Denver Museum of Nature & Science — Attraction in Denver

If you ask me, this is one of the most important buildings in all of Denver. A glorious testament to the human drive for exploration and curiosity. It has one of the largest and most interesting dinosaur exhibits in the United States. The whole thing being arranged has a walk-through time allowing you to witness the world change and how animals responded to that change. I'm a little disappointed in how it's space section has become a little dumbed down in recent years if you ask me, but that's likely due to the lack of interest in space travel among the general populace. An amazingly underrated portion of the museum is its Rock exhibits, showing off a wide array of beautiful gemstones geodes and other natural formations that can be found all across our beautiful. Kind of wish the taxidermy section was a lot smaller, especially with how close we are to the zoo. In recent years there has been a push to make the museum more of a place for kids and to prioritize demonstrating the various discoveries that have happened around the state. I don't disagree with these decisions and in fact I highly encourage both of these mentalities showing off what we are capable of is exceptionally important and demonstrating it and an engaging way to children is how we build smarter adults. However, it does make it hard to justify a membership for a single individual like myself who's just interested in science and would like a nice place to sit and be around important things. I greatly appreciate the push they've done in recent years to make these special exhibits, less of a premium feature and more of something that's just wrapped into the price tag, as I remember how devastating it was as a kid to learn that even though we had paid for a ticket to go to the museum, I wouldn't be able to see the cool special limited time exhibit because my family was poor. I'll also mention that having one of the first IMAX theaters ever is a pretty cool accomplishment, and means that you can go see a documentary like it's a movie, and you get to talk about it because it was actually a very very cool tourist attraction. I also adore the health section of the nature and science museum, The whole thing is based around a expedition that they did back in the day with a group of young Bright minds taking them into the mountains. While the preserved specimens can be a little off-putting, I don't anything quite help me understand how amazing our body truly is until I got to see all these systems and how they connect. Well, sometimes the volunteers don't know as much as the people who are interested in the topics. I think that boils down to the problem that society in general has with hiring people with experience rather than passion or commitment. The cafeteria is nothing to write home about, but it does exist in case you get peckish. Upon my last visit I did feel a little disappointed in the gift shop, I'd be a Miss not to mention. When I was a child there were a lot more interactive toys and games within the gift shop. These were almost as vital to my love of science and enjoyment of learning as the exhibits themselves. As it allowed me to take the science home and get a real tactile experience with the concepts I was just introduced to. Most of the stuff in there now seems to be superficial local goods which is fine, but I'd like to see a return to form soon. I miss the replica fossil jewelry, and the chemistry kits, I also missed the DVD section that sold physical copies of documentaries. I know it sounds silly and I probably would be the only one buying them. But just being able to see them on the shelf helped me explore a whole new world of entertainment....

Recently visited planetarium for 2 shows on Saturday. I was overwhelmed by the smell of the air freshener they were pumping into the air there. I had to hold a handkerchief over my nose and mouth. Has anyone else noticed this? I’m shocked my husband and son did not notice it. The spray was also being used throughout the museum. I had to change my clothes when we got home because the smell of the air freshener lingered on my clothes. The shows were informative and cute. Basic, but a good learning for kids. Update: Thank you for your response. Perhaps it was not an "air freshener" but there was an unmistakable odor or chemical in the air that was stronger in some areas of the museum than others. I'm sure it was not emanating from another visitors perfume or cologne because we were constantly moving around. It was most noticeable in and around the planetarium area. I would strongly suggest the museum hire an air quality expert to test the air to be sure there isn't something going on that is not intentional. Again, it lingered on my clothes after leaving the museum so I'm positive something was in the air. It smelled a lot like Febreze, something we never use at home. Because of my sensitivity to smell we do not use any sort of air products at home or in the wash so I'm certain it was coming from the museum. It was perfumy as it was pumped out of the vents. Unmistakable. So again, I suggest you have the air tested to be sure other chemicals are not leaking into the air, for the safety of the workers and staff. I'm able to smell smoke from a fire 20 miles away so I'm quite sure there is something in the air there. I hope you will take this step to be sure everything is OK there. I hope you do not discount this posting. It's not meant to be malicious, but only to help protect visitors and workers. I otherwise loved the...

This place is so amazing, that my 18 yo son and I ended up spending TWO DAYS of our FOUR-day trip to Denver here (much to our surprise)!!

I do wish that there was an option to buy all of the films for a FLAT RATE, bc it's VERY difficult to buy tickets for a film, and then actually GET ACCESS to those tickets when you are on site. The internet there is very bad... brick walls are too thick to use your own data, and the internal internet is too bad to get to the tix. I can't tell you how many times we held up the start of a film, while the very patient staff member said they totally understood the WiFi issues, bc everyone complains about it. But they needed my ticket to scan (they will also take your order number, BTW. In case you never are able to get access to your tickets, notate that). My recommendation is to buy the tix ahead of time, and either write down the order number, or screenshot all of the QR codes -- so you can get in quickly

Also, keep in mind that if you want to see ALL of the films & traveling exhibits (the films are very, VERY good, BTW!!), then it adds about $75 per person to your entrance fee. That's steep!! And the member rates are really not much lower ($1 -2 per exhibit & film). And the traveling exhibits also cost extra (like the Bugs exhibit).

Still, I recommend a visit, because even the 'included' exhibits are quite good. And the staff is AMAZING, and very patient and helpful. You might just need 2 days to see it all. Or go very early and plan to stay till close!

The photos are of my son (big kid in 2013 photo) returning for a visit 10 years later, and still loving it so much that he wanted to spend a...