The Unexpected “Dinosaur Capital of America” Sits in This Small Montana College Town

Museum of the Rockies, Montana

Right in Bozeman, Montana, the Museum of the Rockies holds North America’s biggest collection of dinosaur fossils, with over 300,000 objects in its care.

This special museum, which partners with the Smithsonian and Montana State University, sits at the foot of the Bridger Mountains and draws 196,000 people each year to see everything from ancient dinosaurs to pioneer life.

The Biggest T-Rex Head Ever Found Lives Here

In 1988, museum scientists found something amazing near Fort Peck, Montana – the biggest T-rex skull ever discovered, called ‘MOR 008’ and nicknamed ‘Chomper.’ At 5 feet 2 inches long, this skull still has most of its teeth, even the backup ones still in their sockets.

Watch Scientists Clean Real Fossils

Through a big 25-foot window, you can see scientists carefully cleaning newly found fossils from Montana’s soil. Using tools as small as dental picks and as neat as tiny jackhammers, they work to reveal bones hidden in rock, talking to visitors through special microphones installed in 2022.

It All Started in a College Dorm Room

Dr. Caroline McGill, one of Montana’s first women doctors, began this museum in 1957 with 1,200 items in her college dorm room. As she visited patients’ homes, she collected pieces of Montana’s history that might have been lost forever.

A Famous Dinosaur Hunter Changed Everything We Know

Jack Horner worked at the museum from 1982 to 2016, making discoveries that changed what we know about dinosaurs. His biggest find was ‘Egg Mountain’ in 1979, where he found over 500 dinosaur eggs, baby dinosaurs, and nests.

Step Back in Time at a Real Pioneer Farm

The Tinsley House, built in 1889, was carefully moved to the museum piece by piece in 1989. Here, people dressed in old-time clothes grow heirloom vegetables and take care of special breeds like Dominique chickens and Suffolk Punch horses.

See the Stars in an Advanced Planetarium

The Taylor Planetarium got a $2.1 million upgrade in 2023 with special Digistar 6 technology, making it one of just ten such advanced systems in the world.

It shows the amazing night skies you can see in Montana’s darkest places, like Medicine Rocks State Park Dark Sky Sanctuary. The shows use real star data that Montana State University scientists have collected over 40 years from the Bridger Range.

During big sky events, the planetarium connects live with university star experts who explain what’s happening.

Home to Yellowstone’s Most Special Items

The museum keeps over 50,000 items from Yellowstone National Park, including Thomas Moran’s original 1871 sketches that helped make it America’s first national park.

They have the first park manager’s diary and the tools used to mark the park’s borders in 1872. This collection includes the only complete set of early Hayden Expedition photographs and rock samples. These treasures help people understand how America’s most famous park began.

Growing Up T-Rex

Scientists here studied 11 different T-rex skeletons from Montana to show how these giant dinosaurs grew from young to old. Their research in 2019 revealed that T-rexes grew from 1,200-pound youngsters into 15,000-pound adults.

Native American History Comes Alive

The museum has a special robe from the 1820s with 44 pictures that tell Blackfeet history. They also keep one of the biggest collections of Plains Indian medicine bundles – over 80 complete sets – which they protect with help from tribal experts.

The Building Itself Tells Earth’s Story

The museum’s walls use real Montana rocks to show 2.7 billion years of Earth’s history. As you walk around the 1,200-foot building, you pass 47 different kinds of stone, including rare Precambrian stromatolites from the Belt Supergroup.

You Can Help Find Dinosaurs

Every summer from June to August, regular people can join real dinosaur digs that have led to amazing finds, including a young Triceratops skull in 2019. Since 1990, these citizen scientists have found over 3,000 fossils and even discovered three new dinosaur species.