Reviews of Museum @ Black Hills Institute (Museum)

BRENDA WOLYNIEC

Very informative

Bob Redd

Go see Stan the TRex

Sandy Kirchner

For a small town this is a very awesome museum. They also have a very nice store

Joey Meddings

Awesome place!! Best collection ever and a friendly staff!!!

Jody Pruitt

Nice collection

Michelle Overdorf

I love this place. Fantastic fossil collection. World class staff. Best gift shop ever with beautiful, unique jewelry.

David L Casteel

Great place to learn about the Black Hills

lance kittell

Very interesting.

Chris Weber

Looks small from the outside, but it contains so much! Staff were very knowledgeable about the exhibits and were great answering questions.

Thomas Crawford

Great display, had a great time.

William Kerns

Fantastic exhibit. Not very large, but lots of fantastic pieces.

Chris Dewhurst

Loved it here. Small but packed with exibits

Cindy Seymour

Very cool spot to spend some time! It is small, but PACKED with great information and awesome things to see and explore. Their retail shop is fantastic!

Tina Hooker

Loved it. My boys were in awe. So much history in such small room. Thank you for the collection and the opportunity to view it.

Dallas Crist

Great place. Little trinkets to purchase. Posters as well. A great learning experience, especially for kids. With that said, Google Maps says this place is open on Sunday. It's not open on Sunday.

John Altman

Great little museum

Joe Jarrett

Divided into 2 parts in Hill City the museum has a 2 dollar entry, well worth ir for a small place. i would tra el the 550 mi just for the museum.. 2 nd visit

Angela Griner

We really enjoyed this museum! My whole family (even my three year old) was enthralled with their collection of fossils and minerals. We went twice and still had things to look at. The gift shop has all sorts of curiosities at all ranges in prices so my kids were able to find trinkets to take home and give as gifts. Perhaps most impressive were the employees we talked with: they were very kind, patient with my children and extremely knowledgable. As one reviewer noted, things are within reach of little children so they must be respectful and watched carefully. Overall, one of my favorite things to do in South Dakota!

Terri Caldwell

Great place to take the whole family at your

Mr. Random

If you love dinosaurs or fossils this is a must see place. My daughter loved it.

zack durr

Best museum for dinosaurs!

Tom Dee

Awesome Museum, feels small, but then you realize just how many items are in this collection. Extremely reasonable admission prices, great gift shop, helpful staff, great all-around experience.

Deb French

Lots of history,very helpful

LaTayne Rothman

Small in appearance but big inside It is a must see

Blaine Jester

First of all, I love dinosaurs, so I loved this place. I wish I would have watched the Dinosaur 13 documentary before visiting. There is some history here, in that the institute has found some of the most complete T-Rex skeletons ever found. And they have on display the T-Rex, Stan, an amazing sight. I was also pleasantly surprised by their collection of rocks and minerals.

Kelly Havlik

Awesome paleontology finds and work! It isn't very large but it isn't expensive either. Plus, it has an incredible amount of dinosaurs in a small space. Would probably fill three rooms plus gift shop if the museum wasn't space-limited. Pete Larson is a wonderful person and I also highly recommend "Dinosaur 13" which is the story of how Pete and his team discovered "Sue" and the trials and tribulations resulting from that awesome discovery.

Lynne Roberts

Packed venue with enough history to make you feel knowledgeable. Well organized and great views.

Kevin VanEvery

This is a very good museum. It's only two rooms - gift store and main exhibit, but both halves are very good. I went with my parents. The tickets are $7.50 per adult but are annual passes, so if you're a local or a fossil buff you could theoretically re-use them. The highlight of the place is the world class fossil collection. They have Stan, the second most complete T-Rex, a number of other massive dinosaurs, smilodons, ammonites, giant sea monsters, and creepy squid plants. Would recommend

Angel Grijalva

Loved it

AJ Stockton

Awesome museum especially if you have a dino crazy 4 year old!!

