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List of museums in Montana facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Museum of the Rockies
Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman

This list of museums in Montana encompasses museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scientific, or historical interest and make their collections or related exhibits available for public viewing. Museums that exist only in cyberspace (i.e., virtual museums) are not included.

The six areas referred to in the "Region" column are explained in a separate section below.

Montana has an unusual number of paleontology museums and museums with paleontology sections, much of them filled with discoveries from within the state. These museums are listed again in a separate table below with more specific information.

Museums

This list is a sortable table. Click on the small boxes next to any heading title to reorder the list (in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order) by that category.

Name Town/City County Region Type Summary
American Computer & Robotics Museum Bozeman Gallatin South central Computer History of computing, communications, artificial intelligence & robotics
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts Helena Lewis and Clark Southwest Art Exhibitions of contemporary ceramic art
Bair Family Museum Martinsdale Meagher North central Historic house website, ranch home of Charles M. Bair family, features antiques, Native American and Western art, ranching display
Beaverhead County Museum Dillon Beaverhead Southwest Local history website, natural, physical and human history of Beaverhead County, includes fossils, military artifacts, textiles, household items, miniature railroad, mining and farming equipment, a general store, schoolroom and railroad pocket watch exhibit
Belt Museum Belt Cascade North Central Local history In the old jail building. Jail cell, coal mine reproductions, photos, local artists.
Big Horn County Historical Museum Hardin Big Horn Southeast Open-air website, includes over 25 historic buildings, farm equipment, horse-drawn wagons and antique vehicles, operated by the Big Horn County Historical Society
Big Sandy Historical Museum Big Sandy Chouteau North Central Local history Early pioneer ranching days, genealogy information
Blaine County Museum Chinook Blaine Northeast Local history website, local history, culture, Native Americans, dinosaurs and fossils
Blaine County Wildlife Museum Chinook Blaine Northeast Natural history website, open summer, over 200 animals on display, past and present Montana wildlife
Brand Bar Museum Ovando Powell Southwest Local history Local memorabilia, stories of settlers
Broadwater County Museum Townsend Broadwater Southwest Local history website, open seasonally
Canton Church Historic Site Townsend Broadwater Southwest Religious 1870s Catholic Church, first built in the area
Carbon County Historical Society Museum Red Lodge Carbon South central Local history website, Native Americans, cowboys, rodeo, mining, ranching and homesteading
Carter County Museum Ekalaka Carter Southeast Multiple Local history, Native American, homesteaders, dinosaurs, fossils, geology, natural history
Cascade Senior Center and Museum Cascade Cascade North Central Local history Photographs, business machines, military
Castle Museum White Sulphur Springs Meagher North central History Late 19th-century mansion with period furniture, minerals, textiles, historic artifacts, carriages and sleds, a bank, a schoolroom, a stagecoach, fire engines
Central Montana Museum Lewistown Fergus North central Multiple website, local history, culture, Native Americans, mining, petroleum, military history, dinosaurs, open seasonally
Cheyenne Indian Museum Ashland Rosebud Southeast History website, located in St. Labre Indian Mission, artifacts and collectibles from the Plains Tribes
Children's Museum of Montana, Inc Great Falls Cascade Central tactile exploration website, focus is cognitive development through interactive exhibits to inspire a passion for lifelong learning.
Children’s Museum Missoula Missoula Missoula Northwest Children's website, interactive exhibits for children
Children's Museum of Bozeman Bozeman Gallatin South central Children's website
Children's Museum of Northeast Montana Glasgow Valley Northeast Children's website
