What a gem I never knew was here! My extended family and I were looking for something to do on a Saturday in winter and checked out the Geology Museum. It was free and super fun. Surprising amount of cool stuff packed in a small-ish venue. From the adults in our group to my preteen nephew, everybody had a great time. We spent at least an hour in there. Whether you're into rocks, fossils and meteorites or not, this is just plain cool and well worth your time! read more

See all

Free museum in the Geology Sciences building on campus. A quiet place to stroll around for about 20 minutes alone. I did not expect to see a dinosaur area with a giant armadillo! There is a built-in seat for pictures. There is some interactive parts like the blackroom (view rocks under UV light) and a place to "smell" prehistoric times. Before walking into the museum, there is a small cash-or-checks-only global rock collection for $20-100 along a wall, where funds support the museum! Walk out with some treasure and more appreciation for what rocks can reveal. read more

Geology Museum - South American armadillo (maybe 4 ft tall??) - Museums Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Both my kids like rocks so I thought this would be a win! Located on the University of Wisconsin campus- this is a small, free museum. On street parking. We entered in a side entrance it it popped us right into the entrance. Anyone can walk in as they please. Rocks, rocks and more rocks! All different shapes, sizes and colors. What did we enjoy the most? The Dinosaur bones and reconstructed figures. They were large and we weren't expecting them. No gift shop! Fail as I wan't to buy something to take home and display. Proceeds could help the college and/or museum. Takes about 45mins-1.5hrs to walk through read more

Geology Museum - Museums Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

See all

Great for kids, interesting for adults, and free! No dedicated parking but easy on a non game weekend to park close and enjoy. Note they have a case of rocks for sale if you have little ones they will beg for a souvenir. read more

My 6 year old is obsessed with rocks and gemstones, so we decided to check out the Geology Museum. The museum is free, and you can spend about an hour exploring. They have a great variety of rocks and gemstones. There's a black light area to explore fluorescent rocks. They also have dinosaur bones and meteorites. I'd recommend checking out the museum, especially if you have kids that come home with rocks in their pockets. Parking can be tricky in this area. We found street parking on Regent and walked down the bike path. read more

See all

I enjoyed the museum very much. The black room was especially interesting and how the rocks illuminated. It was a great experience and I would recommend those who are interested in rocks. read more

This museum is definitely more than meets the eye. The different rocks and crystals displayed is awe inspiring. It doesn't look like much on the outside; but the inside is a treasure trove of interesting artifacts! read more

Geology Museum - One of the exhibits shown here. - Museums Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Who knew this gem (*wink wink*) of a museum was lurking on campus? Well, I did, actually, but I somehow never managed to get myself here until eleven years after I graduated. The museum is a decent size for being in a campus building and is set up for a self-guided tour. There's basically one main path that makes a winding loop through the space, and you can access a tour book through their website to enrich your experience. If you can get a group together, the museum offers guided tours for $2 per person that you can set up ahead of time. The basic setup is you start with minerals and gemstones, wind into a dark area that showcases fluorescent and phosphorescent samples, then you emerge into fossils. There's a somewhat interactive exhibit where you can smell the past (hint: it doesn't smell great), and you can also peer into the fossil lab through a picture window and catch students prepping dino bones during the week. Finally, you exit into the main event, the dinosaur room. The Boaz Mastodon is probably the most famous dino skeleton you'll see in the display, found here in Wisconsin in the 1800s. There's also a pterodon, skulls from a T. Rex & triceratops, and few others whose names escape me. On your way out in the hallway there's a small display case with items for purchase that help support the free museum. Parking is on the street and can admittedly be a bit of a pain; during the week it's pretty parked up with staff and students, but on a Saturday morning I was able to park without issue in a two-hour zone. The engineering and Union South lots aren't too far away, but those can fill quickly as well during the week. If you can walk, bus, or bike, that's probably the ideal way to get there. Depending on how in depth you want to go it could take anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes to explore everything, so it can be both a great way to kill a few minutes on campus or a destination for those who dig dinos, gems, and fossils. read more

Like rocks? Like dinosaurs? Like fossils and meteorites? If so you better make this one a priority. I've been to several geology museums in my day and this one rates near the top. In addition to a large collection of rocks, stones, bones, fossils and meteorites, the UW Geology Museum includes great informational pieces to enhance your understanding of particular displays. I'm a rock hound and really enjoyed the multi-faceted collection that they've assembled from around the globe. I particularly enjoyed the Wisconsin rocks and minerals display. Be sure to check out the huge Earth rotating outside the museums doors. Very cool place. read more