Caleb Good

It was awesome and there was a triceratops named Billy

Brad R. Banks

Fun to see, many different things to look at and educating. I enjoyed it.

Margaret Torres

Lots of great information and wonderful stories of the people who lived in the area

John Mills

Wow. I love this place. It's a small museum in a tourist town, that happens to be absolutely packed with dinosaurs. I think I counted 7 TRexes (there may be more) Great display of different T Rexes found. Also impressive display of meteorites.

Dena Briggs

Pete Larson took the time to really talk to my geeky science kid who dreams of paleontology and everything dinosaur. This place is the result of people doing what they were born to do.

Jeffrey Ragsdale

Amazing Fossil collection. If you're in South Dakota it's worth the trip.

Bob Zoeller

Amazing fossils and reconstructed dinosaurs and other extinct species

Ali Campbell

Great museum, amazing specimens, and extensive gift shop. The employees were very kind too!

Robert Coreano

Just saw on CNN "Dinosaur 13" and after you guys went thru all that. I'm so proud of all of you and I cant wait to visit the museum soon! Wish you the best! Rob, CT

Josh Swanstrom

Small, long wait to get in, not much to see for the price.

alan kriegstein

One of the best dinosaur bone collections in the world! It's a must see if you are in the Black Hills.

Travis Mills

Best museum in the black hills

Luke Nervig

I totally love this museum. This place is a real treasure and folks should be including a stop here during any visit near the Black Hills. The specimens on display are exquisite. So many different animals and types of fossils. Very educational too and the docent did a great job answering my questions. The gift shop is great too with rocks fossils hats shirts posters. So many cool things and can't beat the price!

Al Johnson

Love stopping here! Great experience for kids & adults.

Mike Frisch

Awesome collection of fossils of all types. The staff was very knowledgeable about what was on display.

Liza Timmers

What a great little place! So much packed in there to see! Fantastic visit for the family. Loved it! Definitely recommend and would go back again.

Hannah Mohr

Nice little museum and gift shop. The museum is not free though, even though all the tour info says it is.

Alanis Archer

This museum was impressive! It was a lot to absorb; you could spend days going through everything. They allowed us to take pictures (as long as it was only for personal use). If you're going through or near Hill City, I highly recommend seeing this place.

Stan Wissink

Had 4 kids and 4 adults at the museum while on vacation. Kids ranged from 4yo to 11yo and everyone loved it. TONS of stuff to look at in a small area.

Nicholas Fell

Neat fossils and informative employees.

Carolyn Potter

We were way impressed by this museum, chock full of real dinosaur skeletons. Land, water, small, and ENORMOUS. I saw dinosaurs I had never seen before. This is a must-recommend.

Lew Sader

A great little museum. A must see for anyone interested in rocks, minerals, fossils, and paleontology from here and around the world. Very interesting and sometimes sad history. Buy the book!

Candace Suriano

Find tons of dinosaurs in a small space! See incredible rock and mineral exhibits! Experience faux digging for dinosaur bones! This place is lots of fun! You need to visit! One admission gets you in for a whole year! We took our family here because of a Groupon special. The museum is amazing! The gift store is crammed with incredible educational items and pretty stone jewelry. We bought tiny dinos and animals for necklaces in various semiprecious stone materials. There were many bracelets purchased too! My children made the most of the gift store and took home gifts for many of their friends!

Leah Lambert

Who knew this little gem existed??! We were so fortunate to get a tour and a detailed lecture about dinosaur fossils found in South Dakota. I highly recommend for adults and kids.

Joe Long

Well worth stop - staff was knowledgeable and price was reasonable. There are a lot of exibits packed into a small space. Very well stocked gift shop.

Grady Higgins

Great experience for adults wanting to see and learn about dinosaurs. Not much children entertainment and learning environment.

Traci Lichtas

Visited with my 3 and 5 year old who love dinosaurs. Some very unique fossils. Smaller than expected but exceeded expectations. Kids loved it.

Dustin Cartmill

The rocks they had were awesome and lots of fossils too. Great for learning about minerals and fossil in the Black Hills!