Clark Chateau Butte Silver Bow Southwest Multiple website, 1898 mansion
Clarks Fork Valley Museum Fromberg Carbon South central Local history In railroad depot, replicas
C. M. Russell Museum Complex Great Falls Cascade North central Art Focus is the artwork of local "cowboy artist" Charles Marion Russell and art about the American Old West
Conrad Mansion Museum Kalispell Flathead Northwest Historic house website; 1895 Norman-style mansion built by trading and freighting magnate and Kalispell founder Charles Conrad; has 26 originally furnished rooms, Tiffany-style windows
Conrad Transportation and Historical Museum Conrad Pondera North central History / Transportation Open seasonally, features a period drug store, general store, recreated homestead shack, exhibits about the development of the west through transportation, toys, automobiles and artifacts
Cooke City Montana Museum Cooke City Park South central Local history website, Beartooth Pass, tourism, local communities
Copper King Mansion Butte Silver Bow Southwest Historic house Guided tours of the late Victorian mansion
Copper Village Museum & Arts Center Anaconda Deer Lodge Southwest Multiple Located in the Anaconda City Hall Cultural Center, exhibitions of art, local history and culture
Crail Ranch Homestead Museum Big Sky Gallatin South central Homestead website The museum is housed in two original homestead cabins and displays artifacts, photographs and documents pertaining to the homestead era in the Big Sky area. Docents offer extensive information about the pioneer Crail and Creek families.
Crazy Mountain Museum Big Timber Sweet Grass South central Local history website
Culbertson Museum Culbertson Roosevelt Northeast History website, open seasonally, local history, historic room and business displays, tractors, horse-drawn equipment, cowboy pioneer and homesteader artifacts
Custer Battlefield Museum Garryowen Big Horn Southeast History website, Battle of the Little Bighorn, frontiersmen, military life, Plains Indian culture
Daly Mansion Hamilton Ravalli Southwest Historic house website, home of 19th century industrialist Marcus Daly, includes an arboretum and botanical garden
Daniels County Museum & Pioneer Town Scobey Daniels Northeast Living history website, includes over 30 historic buildings restored to depict a town in the early 1900s
Darby Pioneer Memorial Museum Darby Ravalli Northwest Local history Collection of pioneer home and work artifacts
Darby Ranger Station Visitor's Center and Museum Darby Ravalli Northwest History website, open seasonally, history of the Forest Service and its evolving mission, located in the Bitterroot National Forest
Earth Science Museum Loma Chouteau North central Local history, Natural history Gems, minerals, fossils and Native American artifacts discovered in the area
Fly Fishing Discovery Center Livingston Park South central Sports - Fly fishing Operated by the Federation of Fly Fishers, fly fishing ties, rods, reels, lines, float tubes, art
Fort Benton Museums Fort Benton Choteau North central Multiple website, includes Old Fort Benton, a reconstructed 1850s fur trading post; Starr Gallery of Western Art; Museum of the Northern Great Plains about homesteaders' lives and agriculture; Homestead Village, a 1900s period rural community including a church, bank, drug store, City Hall, one room school, a mercantile and three generations of prairie settler's dwellings; Museum of the Upper Missouri about area explorations, transportation and local history; and Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Interpretive Center
Fort Owen State Park Stevensville Ravalli Southwest Military Partially restored fort and museum
Fort Peck Interpretive Center Fort Peck Valley Northeast Natural history Native fish and game species of Fort Peck Lake and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, construction of Fort Peck Dam and powerhouse tours
Frank Derosa Railroad Museum Havre Hill North central History Model railroad, equipment
Frontier Gateway Museum Glendive Dawson Southwest Local history website, open seasonally, dinosaurs and fossils, buffalo, Indians, homesteaders, cattlemen, settlers, railroad, Civil War, two country stores, a blacksmith shop, buggy shed, a fire hall, log cabin, a restored country school, and farm machinery
Frontier Montana Museum Deer Lodge Powell Southwest History website, collection of handguns, spurs, chaps and cowboy collectibles, open seasonally
