This place is amazing! A real hidden gem, pun intended! Volunteers are passionate and so knowledgeable! Im coming back with the kids.

Had an entertaining and educational tour. Enjoyed seeing all the fossils and minerals. Digging for our own crinoids was fun for all of us.

A true hidden gem! My family had a blast and the volunteer was extremely knowledgeable. We were greated and given a guided tour then went to their dig site. We can home with many things from their shop and a baggie full of fossils from the dig! I definitely recommend it.

This is definitely one of my happy places. There are definitely some incredible finds here and then there is Henry. Henry is the best. If you have a day where you find yourself trying to find something to do, please check this place out.

They have a lot of artifacts and the lady was so nice. She was really great at interacting with my children. They were working on their triceratops model when we went and my kids loved it. If you want to take your kids or yourself to a place that isnt overbearing with rules or tour guides this is a great place to visit.

It was really fun, the kids did a scavenger hunt and then went up the hill to dig for fossils even older then dinosaurs!

Awesome place to visit, so many great things to see.It is free to visit, but donations are welcome. Also there is a large section of things to buy. Great serviceKendra M. Gave me a tour of the museum, she was very knowledgeable and made my visit special.

We visited about 6 years ago and they were just a few tables of items found locally and now have grown to a much bigger presentation. Operated by volunteers with a love of what they do. If you have a dinosaur lover in your house, its a must see! And best of all it is all donation based.

Nice place to check out some really cool stuff. We enjoyed our time there.

Great place. It has a wide variety of Minerals and Fossils and the people are friendly and knowledgeable.

Nerdsville in absolutely the best way! Great for dates and school trips.

Interesting artifacts and a nice trial to hike.

My kids love dinosaurs and geological items, and this small museum did not disappoint! It also houses the most complete triceratops skeleton in the world. The staff is friendly and helpful. We really enjoyed it. Admission is free so you can help support them through donations or purchases in the gift shop. Two words... Megalodon teeth.

From the outside, it doesnt look like much. From someone whos been there, its well worth the trip. Youll get to see first hand fossils of dinosaurs, and the amazing creatures that came before them, and after. The museum has spectacular fossils from a ice age cave on their land, and are working on processing and displaying fossils from the mammoths, cave lions, and short faced bears that once lived there. They also are building a display of a massive triceratops relative being excavated right now in Wyoming. These projects and more, including an area where you can find your own ancient sea creature fossils, are open to the public for FREE. This museum is a treasure, and is well worth the time. I plan to go back soon to follow the construction of the steel mounting frame for the Ceratopsian, and you should too.

I beleive this place deserves so much more credit! It was incredible to hear the story of how they started and their love of sharing fossils with everyone (thats why they dont charge). They discovered a cave on those very grounds that dated back to the ice age. Theyve found short faced bears, mammoths and all sorts of incredible creatures. You can walk down their trail and search for real sea fossils to take home. I definitely reccomend visiting and dont let the outside fool you.

This place is amazing and everyone there is so nice and very informative. Great for the grown-up dino lover as well as the young.

Had a blast! Hoping to return without the little two next time so we can learn more!

We enjoyed our visit,the staff was friendly and helpful.

We met a real paleontologist who was very kind to answer all our questions . Very informative. Good place to get kids started. They also rent out the place for Birthdays and such small parties.

We loved it. The staff was friendly and super knowledgeable. Will have to go back when we can climb the hill and have the grands look for fossils.

Friendly people, and some great things on display. Its small and a little out of the way, but definitely worth a look if youre in the area.

This is a great place to visit if youre interested in Natural history. They have a wide range of fossils and minerals to view with a few that are quite large. The volunteers were quite knowledgeable and happy to share info on what you are looking at. We didnt do any of the outdoor activities due to weather, but they sound fun too.

Cool place to check out!!!

Nice little hidden gem tucked away. My kids had a blast looking at the exibits and digging for fossils too.