Katrina Voll

Small, but wow is packed in every nook and cranny with something interesting. Everytime I turned around I saw a new thing I realized I missed the first time I looked. Worth the time and money to visit, particularly if you have small children. There are a couple exhibited bones that were specifically donated so children could touch. How often do you get told to "please DO touch the exhibit." Great fun to visit.

Nathan G

We went here on a rain day and we were glad we did. There was a lot to see!

Carl Doaty

Love to take the kids here to check out the dinosaur fossils and geological specimens. I nice little museum in the black hills. Well worth the stop if you are into history

Steve Lucier

Nice

Gary Metzler

Incredible variety of fossils in one place. The best variety I have ever seen. Blown away by dinos. The sheer size of the specimens and the grotesque beauty of others is almost overwhelming.

Dione Perpich

The Prime Rib

Jessica Massing

Really small museum. Probably would have skipped it had I not already bought a Grouon. Save your money. The gift shop excited the kids more than the museum

Volkan Yuksel

I drove 975 miles in one day to see the real Stan and get to see far more than what I was expecting. Very friendly staff.

Andreen Family Fun

Fun and interesting place to visit!

Mary Marsh

A lot of interesting things learned a bunch of new things

Adam Harrison

Cool place and helpful and friendly staff. The exhibit was smaller then expected but still had a ton of great fossils and history about them. If you're local and love history about the Black Hills and NE Sandhills this place with hot the spot.

Gail Whitcomb

fabulous

Jenny Flory

Very interesting

braeden Brown

Loved this museum. These was the people that found Sue the t-rex. Amazing fossils inside this shop.

Cristian Simon

So worth it!

Cris Sim

Totally worth the price of admission! Some incredible fossil specimens

Eric Griem

Good amount of prehistoric animal bones and fossils. Lots of rocks. A nice place to spend time.

R. Smith

Fantastic. I was inspired to visit after the movie Dinosaur 13. Friendliest people and I can't believe all the injustice they went through. Amazing place and I highly recommend it...then after go watch Jurassic Park :-)

Jessica Woolsey

Very informative; had a fun learning experience!

Wilson Quiroga

So crowded of fossils

kathleen scott

Great!

Chris Koletzky

Great little Museum

Brett Fricke

This is quite the collection of geodes and dinosaur artifacts. There is quite a bit to read and you may want to block off an hour or so to see everything. We were in a rush and I regret not staying longer.

Arlene Peterson

Wonderful staff

big mama of 3

Definantly an awesome place to bring the family. We loved this museum. Lots of cool things to look at. We watched the movie Dinosaur 13 also. So moving. My heart goes out to all those who love Sue so much. Brought me to tears. It was such a fascinating story.

Linda Degin

Awesome museum! Would recommend!

Emily Crane

A wonderful display of both real dinosaur bones and cast replicas. They have Stan and Sue tyrannosaurus rex, a mosasaur, a poliasaur hanging from the ceiling, a triceratops. Lots and lots of fossils and minerals! Our three year old loved it! There's free coloring books for kids and a little kids area where they can play with dinosaur toys and practice their paleontology skills! Our son also LOVED that he could touch a few real dinosaur bones! It's a must see for sure. The gift shop was also impressive.

Pam Wagar

Small, but lots of fossils and fossil/skeleton casts. Fascinating learning!

TLP

It has a lot of bones in a very small space. It's interesting but hard for kids to really enjoy it.

Chloe O

A small treasure filled with huge dinosaur fossils and cast replicas and huge array of stones around the world. The gift shop is amazing full of gemstones and reasonably priced gifts and items. Bathroom is very clean and had big gemstone looking bar of soap which was cool. Staff was super friendly.

Deb Christie

Love it. The best. Go there all the time.

Sarah Zakhari

We took our childcare class here for a field trip. The kids had a great time and it was interesting and fun for the adults, too. The staff was very nice and we had a tour guide who was patient and answered all the questions the kids had and his knowledge was very impressive. Wonderful experience!

