George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park

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CLOSED NOW - Opens at 10:00am

I read about this place on Roadside America and being a lifelong dinosaur fan, decided to check it out. I'm so glad I did! This is a fantastic little museum and outdoor park and is a must see for fans of roadside attractions and especially dinosaurs.

Note that it's easy to miss the entrance, as it's pretty quick after you turn off the main road (it's directly across the street from a little white shop). If you bypass the main drive, turning around isn't too easy so stay alert.

The admission fee is reasonable ($7 for adults) and I think it's well worth it. Note that you can add on a few kid friendly activities, including digging for "gems" in a "mine" and panning for gold. I was super tempted by the counter where you can buy a real geode and they'll slice it open for you on the spot (for an additional cost). Even without purchasing these extras, there is a ton to see. I never felt as if I was being nickel and dimed here.

The museum portion of the park is fantastic. It's not fancy and the display cases are simple and mis-matched, but the artifacts are top notch. There are fantastic displays of sparkling quartz, rocks and gems, and some truly cool trilobite fossils and more. Inexplicably, there are a couple of cases filled with junk like old quilts and muskets that'll make you scratch your head and say "huh?" Ditto for the bizarro giant clock crafted out of grenades and bullets!

The museum has a great collection of dinosaur bones and skeletons on display, and they are beautifully curated with surprisingly thorough educational information and interactive touch screens. There's even a windowed area where you can watch volunteers working and cleaning new fossil finds. If you or your kids love dinos, do not miss the robotic dinosaurs on the upper level. It's a very small area but is pretty rad and features animatronics that are just as good as the ones at Disney World.

After exploring the museum, make your way outside for the huge park! This part is so much fun as there are long, winding paths that meander all over the property. It's kind of easy to get lost, so take a map. Best of all? Along the paths are giant concrete dinosaurs! The paths aren't very shady so bring sunscreen and a good hat. The park has several nice picnic areas too, and a little pond where you can feed the fish and ducks (bring quarters for the food machines). There's a small snack bar and a gift shop with great dino themed gifts for cheap. Parking is easy in a paved lot out front.

The one huge negative of this place is that is it not air conditioned, which means it can get really hot inside the museum on warm summer days. I visited on a 100 degree day and it was sweltering and very unpleasant. They do have fans strategically placed but it's h-o-t.

I totally loved this place and spent two hours here! Then again, I have been dinosaur obsessed since I was four years old. Highly recommended.