Galerie Trinitas Great Falls Cascade North central Art Part of the University of Great Falls, religious art and the art of Sister Trinitas Morin
Garfield County Museum Jordan Garfield Northeast History website, local history, culture, dinosaurs and fossils
Gallatin History Museum Bozeman Gallatin South central Local history website, operated by the Gallatin County Historical Society in a former jail, exhibits include jail cells and a hanging gallows, Native American history in the Gallatin Valley, clothing, a reconstructed log cabin, guns
Glacier County Historical Museum Cut Bank Glacier Southwest Local history Open seasonally, exhibits include homesteading, Lewis & Clark, the artist John Clark, community businesses, oil, and Cut Bank 1898 through the 1960, an oil worker's house, oil derrick, 1917 schoolhouse, 1980s caboose, replica homestead house and farm
Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum Glendive Dawson Southwest Religious website, creationist view of dinosaurs and fossils, operated by the Foundation Advancing Creation Truth
Granite County Museum & Cultural Center Philipsburg Granite Southwest Local history website, open seasonally, includes the Ghost Town Hall of Fame, exhibits on area silver mining, located in the historic Courtney Hotel
Grant–Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Deer Lodge Powell Southwest Open-air Tours of the working cattle ranch, 19th-century ranch house, historic bunkhouse, barn with collection of wagons and buggies, granary, draft horse barn, ice house and other outbuildings
Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station Malta Phillips Northeast Natural history Dinosaurs, fossils, hosts paleontology digs, open seasonally
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center West Yellowstone Gallatin South central Natural history Exhibits and live bears and wolves
H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Havre Hill North central Local history Local history, culture, dinosaurs, fossils
Headwaters Heritage Museum Three Forks Gallatin South central History website, Lewis and Clark, mining, early settlers
Heritage Museum Libby Lincoln Northwest Local history website, open seasonally
Historic St. Mary's Mission Stevensville Ravalli Southwest History Mid 19th century mission complex
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Missoula Missoula Northwest Local history website, city history
The History Museum Great Falls Cascade North central History website
Hobson Museum Hobson Judith Basin North central Local history
Hockaday Museum of Art Kalispell Flathead Northwest Art website, housed in a former Carnegie library, permanent exhibit of Glacier National Park art and culture, changing exhibitions of nationally renowned and emerging artists
Holt Heritage Museum Lolo Missoula Northwest West Open by appointment, collection of cowboy and Native American artifacts
Holter Museum of Art Helena Lewis and Clark Southwest Art website, exhibits of contemporary art
Huntley Project Museum Osborn Yellowstone Central Agriculture website, farming, ranching, and homesteading during the early 20th century
J. Spencer Watkins Memorial Museum Virginia City Madison Southwest History Pharmacy, 1st soda fountain in Montana, print shop
Jefferson County Museum Clancy Jefferson Southwest Local history website documents, maps, photos, rotating exhibits, rotating exhibits
Jefferson Valley Museum Whitehall Jefferson Southwest Local history Open seasonally
Judith Basin County Museum Stanford Judith Basin North central Local history Open seasonally
Larue-Hot Springs Museum Hot Springs Sanders Northwest Local history website
Legacy Doll Museum Billings Yellowstone Southeast Doll website, antique, collectible, and modern dolls and doll accessories
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center Great Falls Cascade North central History website, managed by the USDA Forest Service, history of Lewis and Clark Expedition as they portaged the great falls of the Missouri River and explored the 'unknown'
Liberty County Museum Chester Liberty North central Local history Located in a former Episcopal Methodist church
Little Bear School House Museum Gallatin Gateway Gallatin South central Local history School house replica, Gallatin Gateway Inn, collections
