Geology Museum — Attraction in Madison

This small museum on the second floor of the geology building (a couple blocks from Camp Randall Stadium) provides a fascinating look at the rocks underneath your feet. It starts with a small exhibit on meteors and meteorites - including video of the 2010 meteor that exploded over southern Wisconsin and several examples of meteorites from that strike as well as a general discussion of the various types of meteors with again examples of the resulting meteorites from around the world. Next is an extensive display of minerals including many beautiful crystals, colors, etc. - indeed the example of pyrite "suns" naturally grown in a slab of black slate looks more like modern art than a natural specimen. Visitors are next led into a room equipped with a black light to show a wall full of examples minerals that glow in UV light - very 1960s. This room leads to another small room modeled after a cave to illustrate the difference between stalactites and...

This was on the second floor of the school, there is no main parking lot or visitor center check-in. My partner and I breezed through on a week day because I love crystals and rocks, got through most of the displays completely by ourselves, then groups of kids started coming through to fill out worksheets. It is a really neat little museum with properly labeled donations, with a fun layout that has you walking back and forth and suddenly looking up over your head at towering bones, a mammoth walking out of a wall. It's all really neat. My only problem was I couldn't turn the regular lights back on in the glow in the dark rock section! Everything else was laid out very night and user friendly, a good place for any age. I plan to go back and buy some of the specimens they had available, must be cash or check and these are in a small display outside of the main entrance...

The Geology museum is a small but lovely free exhibit that is self guided. They have more than just rocks to offer and also have exhibits displaying fossils, I would say you could expect to spend an hour or two going through the exhibit at most. Parking is hard due to it being on campus and downtown. 2 hour parking is available but difficult to find. Bathrooms are near the entrance, the men’s is on one side and the women’s on another.

The giftshop is a small stand at the beginning that has a variety of geodes and rocks available to be purchased with CASH and CHECK only!! Do not find this out the hard way, there is not an ATM available to be used within the building, you will have to go to the offices within the exhibit near the entrance, down the small side hallway in order to have a staff member open the giftshop for you and collect...