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"Exploring the deep past since 1989."
Come discover 300 million years of changing landscapes and life at the hands-on, family friendly Morrison Natural History Museum. Exhibits highlight regional fossil finds, including recently unearthed hatchling dinosaur footprints featured in Smithsonian magazine. Come explore with us!
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Museum Events
Jurassic Days at the Morrison Museum, Every Saturday 10-6 (June 7 – September 6): Come discover secrets of the changing life and landscapes of the Denver area. See what the Museum’s dig crew finds on their Saturday morning digs. Special programs and demonstrations for all ages, including fossil molding and casting and dinosaur bone preparation. Regular admission charged. For directions to the Morrison Museum, click here.
On Dinosaur Ridge, Saturday September 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Morrison Museum guides will interpret the historic Quarry 5 site (on the west face of the hogback) and explain current interpretations of the local Jurassic ecology. Friends of Dinosaur Ridge guides will interpret the famous dinosaur tracksite (on the east face of the hogback) to contrast this very different dinosaur ecosystem with the older Quarry 5. No admission fee. For directions to Dinosaur Ridge, click here.
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News
Goodbye, Rojo. Rojo, a Great Basin Gopher Snake, was the oldest resident of the MNHM Herptile Collection has passed away. Since 1995, Rojo helped to generate awareness about snake safety and the roles played by snakes in the wild. He will be missed by his keepers and visitors alike.
New Hours:After Labor Day the Museum has returned to its regular schedule. Please click on the "Hours" link at the top of this page for details.
New Paleo Lab: The Fossil Prep Bench has been relocated into the cabin's old dining room and kitchen, transforming the space into the Paleontology Laboratory. This is the first in a series of exhibit renovations sponsored by Jeffco SCFD. In the Paleo Lab, fossils are cleaned for study and display, and research collection will be housed. Over the next year the new shelving and collections will be added to aid Museum staff in their research. Stop in to check out this new space before the Grand Opening over Memorial Day Weekend 2009, and as always, help your docent work on a piece of dinosaur bone.
Exhibit Renovation 2009: The Museum will be closed for two weeks in late January 2009 for renovation. The Grand Opening of the new exhibits will be held over Memorial Day Weekend 2009, (May 23 & 24). Exhibit highlights include:
- The debut of the “Brontosaur Rosetta Stone” that features unique walking and running infant Apatosaurus tracks.
- Unique dioramas featuring sculptures juvenile Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus by Ewan Sanko and Shane Foulkes.
- Mural depicting Morrison’s Quarry 5 paleoenvironment by acclaimed paleoartist Donna Braginetz.
- Redesigned “Cretaceous Colorado” exhibit, featuring expanded Early Cretaceous and Seaway displays.
- New regional geology and deep time display.
- A display featuring the history of Morrison’s dinosaur discoveries.
- Touchable Colombian Mammoth skull cast.
- Updated signage throughout the Museum.
- Expanded Paleontology Laboratory.
The Morrison Natural History Museum is featured in Smithsonian magazine's May 2008 issue. Click here to read the article.
Jurassic Passport (JP) program : The membership program for the Morrison Natural History Museum has evolved into the Jurassic Passport. Benefits are the same as the old membership program: free admission for cardholder(s) for one year, ten percent off gift shop purchases, as well as a ten percent discount on prescheduled Private Tours and Birthday Party Packages. Levels include: Single ($10 annually) Dual ($20 annually) and Family ($36 annually). Limit one Jurassic Passport per household. Existing MNHM Members will receive a six-month extension to their JP.
The MNHM now has a blog entitled: Dispatches from Quarry 10. Click here to check it out.
Guided Geology Tours of Morrison: The Museum will offer a guided tour of the geologic history of downtown Morrison along Bear Creek Trail. The tour will highlight the changing life and landscapes of Morrison for 300 million years, including stops at the Petrified Desert and Dinosaur Tracks.