Livingston Depot Center Livingston Park South central Railroad Open seasonally, housed in a 1902 Northern Pacific station servicing Yellowstone; railroad artifacts, photos, art
Mai Wah Museum Butte Silver Bow Southwest Ethnic History of Asian-Americans in the Butte area
Makoshika State Park Glendive Dawson Southwest Paleontology Montana's largest state park has dinosaur fossil remains, visitor center at the park entrance has exhibits explaining the site's geologic, fossil, and prehistoric significance
Malmstrom AFB Museum Great Falls Cascade North central Aviation website, history of Malmstrom Air Force Base and air park display of historic military aircraft, models of military aircraft
Marias Museum of History and Art Shelby Toole North central Local history website, period rooms, industries, early settlers, toys, fossils
MBMG Mineral Museum Butte Silver Bow Southwest Geology website, operated by the Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology, rocks and minerals from Montana, the world and meteorites
McCone County Museum Circle McCone Northeast Local history Area local history, over 200 birds and animals mounted and displayed in their natural settings, eight cement dinosaurs, a school house, church and homestead house, depot and caboose
Mehmke Steam Tractor Museum Great Falls Cascade North central Technology website, open seasonally, antique steam tractors and agriculture equipment
Milwaukee Depot Museum Harlowton Wheatland North central Railroad Open seasonally
Mineral County Museum Superior Mineral Northwest History website, logging, mining, Mullan Road
Miracle of America Museum Polson Lake Northwest History website, includes pioneer and Native American artifacts, collections of household items including vacuum cleaners, toys, antiques, guns, music items, military artifacts, military vehicles
Missoula Art Museum Missoula Missoula Northwest Art Culture of the American West with an emphasis on contemporary Montana artists
MonDak Heritage Center Sidney Richland Northeast Art website
Montana Auto Museum Deer Lodge Powell Southwest Transportation - Automobile website, located in a former prison, displays over 150 cars and trucks
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame Wolf Point Roosevelt Northeast Hall of fame - Cowboys Proposed museum
Montana Historical Society Museum Helena Lewis and Clark Southwest Multiple Also known as Montana's Museum, includes fine art, history, archaeology and ethnological artifacts that pertain to Montana and the region
Montana Law Enforcement Museum Deer Lodge Powell Southwest Law enforcement Currently closed web
Montana Military Museum Helena Lewis and Clark Southwest Military website, located at Fort William Henry Harrison
Montana Museum of Art & Culture Missoula Missoula Northwest Art / Culture At the University of Montana; collection of 10,000 items includes American Impressionism, ceramics, works by Frederic Remington, Julius Seyler, William Merritt Chase, Joseph Henry Sharp, Alfred Maurer, Honoré Daumier, modernist or contemporary artists Andy Warhol, David Salle and R.B. Kitaj
Montana Natural History Center Missoula Missoula Northwest Natural history website, flora, fauna and natural history of Western Montana
Moss Mansion Billings Yellowstone Southeast Historic house Early 20th century period mansion
Museum of the Beartooths Columbus Stillwater South central History website, artifacts, oral histories, replicas
Museum at Central School Kalispell Flathead Northwest History History of Northwest Montana, Native American artifacts, sculptures, original paintings, and photography, operated by the Northwest Montana Historical Society,
Museum of Mountain Flying Missoula Missoula Northwest Aviation website
Museum of the Plains Indian Browning Glacier Northwest Ethnic - Native American website, operated by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, history, arts and culture of the Northern Plains Tribal peoples including the Blackfeet, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Assiniboine, Arapaho, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Flathead, Chippewa and Cree
Museum of the Rockies Bozeman Gallatin South central Multiple Dinosaurs and fossils, natural history, Native American artifacts, area history, living history 1900s house