A friendly volunteer spent time teaching us about the fossils we found in a rock in our yard

Incredibly fun and informative. One of a kind specimens, some of which cannot be found anywhere else. They have a massive dinosaur collection. Neanderthal skulls and other primitive human remains. New exhibits coming soon.

This place is tucked into south Springfield. Its a tiny place but has a nice easy trail. This is the sort of place you wont spend more than an hour inside. There are guided tours. I didnt get one but I listened to another groups guide and he was very polite and thorough. When we left, the site was preparing for a birthday party.

Great place to bring the kids and the staff there know their stuff.

Fantastic experience! We took our 4 children (7, 5, 4, 1). The older kids loved it. We especially enjoyed the opportunity to find and keep the fossils from the limestone out croppings on site.

Very friendly staff and well educated. It was my first time there and I cant wait to go back during and event and learn a lot more. They had some awesome artifacts

Loved this place. Such neat things to look at and helpful staff. my daughter is now a volunteer because this place was so cool. They do yoga on the deck and tons of birthday parties! Definitely will go back many times.

A great hidden gem in our own backyard! The volunteers are knowledgable and they have tons of awesome things to check out. Make sure you see Henry while youre there!

We visited the Missouri Institute of Natural Science with our Boy Scout troop, had a lot of fun, and even we adults learned a lot!

This is a great place for rock hounds and kids. They have Gem and Mineral shows twice a year. Lots of crystals and geodes and fossils and Jewelry.

Yeah, sure, go out & pick up some fossils, take em home. Make a necklace with them, whatever its cool. You dont hear that at many museums, but you do here & you should take them up on their offer. They may be crinoid fossils which really are almost literally common as dirt, but theres still a thrill to be found picking up something that is so mind bogglingly old, and then having someone confirm to you that yes, this funny looking rock really is that mind bogglingly old. And then check out the museum itself. Its a little mad scientist garage as far as organization goes, but it is clean, informative, and very informative about the specific history of the Southwest Missouri area and I appreciate that. Plus, free admission. Go in, look around, buy something from the shop to help them keep the lights on and then take some really old rocks home with you.

This place was pretty cool. I had never heard of it until my son went there for a field trip. I enjoyed the slideshow on dinosaurs. They also have a lot of neat rocks to look at. The one thing I would mention is for field trips they only have one toilet and the digging for fossils is on a high rock which is scary when you have that many kids running around.

This place is great for anyone, especially with kids. Very educational and fun. It took about an hour to go through it. Great volunteers and its free!

Very interesting and informational!

Very cool place, didnt know they were here until recently. Kids loved it

The staff at this facility are phenomenal! It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the history of this area.

The kids had a wonderful time and the people were very friendly and helpful.

Love it there. The staff are great and quick to give you the full experience that the museum has to offer. Very cool atmosphere. The yoga class is one of a kind!

Such a cool place. We even got to go fossil hunting! Deffienently recommend!

This place is AMAZING! Matt and his crew have created a place where you can marvel at, learn about and truly experience some of the planets oldest creatures and witness the beauty and magnificence of the planets rocks and minerals, and they are constantly updating their collection. We were able to spend hours here and still did not want to leave! We will DEFINITELY be back soon!

Had my daughter’s fifth birthday party here and they were amazing. All the kids had a blast!

Truly a diamond in the rough! This is a small museum but it is packed with some of the most incredible fossils I have ever seen - including a surprising range of local fossils from a newly discovered cave on the property! There is also a range of rocks, minerals, and few gemstones on display along with examples of how they are used in various ways and are beautifully displayed. This is a great little museum with lots to see and much more to come, since many of the volunteers are currently away on a big dig to bring specimens back! Our whole family loved it, and yours will too - we cant wait to go back!

Its very small but I enjoyed it.

Great place hidden away . Kids loved it !

Small but interesting! Gorgeous crystals and pretty awesome dinosaur bones!!