Kristine Overton

Entrance fee a bit steep

kimble conwell

A most excellent Museum. However the staff do nothing to make you feel welcome. In fact we felt a little unwelcome.

April Wagner

Didn't go through the museum due to the price. $7.50 per adult seemed extreme. Did look through the "gift shop" which has some artifacts displayed and for sale. Very nice to see those. Surprised that they were for sale. I would think a museum would want to keep these things.

packing peanut

Very cool! Small, but packed with awesome exhibits

Andrew Flynn

One of the only museums you can go to and have the majority of attractions be actual fossils instead of casts, it is incredible that they were able to achieve so many nicely preserved skeletons and fossils in general.

Robyn Winter

Boy's age 8 and 10 had a good time, I was worried they would break something. Somethings with in reach.

Becky Groseth

Dog-friendly!

Bekah Dirkse

My 13 year old daughter loves paleontology. This is her happy place. LOL! She could visit for days I think and never get tired of looking at all of the exhibits here. Small space but it is filled. Getting to meet Mr. Larson was a wonderful surprise. He was very nice and I think my daughter was a bit star struck. She is a big fan of his documentaries. Especially Dinosaur 13.

Mindy Ford

Very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone

Kim Kleinschmit

Great place to check out

Chris Davis

A ton of awesome dino stuff in a compact space.

Mallory Tuttle

A small space for such large animals. You could miss things if you don't pay attention. Still neet to see.

sassygal3

Love this place. The staff are super smart and can answer all dinosaur questions. The room is a bit crampy with all the skeletons packed in a small room but very enjoyable regardless. The gift shop has so much too. I would spend a whole day here learning from the staff if I had had time too while I was there.

Stephen Sholkoff

Average interest. Our docent was a dodo.

Barry Mulroney

Great museum, was an excellent visit to see dinosaur bones and fossils

R Scott Weaver

Awesome exhibit of actual and cast dinosaur fossils and bones!

Paula Kohrt

Great small museum with tons of history and fossils. Someone is always willing to help you and tell you about the fossils.

Erik Hicks

Love archeology? Be sure to check this museum out. Plenty to see, and the workers are happy to tell you all kinds of interesting stuff about dinosaur bone findings, etc. The gift shop really stands out amongst the rest as having a lot of neat unique items, too.

C Jackson

Absolutely amazing collection including one of the most complete T-Rex skeletons in the world!

George Vinyard

Wonderful displays. Very attentive and informative staff. Well worth the trip from Custer State Park!

John Chrastka

Excellent collection crammed into a small space. Highly recommended.

Rich Mcdowell

Awesome

Ricky R.

Jammed pack with amazing fossils.

Ben Elston

Awesome place, packed with exhibits. Kids and myself really enjoyed it.

Blake Palmer

There is a ton of skeletons, original and cast in a smaller area. Stan and Sue. Nice gift shop with different fossils you can buy.

Matt Galas

Cool little place. Tons of fossils and replicas with a great friendly staff... Highly recommended! We love museums and just a ton of stuff here packed in, from minerals and meteorites to Stan, the second most compete TRex.

Rachel Dobbs

Wow, so many fossils in a small place. Check it out!

Ben Rouse

Good collection

Rock Hard Firearms

Awsome best place in the black hills

Kristian Myrdal

Fantastic museum that is well worth the price of entry!

Rick Joyner

Never saw many different dinosaur skeletons packed into one place.

Matthew Phillips

Kids had a blast. Rode the train up from keystone spent an hour and everyone was happy

Maryann Turner

This was an awesome collection. If you love dinosaurs you don't want to miss it. There is a huge amount of fossils and casts in a very small space. I believe it is housed in what used to be a basketball court. I don't know that I would bring small kids here due to how crowded the displays are. Older kids would probably love it, if they are interested in dinos and other fossils.

Rhonda Olson

Fun time.

Nolan Schroeder

We were amazed by the collection at this museum, just incredible what they have on display and how accessible it is. I remarked to my wife that you couldn't find a collection like this in a metro museum, and at the price to visit for an entire year you cannot beat it. Whether you're a visitor to the hills or a local, it's well worth the stop to explore.