Musselshell Valley Historical Museum Roundup Musselshell Southeast Local history website, open seasonally, exhibits include cowboys and cattle drives, coal mines, one room country schools, a general store, life in the Old West, local art, fossils, guns, early medicine
National Museum of Forest Service History Missoula Missoula Northwest History website, proposed museum about the history of the United States Forest Service
New Chicago Schoolhouse Drummond Granite Southwest Local history In a restored schoolhouse from 1874
Ninepipes Museum Charlo Lake Northwest Native American and History website, history and culture of the Flathead Reservation and early Montana, open seasonally
North American Wildlife Museum Coram Flathead Northwest Natural history Collection of taxidermy animals including grizzlies, wolves, elk
O'Fallon Historical Museum Baker Fallon Southeast Local history website, history of Southeastern Montana and the Baker Montana area, railroads, homesteading, agriculture, natural gas and oil production
Old Jail Museum Thompson Falls Sanders Northwest Local history Operated by the Sanders County Historical Society in a historic jail, open seasonally
Old Prison Museum Deer Lodge Powell Southwest History website, former state prison
Old Trail Museum Choteau Teton North central History / Natural history website, fossils, dinosaurs, Native American artifacts, grizzly bears, local history, open seasonally
Original Governor's Mansion Helena Lewis and Clark Southwest Historic house Late 19th century Queen Anne style mansion
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art Great Falls Cascade North central Art Collection focuses on contemporary art in many media from artists who live in Montana, the western United States and western Canada
Phillips County Museum Malta Phillips Northeast Local history website, dinosaurs, Native Americans, cowboys, pioneers and outlaws, open seasonally
Piccadilly Transportation Memorabilia Museum Butte Silver Bow Southwest Transportation website, includes highway and subway markers, license plates, vintage cars, advertising art, and assorted automotive memorabilia petroliana from around the world
Pioneer's Pride Museum Bainville Roosevelt Northeast History Replica of pioneer house, jail, open summer
Polson-Flathead Historical Museum Polson Lake Northwest Local history website, open seasonally, pioneers and homesteaders
Poplar Museum Poplar Roosevelt Northeast Local history in old Tribal Jail, frontier and Native American collections
Powder River Historical Museum and Mac's Museum Broadus Powder River Southeast Local history Open seasonally
Powell County Museum Deer Lodge Powell Southwest Local history website, local history, mining, open in summer
Prairie County Museum & Gallery Terry Prairie Southeast Local history Focus is pioneer life, complex includes a homesteader’s house, restored Northern Pacific depot, caboose, steam-heated outhouse, the town’s 1906 “little bank”
Range Riders Museum Miles City Custer Southeast Local history website, open seasonally, eastern Montana history including area Native Americans, pioneers of the range country, soldiers including General George Armstrong Custer and General Nelson A. Miles
Ravalli County Museum Hamilton Ravalli Northwest Multiple Local history, art exhibits, Native American collection, development of the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, period room displays
Richey Historical Museum Richey Dawson Southwest Local history website 6 historic buildings
Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History Missoula Missoula Northwest Military website
Rosebud County Pioneer Museum Forsyth Rosebud Southeast Local history Open seasonally
Rudyard Museum Rudyard Hill North central Multiple website, operated by the Rudyard Historical Society, history in the Depot Museum, paleontology in the Dinosaur Museum, historic automobiles in the Hi-Line Vintage Automobile Museum, open seasonally
Schoolhouse History and Art Center Colstrip Rosebud Southeast Multiple website, local history and changing art exhibitions
Seeley Lake Historical Museum Seeley Lake Missoula North central Local history website, operated by the Seeley Lake Historical Society in a historic barn
Sheridan County Museum Plentywood Sheridan Northeast History Early 20th century items
SpectrUM Discovery Area Missoula Missoula Northwest Science Hands-on science activities, operated by the University of Montana
