the other animals who lived there. Fossils from current research projects are on display on the balcony overlooking the hall and volunteers in the Bowman Fossil Bank will be happy to answer your questions about fossil preparation techniques. Moving on you'll encounter Mammoths and the Great Ice Age, featuring fossils of animals that lived at least 10,000 years ago.
At your next stop you'll discover the presence of humans in the Northern Rockies. Enduring Peoples: Native Cultures of the Northern Rockies and Plains traces the origins and development of Indians who have occupied Montana and other parts of the region for more than 11,000 years.
The reasons fur trappers and white settlers came west and the life styles they carved out for themselves are reflected in Montana On The Move in the Paugh History Hall. Historic artifacts, photographic wall murals and pieces from the Museum's extensive textile collection add to your understanding of Montana's past. Here you'll see evidence collected from the only Lewis and Clark campsite to ever be scientifically verified.
A constantly changing schedule of exhibits and planetarium shows mean there's always something new to see. The year's featured exhibit, Weapons that Changed the West: From Flint to Fusion, tells the dramatic, tragic and much romanticized history of the Northern Rockies which has been extraordinarily influenced by weapons technology, The exhibit opens on Memorial Day and continues into 2002, Contemporary Montana painters, work by Jessica Zemsky and Jack Hines, Northwest ceramic artists, and the Montana State University faculty will be presented in a series of four exhibits during the year.
The Museum of the Rockies is also home to the world-class Taylor Planetarium, It is the only public planetarium in a three-state region and one of the few with a computer graphics system that can simulate 3-D effects and flight through space. In addition to its main features which change quarterly, the planetarium offers live narrated tours of the night sky, a children's show on Saturday mornings, and laser shows throughout the year.
Before you leave the Museum, you'll enjoy the 3-D presentation in the Hager Auditorium, and a visit to the Museum Store. Your children will love the Martin Discovery Room, an interactive play area. During the summer, you're invited to experience the day-to-day life of a century ago at the Living History Farm. Smell the bread baking, watch the horses at work, feed the chickens and see what else the volunteers are doing.
From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the Museum is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily with planetarium shows throughout the day. During the rest of the year, the Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 12:30 to 5 p.m.
The Museum is located on the Montana State University campus at 600 W. Kagy Blvd. The most direct route is via the 19th Ave. exit from Inter- state 90. Travel through Bozeman on 19th Ave. until you reach Kagy Boulevard; turn left and follow the street signs.
For More Information
600 w. Kagy Blvd.
Bozeman, MT 59715
(406)994-DINO (406)994-2251
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Museum of the Rockies
The Museum of the Rockies is hosted by Montana State University.
