Cross Orchards Historic Site, Museums of Western Colorado — Attraction in Colorado

We were impressed by this museum, and enjoyed the grounds and gardens. The first building you enter has a complex model train system. It's an enormous replica, complete with our local mountains, showing what Grand Junction was like in the past. Buildings that no longer exist are brought back to life in this astonishing model, and it even included Glenwood Springs. You have to see this model to believe it; we could have stayed there for a long time, but unfortunately, we arrived late in the day. But we'll go back and spend more time in that building, and the guys operating the trains are fun to talk with, they know a lot of local history. Then we wandered through the other buildings, which was fun and fascinating, and we loved the outdoor exhibits. It would be a very long review if I tried to describe everything, but I will say this is a truly interesting place and I highly recommend it. The staff is super friendly and there are nice restrooms. I would suggest bringing water if it's a warm day. It's free but they do take donations. I really feel lucky to have this museum, this will be a frequent...

A big shout out to the volunteers who made today happen in rainy weather. My grandkids and I look forward to future visits! I am going to share one concern…when we went to the bridal suite for hot chocolate and cookies there w is no one there. One family was seated enjoying themselves so we proceeded to grab a cookie and one cup of cocoa. When I went back up to pour my granddaughter a wee bit of cider a woman came up from behind me and informed me in no uncertain terms that “this was not self serve”. I apologized and let her know that because no one was serving and because there was no signage that indicated otherwise we had misunderstood. I once again apologized. Then she told me it was a liability concern and said “well what does she want anyway” I work in retail and I get frustration but I would never use that tone or that attitude with anyone. God bless her because she must be hurting but she obviously did not want to be...

As far as Museums go, this is not a highly curated experience. If informational signage is something you require, you will probably be disappointed with a good deal of this facility. That said, there are some informational plaques, and the grounds and buildings are positively full of interesting equipment and artifacts from a bygone era. I had a great time just touring around and visually examining everything, especially the extensive collection of antique farming equipment. Definitely worth a visit, but it would be nice if they could get the funding to spruce up some of the exhibits, and get all of those cool old tractors out of the elements and into a...