St. Ignatius Mission St. Ignatius Lake Northwest History Late 19th-century church located on the Flathead Indian Reservation, historic Mission and Native American artifacts
Thompson-Hickman Museum Virginia City Madison Southwest History From the 1860s, guns, geology
Tippet Rise Art Center Fishtail Stillwater South central Art Sculpture park/ranch and musical performance venue
Tobacco Valley Historical Village Eureka Lincoln Northwest Open-air website; includes a school, church, log cabin, general store, fire tower, and railroad depot from the 1880s to 1920s, all furnished with period artifacts, open seasonally
Treasure County '89ers Museum Hysham Treasure Southeast Local history website
Twin Bridges Historical Association Museum Twin Bridges Madison Southwest History Native Americans, early pioneers, mining, agriculture
Two Medicine Dinosaur Center Bynum Teton North central Paleontology Includes baby dinosaur bones, Guinness Book of World Records largest, scientifically accurate dinosaur reconstruction, Seismosaurus halli, public, hands-on dinosaur research and education programs
University of Montana Western Gallery/ Museum Dillon Beaverhead Southwest Art Traveling exhibits, student art, and a permanent art collection
Upper Musselshell Museum Harlowton Wheatland North central Local history website, includes fossils, bones, period room displays, historic schoolroom, historic military, medical, railroad and American West artifacts, open seasonally
Upper Swan Valley Historical Society Museum and Heritage Site Condon Missoula Northwest History website, open by appointment
Ursuline Center Heritage Museum Great Falls Cascade North central Religious History of the Ursuline Sisters, their lives, and how they helped shape the history of Montana, Native American artifacts, antique furnishings, musical instruments
Utica Museum Utica Judith Basin North central Local history Artifacts from the Homestead Era, including dishes, clothes, furniture, tools, and leather goods; pictures of local homesteaders
Valley County Pioneer Museum Glasgow Valley Northeast Local history website, includes an Assiniboine collection, natural history, railroad and agriculture displays, the creation of the Fort Peck Dam, Lewis and Clark
Victor Heritage Museum Victor Ravalli Northwest Local history website, summer only, mining, railroads, people of the area
WaterWorks Art Museum Miles City Custer Southeast Art Exhibits of regional and national contemporary art, formerly Custer County Art & Heritage Center
Western Heritage Center Billings Yellowstone Southeast History Local history, culture
Whitefish Museum Whitefish Flathead Northwest History website, logging, railroad
Wibaux Museum Wibaux Wibaux Southeast Local history Early settler life
Winifred Museum Winifred Fergus Northeast Local history Includes a collection of over 3000 Tonka toys
Wise Wonders Science & Discovery Museum Billings Yellowstone Southeast Science website, interactive exhibits and programming for all ages
Wolf Point Museum Wolf Point Roosevelt Northeast Local history website, settlers, Native American culture, heirlooms
World Museum of Mining Butte Silver Bow Southwest Industry Mining tools, equipment, photos, re-creation of an 1890s mining town
Wright Zoological Museum Missoula Missoula Northwest Natural history Research museum of the University of Montana, not open to the public. 14,500 mammalian, 7,000 avian, and 3,200 fish specimens. The largest collection of its kind in the region.
Yellowstone Art Museum Billings Yellowstone Southeast Art Contemporary art
Yellowstone County Museum Billings Yellowstone Southeast Local history website, local history, natural history and culture of the Yellowstone Valley of Montana and the Northern Plains
Yellowstone Gateway Museum Livingston Park South central Local history website, includes native cultures, early expeditions including the Corps of Discovery and Lewis and Clark, area railroads, transportation, early settlers, a one-room schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, historic transportation vehicles and a caboose
Yellowstone Historic Center West Yellowstone Gallatin South central Local history website, located in a historic Union Pacific depot, area transportation, explorers, history of the nation's first national park
Yesterday's Playthings Deer Lodge Powell Southwest Toy website, open in summer, dolls, accessories, teddy bears, model trains

