Montana Natural History Center

★★★Nancy Matts

Today, I brought my children for the mininaturalist hour. I found it completely unacceptable that staff and other parents were speaking so loudly next to the story circle that we could not hear the story. Even after walking away into the kids discovery room you could very clearly hear the adults having unrelated conversations in the main area. Y'all need to review how to be mindful and quiet during activities that are meant for listening.

★★★★★Svenska Flicka

Small, but so many informative, interactive displays for everyone!! We used the free pass available at the Missoula Library, so we did not have to pay the admission fee! Friendly staff, clean restrooms and clean displays made for a very enjoyable, educational visit! A true gem in Missoula!!

★★★★★Ken 2808

Good and fun place.Great for little children to have some education.The bioluminescent rocks were cool and i talked and thought that it was because of the minerals and chemicals in the rocks.I would recommend this for children 6 and younger.No doubt this is 5 star!

★★★★★Katherine

We loved this as a place to visit with my 15 month old. We are grateful for museums and kid friendly places in Missoula. So happy to see they have a kids discovery area. Will be back again and bringing more moms and babies!

★★★★Wheelchair RV Life Autumn

It's a good place for kids, it's inexpensive, and short. I was disappointed with the lack of education though. I love natural history - it's the whole reason I'm traveling the US - I want to see every natural history museum I can! The first room we saw had all kinds of taxidermied animals. They were up high, on the floor, and everywhere in between. They were excellently done and I loved being able to see so much of the animals, but the only information given for 99% was the name of the animal. A few got special treatment with informational signs, but nearly all just said what it was. I also think they could do a better job with the flooding from Glacial Lake Missoula. What an impressive series of events that was! I don't want to put dirty headphones on, but I enjoyed reading the signs. They were just overly wordy and boring. I'm a total nerd so that's really rare for me. They could easily make that area more exciting, easy to understand, and interesting. Luckily I began studying about it decades ago, but I think most people would go through it in no time at all. The "glowing rocks" exhibit was pretty cool, but hard to find and I wasn't even sure at first if I was supposed to be there. There were boxes to the side, coats hung up...I almost went past it, thinking it was an employee area. For wheelchair users: The ramp starts behind some bushes, so I didn't see it at first, but it's actually a lovely little roll. People using the stairs are missing out. From there it's a tight turn into the door - a 6 point turn for my scooter. The museum itself was very easy to navigate, with plenty of room. The bathroom was not though. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get in at all. There were 2 available - one with a couple of stalls, and one that was single person/large. I chose the single and maybe that was the problem - but it took me a long time to get in. Once inside there was plenty of room, and backing out was much easier.