I always love visiting here. I am so glad the building expanded. Keep growing!

A bit small, but a surprisingly good museum in the middle of nowhere. And its free!

Small, out of the way, unexpected little museum exhibit of Ice Age era Ozarks. Loved it!

My son had such a blast here looking at all of the dinosaur bones and crystals. Workers, Chris and Christie, helped make this such a special day for us! I highly recommend checking it out.

Its okay, a good way to kill half an hour with the kids.

Very interesting. Son and rest of the family loved it.

Great docent! So knowledgeable!

Love rocks and fossils

Cool little spot to take someone thats into dinosaurs. Nice walking trails.

Awesome!

Amazing! We just had my 6 yo birthday party here. The staff was amazing, helpful and informative. I would highly recommend this museum for all ages.

This place is awesome. I love how you can buy fossils and Im excited to see the cave!

WONDERFUL staff, excellent artifacts! A hidden gem...

Love that its by James River.

Outstanding display of fossils and minerals!! The collection is consistently growing. I was very impressed with the friendly and knowledgeable staff. Ill return to see the future expansions.

Awesome place with actual bones fossils and information about the Bluff cave. Must see. No charge-donation accepted.

A wonderful place for the whole family!

Fun and some challenging trails great place to see deer and take the family.

Very nice and interesting place wish I knew about it years ago planning a trip on their trail once it gets colder outside but inside was awesome

Probably the best hidden museum I have ever found!! Its small, but the knowledge you can learn from this free museum is beyond wonderful!!

A great place to visit. Interesting and educational. Definitely worth a visit.

This place is incredible! If you are interested in geology and natural history you have to check this place out! Things you wont see other places!

This was a great outing with the grandkids! We now have a couple of budding paleontologists. Its not a fancy museum, but there are lots of exhibits, both fossils and rocks, and two very knowledgeable interns, Jeff and Kendra, I think, who gave us a great tour and answered many questions. It will be so interesting to see Henry the headless triceratops when they get him done. especially since we got to see him in his pre-restoration state.

Probably the best palaeontological exhibition Ive ever visited. The staff are very friendly and happy to talk about the fossils and exhibits and their work extracting fossils from the caves nearby.

Amazing! Staff was so friendly and willing to answer any questions. Definitely will be paying another visit.

This amazing Museum thats connected to the more amazing riverbluff cave is such a very special thing were so lucky in Southwest Missouri to have this and for the science that its opened up for us to know about our area

A new building for a great small museum. They have some interesting fossils of both dinosaurs and ice age mega fauna in a quiet Riverside location.

One of Springfields hidden treasures! The kids love it! Great birthday parties too!

Awesome place to kill two hours if your on South side of spfd lots to see

This place is small, but that just means that you get a more in depth look at each fossil and the staff is very friendly and informative. This place is a must see!

Wonderful staff and awesome museum! Lots of great displays and artifacts!

Fun! Went for an elementary school field trip with my son.

It looks small from the outside but its full of treasures! My 4 year old daughter enjoyed herself as did I. The volunteers are knowledgeable and very kind.

Hidden Gem. Knowledgeable volunteers. Worth seeking out.

A free natural history museum with engaged and informed volunteers was a welcome surprise.

Great museum filled with local history and other fossils from around the world.

Cool envirnment. Kids really enjoyed digging in the soil.

Nice trail with lots of shade and wildlife.

This place rocks!

Small, but lots of interesting things.

Great place, friendly staff, cant wait to see what all they find in the cave!

It is a great place for the kids to go and have some fun and it is free

Really fun. Lots to look at

Interesting place!

Fossils, rock and minerals. Interesting for the young and old.

Really boring If youre not interested fossils

Great little selection of fossils and minerals!

Lots of fun and interesting things to see.

Springfields hidden gem, a must see@

Great place and very interesting displays.

What a great place, for adults and kids alike.