Museums with paleontology holdings

This list repeats items in the above list, with more information on fossil dinosaur holdings. Each of the museums on the Montana Dinosaur Trail has "unique paleontology displays, interpretation, replicas or actual skeletons of dinosaurs and other fossils" found in Montana", according to the official Montana Dinosaur Trail web page.

Name Town/City County Region On
Dinosaur
Trail?		 Education
programs/
Guided
tours?		 Associated
Field
Digs?		 Summary
Blaine County Museum Chinook Blaine North central Yes No No Website; paleontology department of this local museum has a dozen Judith River Formation exhibits including Hadrosaur, Gorgosaurus, and Ankylosaurus fossils from the area; has remains of gigantic marine reptiles Mosasaur and Plesiosaur, along with invertebrates from the ancient ocean that covered the area; a "Look, Touch, and Wonder" room where visitors can handle fossils of sea creatures, plants, and dinosaurs.
Carter County Museum Ekalaka Carter Southeast Yes No No Collection, all collected from the nearby Hell Creek Formation, includes one of the world's five skeletons of Anatotitan copei, complete skulls of the three-horned Triceratops horridus, the dome-headed Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensisi, and Nanotyrannus lancesis (a tiny tyrannosaur)
Fort Peck Field Station of Paleontology Fort Peck Valley Northeast Yes Yes No Website; associated with the University of Montana Paleontology Department, a working field station where paleontologists research, prepare, mold and cast fossils
Fort Peck Interpretive Center Fort Peck Valley Northeast Yes Yes No Visitor center for the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, collection centerpiece is "Peck's Rex", claimed to be one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons yet found; in the lobby is a life-size replica model of Peck's Rex, and the exhibit hall displays a full-size skeleton cast; also a Cretaceous Sea display and several other dinosaur exhibits
Garfield County Museum Jordan Garfield Northeast Yes No Yes website; open seasonally; dinosaur holdings include Cretaceous fossils from the Hell Creek Formation; a Tyrannosaurus rex skull, full-size Triceratops replica, a Pachycephalosaur skull
Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station Malta Phillips Northeast Yes Yes Yes website, contains fossils and preparation lab; displays include Brachylophosaurus mummy dinosaur recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the "best preserved" dinosaur; Jurassic Stegosaurs; a Sauropod; visitors can view the lab where dinosaur fossils are prepared
H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum Havre Hill North central Yes No No Fossil displays include Judith River Formation dinosaur eggs and embryos believed to be laid by a Lambeosaurus ("duck bill" dinosaur); displays about archeological finds from the nearby Wahkpa Chu'gn buffalo jump site.
Makoshika State Park Glendive Dawson Southeast Yes Yes No Montana's largest state park has dinosaur fossil remains, including Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops; visitor center at the park entrance has exhibits explaining the site's geologic, fossil, and prehistoric significance; artifacts include a Triceratops skull; has a "touchy-feely" table allowing visitors to hold fossils and artifacts prevalent in the park
Museum of the Rockies Bozeman Gallatin South central Yes Yes No Said to have "one of the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in the world", including the world's largest Tyrannosaurus rex skull, one of the first identified female dinosaurs in the world (an ovulating T. rex); rare fossils; part of Montana State University - Bozeman; state's official repository for both federal and state paleontological collections
Old Trail Museum Choteau Teton North central Yes No No Website; displays finds from the area's Two Medicine Formation, including a Maiasaura skull, Einosaurus skull as well as nestling, hatchling and teenage Maiasaura skeletons and bones, a Sauronitholestes skeleton cast, dinosaur footprints, marine fossils, bones that can be touched, a preparation lab display, geologic information about the Rocky Mountain Front and Willow Creek Anticline
Phillips County Museum Malta Phillips Northeast Yes No No Website; open seasonally; paleontology section includes fossils from nearby Judith River Formation; 33-foot long skeleton of "Elvis", a Brachylophosaurus, claimed to be "one of the best articulated dinosaur skeletons ever found"; a complete Tyrannosaurus rex skull; 28-foot skeleton of an Albertosaurus
Rudyard Depot Museum Rudyard Hill North central Yes No No Displays include the "Oldest Sorehead", a Gryposaurus found nearby; a duckbill dinosaur and egg nest display
Two Medicine Dinosaur Center Bynum Teton North central Yes Yes Yes Baby dinosaur bones; Guinness Book of World Records largest, scientifically accurate dinosaur reconstruction; Seismosaurus halli; public, hands-on dinosaur research and education programs
Upper Musselshell Museum Harlowton Wheatland South central Yes No No Website; centerpiece is "Ava", a full-size Avaceratops skeleton replica from the Judith River Formation; Hadrosaur tibia and fibula, a cast of a Gypsonictops jaw; dinosaur leg bone and hip bone fossils; other fossilized ancient sea creatures

Defunct museums

  • Desert John's Saloon Museum, Deer Lodge
  • Makoshika Dinosaur Museum, Glendive
  • Museum of Fine Arts Butte

Regions

The six regions referred to in the above lists are based on those used by the Montana tourism authority and the Montana Association of Museums. The regions used here have the same boundaries but are renamed here:

See also

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