Bruce brown

Amazing Place! A+×

william scerini

Wow! So much crammed into such a small museum!

Byron

Small, but amazing collection. If you're even a little bit of a dinosaur enthusiast it is totally worth a visit.

Shawna Rames

Loved the T Rex exhibits staff very helpful

Deron Anderson

Not a bad place to stop and see fossils

Will Bennett

Good time overall, probably a little over my sons head(3 year old) but a cool place

C GD L

You need to see this place. Period.

Patricia Patterson

One of the best places to visit and shop. I have some really unique jewelry and fossils from here. It's also a great learning experience.

Alyse DeVries

Awesome collection! Kids loved it!

Shane Bennett

This place was great. My 6 year old loved it.

Peter Severin

This place was small, but they really pack a punch. I will be stopping by again to check out the new piece they were working on when we came in.

Stephan Gray

The best little dinosaur museum in the nation.

David Hough

Awesome exhibit and great gift shop.

Mike Watson

Great museum. They have a lot of displays packed into a small space. Everything is labeled so it is easy to tell what you are looking at. Spend an hour or two and you know that you haven't seen it all.

Matt Evans

A wonderful museum with a great mix of Black Hills geologic, fossil and mining exhibits. Awesome rock shop / gift shop and helpful staff. A great way to spend a rainy day in the Black Hills.

fred fred

Small but packed full of fossils.

Jennifer InDenver

So much to see. Don’t judge the small room...you can spend hours here. Great gift shop.

Ruth Cowden

Great fossil displays and fantastic geologic gift shop. Very affordable!

jbones Theviking

Very cool place with lots to buy! Make sure you check out the dinosaur bones and all the amazing minerals!

Wayne Anderson

We live anything and everything about dinosaurs. This place didn't disappoint.

Barb O

I recommend this musuem for anyone interested in fossils, skeletons of T-Rex, and early life during the early dinosaur eras. I was excited to see that a couple of displays were from my home town. I even took a selfie of my head in a dinosaur mouth. Fun for all who attend.

DOUGLAS STOHR

Wow !! Great place to see. Excellent exhibits, Spent hours here. Tip French was outstanding as a guide. ❤

Robert Ford

Lots of great railroad history

Jareth McGhee

This was a wonderful place. It is definitely worth a visit.

David Clark

This museum was the reason we vacationed in South Dakota. We're incredibly big fans of Peter from the Emmy award winning documentary Dinosaur 13 (if you haven't seen it you must!) In hindsight we should have planned this vacation outside of the "field season" as we would have loved to meet Peter, but he was in Montana excavating a raptor when we visited. His Twitter account is updated regularly if you want to plan your visit better than we did. This museum is the direct result of an extreme passion. The collection of fossils, dinosaur and other fossilized bones is breathtaking. We visited Sue in Chicago and were even more impressed with Stan. We would recommend a trip to the Museum of Geology BEFORE your visit here. Their collection of rocks, gems and minerals is better, but this museum is far superior in every other way. In my opinion it is also better than the Field Museum in Chicago and is the true home of Sue no matter what any court decided.

Tom Caggiano

Great Dinosaur Museum!!

Cheryl Fladager

Very nice, small Dinosaur MUSEUM! Great exhibits. The rock collections were very interesting. It's a great place to visit with family. Kids of all ages woukd like it. Plus they have a nice gift shop.

Tom Crumlish

It's not a particularly big museum, but what they do have is excellent! Our kids loved it, as did we.

Cory Schnell

Great place to learn something new always stop when we are in the area!!

jill palmer hughes

Amazing! Great place to bring the kids❤

Joanna Kvidahl

Worth going into take a look! Bigger than you think great displays great people working there lots of knowledge they are the ones that found the original Sue

Kristy Coker

My son loved the Dinosaur museum. Would recommend anyone to go and visit.

Mary Dean

Love the spot