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Exploring Jurassic Morrison: Then and Now.
"Big discoveries by a small museum."
(above photo) At work in the historic Morrison Quarry 10, site of the first discovery of Apatosaurus ajax in 1877. In 2003, the Museum dig crew discovered Colorado's first Stegosaurus tracks at this site. Visit the Museum to learn more about this ongoing project.
Historic Dinosaur Dig Tours: Want to see the dig sites where the first Apatosaurus skeletons were found 131 years ago? Do you want to walk were baby Stegosaurus roamed? Come explore these historic sites with Matthew Mossbrucker, the discoverer of the now famous baby dinosaur tracks. Reservations are now being accepted for tours of the historic dinosaur quarries of Morrison, focusing on Quarry 10, and the fossils recovered from these sites at the Morrison Museum. Registration is $55 per person for a 5 hour program. Portions of this experience are strenuous, and involve short vertical hikes that involve loose rocks, rattlesnakes, and cactus. Therefore, due to safety concerns, this tour is not suitable for those under age sixteen. Snacks and water will be provided. Participants are responsible for their own transportation and meals. Call 303-697-1873 and speak with Matthew Mossbrucker for more information.
Click here to read the Smithsonian magazine article.
Click here to view a KUSA 9news feature on the Morrison Museum.
Click here to read about the discovery of baby Stegosaurus tracks from the front page of the Denver Post.
Click here to view a KUSA 9news feature about the find.
Click here to see images of the hatchling and adult stegosaur tracks.
Click here to read the Associated Press article on the baby tracks.
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Volunteer with us!
To register for the MNHM Volunteer Program, please contact Chelsea Hutson at 303-697-1873 or email volunteer@mnhm.org.
Docent Program The Museum is seeking adult volunteers to provide museum tours for schoolchildren and unscheduled walk-in visitors, preferably on weekday mornings. Applicants must be at least sixteen years old for this position.
Herptile Care Program The Museum is seeking adult and mature youth volunteers to provide care for the museum's reptile and amphibian collection. Applicants must be at least sixteen years old for this position.
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About the Museum
The Morrison Natural History Museum was founded to interpret and preserve the dramatic Earth history of Morrison, Colorado and the greater Front Range. The building itself is an experiment in reuse, combining the condemned cabin of a local rancher with new materials. Volunteer labor built a foundation on Town land, and perched the cabin upon it. On October 26th, 1989 the Morrison Natural History Museum opened as an teaching museum where small groups of visitors could interact with knowledgeable guides and encounter natural history.
Since 1995, the Museum has been proudly operated by the Town of Morrison. Visitor’s admission fees and Museum Shop sales help the town of less than 450 residents to offer the educational services provided by the Museum. In 2007 nearly 15,000 tourists visited the Museum or participated in outreach events: an exponential jump from the previous year.
To further support the Town’s endeavor in 2005, a private charity was created to support the Museum’s mission. The Morrison Natural History Museum Foundation is an IRS recognized 501 c 3 non-profit corporation.
Just outside Morrison, the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge (an independent non-profit) operates a Visitor Center at the Alameda Roadcut along Dinosaur Ridge to interpret the geology and fossils of that site. The Morrison Natural History Museum collaborates with the Friends to generate awareness about West Denver’s Earth science resources.
Recently, the Museum has received international acclaim for its fossil discoveries at the historic dinosaur dig sites along Dinosaur Ridge. These excavations, supported by the Jefferson County Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) and Aggregate Industries, have yielded a treasure trove of infant dinosaur tracks. Included in the discoveries are the first infant stegosaur and apatosaur tracks. The Museum’s dig crew continues in the 130 year tradition of exploring local outcrops for clues to Colorado’s ancient past.
In 2009 the Museum is poised for major exhibit renovation to be completed by Memorial Day Weekend. Come and explore the cabin that is packed with a growing collection of natural history wonders.
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