People come here for the fantastic geological collections, but the complete mammoth skeleton is the real star of the show. This museum is FREE, and it should be required to bring every kid within a hundred miles here. Forget the cloying, annoying Ice Age movies; give your kids a real taste of the past at the Madison Geology Museum. A rocking 5 stars! read more

Bigger than I thought it would be, lots of cool stuff. Completely self guided, didn't even see a staff member. As others have mentioned, parking is far but I walked from a garage on campus, less than half a mile and pretty cheap. read more

Geology Museum - Museums Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Great things for to see and super kid friendly. Plus my boys absolutely love rocks and got to pick some for a reasonable price. Free to get in and bought some rocks for 3 dollars read more

I can't believe no one has reviewed this place yet -- besides Toys R Us, this was one of my favorite places to go to when I was a kid growing up in Madison. They have several sections including rocks and gems (including a whole wall of glow in the dark rocks!) and dinosaurs/fossils. For better or worse, I am certain that I kindled my everlasting love for shiny rocks right here at this museum. Not sure if it's still there, but there's also a small gift shop if you'd like to take a little piece of the museum home with you, or start a full blown rock collection, like I did. All in all, this museum is definitely worth checking out, whether you have kids or are an adult who likes cool, shiny rocks and/or dinosaurs. My Dad and I still try to stop by anytime we have a family vacation back to the midwest, at least to check out the rocks. Sometimes I still buy one from the gift shop to take home with me. read more

I recently brought two kids I babysit, aged 3 and 9, to the Geology Museum on a scorching-hot weekday. Parking is a mess, and I fortunately have a Meriter parking pass, so we walked there from the garage. Construction must be making things difficult, because on that fairly straightforward walk, we kept being kicked to the other side of the street by construction signs. This wouldn't be so big a deal, but 3-year-olds have a tendency to slowly drift across the street, rather than walk with a purpose. We were asked to sign in by an unattended book as we entered. I was fairly sure that the 9-year-old (boy) had already taken a class trip to see it, as he seemed nonplussed but well-aware of the various sections. He did take his totally-cowed little sister through the world's tiniest cave simulation, approximately six feet long. We also went into the mineral room with a black light, to show minerals that glow under that condition. While we only saw a few that actually lit up, but were also unclear on the instructions (make sure you read those thoroughly before turning the light off - it doesn't come back on for a while). They were both impressed by that, but wondered why so many didn't work (search me, kids, I went to law school). They weren't terribly intrigued by the shoehorning in of Wisconsin history as relates to the mining trade, but I appreciated it. Much of it was too over the head of the three-year-old, so a good game to play with toddlers is to have them pick out their favorite mineral in each case and attempt to pronounce it for them. The kids breezed through the initial fossil section, paying little attention. It can be a bit dry when one is not on an organized trip with a guide to point out the interesting parts which keep them entertained. There was such a group in the next room, which really is the crowning jewel of the tiny museum. This is the room with dinosaur bones and bone molds, showing off several prehistoric skeletons from dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, etc.The guide was helpful and informative that day, and held the rapt attention of kids between the ages of 10 and 14, not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. It's a small museum, but it did have things that appeal to children of widely divergent ages and interests, and there are few museums who succeed at doing that. There's also a neat rock garden outside with a fountain. There is one central map of the garden, with descriptions of the type of rock that resides at each numbered space. The older boy loved scrambling around to find all the rocks, while the little girl enjoyed the fountain - but use caution around it, because those wet rocks are VERY slippery. I'm not sure how much there is left to return to this summer with the kids, but it's an excellent 1.5 hour diversion, and it's free. read more

Nice self guided museum. A few nice dino skeltons, and other prehistoric animals. Great rocks and meteorites too. A good diversion for both young and old. read more

Small but mighty. This museum has so many beautiful specimens and a couple interesting experiences for kids. Our middle schoolers loved it.

Nice little museum tucked away on campus. It has two sections, one with various minerals and rocks, and the other with fossils of various sorts spanning much of the fossil record. I've been to a few university science museums and this is definitely one of the better ones. A nice range of exhibits with interesting and understandable descriptions. read more

This tiny museum is so cute and has a ton of artifacts! Its free so thays a bonus and in walking distance from Union South. The dinosaurs, giant armidillo, and mammoth are super to see and are quite rare so its splendid to see in Madison. If you have a few free minutes are youre close by, this is a great FREE time killer. read more