Experience Alaska’s Dinosaur Trails

If You’re In The Area, Anchorage Museum Worth The Visit

A little gem of a museum, a bit off the beaten path, features some interesting dinosaur exhibits. The Alaska Museum of Science & Nature is a hands-on facility in Anchorage featuring dinosaurs, Ice Age mammals, really cool gems, minerals and more. Their exhibits include ‘Alaska Polar Dinosaurs’ - an exploration of Alaska’s dino finds including bones, teeth, claws and eggs; ‘Bare Bones’ where visitors can compare the bones of modern and ancient animals; ‘Talkeetna Seaway featuring extinct sharks, flying Pterosaurs and more. The museum’s other exhibits include ‘Ice Age Alaska’ with mammals like mammoths, bison, American lions, saber tooth cats, short face bears, touchable wolves, giant beavers and even a whale!

Our mission is to inspire, through many educational exhibits and programs, a better understanding and appreciation of the natural world, the sciences, and ourselves.

Photo by James R. Evans Courtesy of the Alaska Museum of Science and Nature

This is a toddler-friendly facility that has activities for every age. Visitors will see skeletons of Hadrosaurs, Ceretopsians, large & small carnivores including Albertosaurs and raptors. There’s marine reptiles and flying pterosaurs too. Also on display are a wide variety of skulls representing animals from around the world, including a 2-headed one.

Photo by James R. Evans Courtesy of the Alaska Museum of Science and Nature

“Rocks & Minerals Exhibit” features meteorites, fluorescent rocks, multi-coloured minerals and fossils from prehistoric forests such as petrified trees, sequoia leaves and palm fronds.

Photo by James R. Evans Courtesy of the Alaska Museum of Science and Nature

Opened in 1994, the Alaska Museum of Science & Nature takes young and old alike on a learning adventure around the state. This museum fills a special need for science education focusing exclusively on Alaska’s unique geological, cultural, and ecological history. They have world-class collection, and created an exciting and interactive learning experience. If you ever find yourself wandering off the beaten path to Anchorage make sure you pay this sweetheart museum a visit. For more information check them out on Facebook or their website at: alaskamuseum.org/visit_us.html.

By: Larry Thomas