For my Mom's 82nd birthday, she requested to come here, as she had read about finding prehistoric bones here years ago and subsequent museum being built, but had never made it to visit. She was quite happy about finally seeing the museum! Located on a school campus, the museum sits back a ways from the parking lot across a courtyard from the school building. Parking and walkways are shared between visitors and students alike. The museum is bright and airy, having a nice flow from room to room, through timeline to timeline. The displays are beautifully constructed with thorough yet engaging text to explain each finding or display. The exhibit rooms are large enough to give that gasp that comes with being in the presence of creatures of such size, but cozy enough to linger and read without being overwhelmed. There are hands-on activities for youths and those young at heart, a children's play and explore area, and a theater/presentation area. We really enjoyed the presentation that brought the area to "life" through a realistic, animated depiction. We sat on molded rocks, which was fun. When students came, they sat on the floor. It was cool and quiet. The bathrooms were clean and easily accessible. There's a small gift shop with some eye catching toys, jewelry, snacks, etc. read more

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This was a great spot to get out of the heat. We decided to bring a small group of Girl Scouts and tag-a-longs here and the Exploration Lab exhibit was great for the kids! We had a 2.5 year old all the way to a 13 year old and they were very entertained and engaged with the activities offered. I don't think this specific exhibit is offered year-round. If it's not, the rest of the museum would be slightly too "old" for the kiddos, looking at the fossils. Overall, very clean, well displayed information and fun. read more

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Small museum with lots to learn. They also have events check their website for upcoming exhibits & events.

Great walk through museum. Make sure to get a few pages and crayons to color in the scavenger hunt. They have a mastodon and a mammoth. Never knew the difference until my visit. Check out the most complete giant sloth and juvenile mammoth I've seen. read more

Western Science Center - Snail shell exhibit - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

Went here with my family and we enjoyed our afternoon. Based on the online photos and the size of the building, I thought it would be much larger than what it actually was. It is small, but packed with exhibits and activities. This is a great getaway for families with children. I really enjoyed the emphasis on our local fossils and cultures. read more

Western Science Center - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

We love to explore this space as a family! It's fun, engaging, hands on and educational. Highly recommend! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHQ5WKbp-F0/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== @menifee_mom_ read more

Western Science Center - Little friends learning lots about local history! - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

Prepare yourself for rude staff that doesn't like children, a pretty bare museum and an overall underwhelming experience. It's not worth it- go to San Bernardino County museum, instead. We'd been wanting the visit the museum for years, since we love archeology. But they clearly hate small children here & find them annoying. A staff member yelled at me, when I went to use the bathroom- My friend and our kids were outside and the staff member accused me of leaving my children. Their temporary exhibit about snails was very underwhelming. We were so excited to see this museum, but if you kids under 8, don't go. It's not worth it. Underwhelming exhibit and mean staff. read more

They staff was super rude. Why were there so many snails? I couldn't tell if it was intentional or it was just a gross abandoned building in Hemet. I left before I found the dirty needle exchange exhibit. read more

What a clever little museum for all you dinosaur hunters. Amazing that so many fossils were discovered right there. Every time I had a question about something in my head I would quickly find the answer in the displays and information. Even the building has won awards in sustainability. It is not a colossal museum but well done and held our interest. read more

Love everything historical and always love science centers with area and spaces for kids to enjoy and learn. Thought this place was new since the the center was on such a huge lot, large open spaces and it seems there could be so much more potential n thought they were still adding more exhibits, found out it was open since 2006. Was expecting much more in this case and want to give it a 3-star. Although they have a very nice quick show for the kids to watch and a room of learning activities and a dig site for the kids to keep them busy and engaged. So for the price you pay ($9 adults and $6 kids) and the time the kids can spend here (roughly 2-3hrs) i guess it is not too bad. But definitely can add so much more to get more visitors. More activities or even add a playground or outdoor exhibit. There is a nice little trail near the parking lot also but so much more room to grow to something much bigger!! I really hope they will consider growing and adding more. But in the meantime, it is still a definite visit for any family with little kids for a fun day trip on the way out to Palm Springs etc or the other way to Los Angeles. read more

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It's a small museum with lots of hands on activities for children. My niece and I got to w joy the whole museum in less than 2 hours. Fun for a quick short trip. read more

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I had an amazing time at the Western Science Center. My favorite feature of the museum is the way the artifacts are all displayed in the context of where they fit on the animal they belonged to. There were lots of interactive activities for young kids, and I would definitely recommend the Center for a field trip. The museum staff was knowledgeable and friendly. I have so much appreciation for Brittney and Reggie who helped make my family's visit special. I also did the wildflower trail across the street. It was beautiful and not too hot or strenuous. read more

It's too expensive for the amount of things to do we did enjoy the kids zone and that's about it!

Pretty basic center. It's a kid-friendly science museum with dinosaurs, fossils etc., plus hands-on activities for kids, but not much for adults. You can walk through it in about 20 minutes. The price is low enough ($7.50 Seniors) so I couldn't complain. They probably need to have food and benches to sit. Not really a place I would revisit. read more

Western Science Center - Mike with Dinasaur - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

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It's a cute little museum! You can tell they put a lot of effort in it :) might swing by again when i have free time read more

Western Science Center - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

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love how close this place was to us it was only 13 minutes away! who knew this little gem was right around the corner!! our kids from 1.5-4 years of age loved the bone digging of the dinosaurs!!! and some other activities was also tracing animals together and even making clay shapes of fossils!! it looked like aloooot of kids field trips go here too!! which is soo educational!! super cool! we paid $9 each for an adult and children 4 and under get in for free!! parking was super easy access and free!! the one thing i didnt like was it was smaller than i thought! we finished everything within 45 minutes or less than an hour. the staff was really nice in the front! and they had a small gift shop near the front entrance too which was cool! read more

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My review is based not just on the museum but on the event that is hosted by the kids that attend the academy at their location. Science Saturdays at Western Science Center is great for the entire family. The first Sunday of each month they have fun activities for kids to learn more about science. It's free and the museum is free to families who have kids enrolled in the hemet unified school district. Parking is free too. I've been going here for years on field trips for my kids. The museum is small. The fossil exhibits are neat. I wouldn't drive out of my way just to go to this museum. But for locals I think it's great to check out on the first Saturday of the month. read more

Western Science Center - Museum - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

This is a fun place for day out with family and to learn new things about the past. You can find here cool exhibits of prehistoric creatures that roamed our land. All the exhibits are well presented and described. There is also small theatre room where you can watch short productions about the mammoth. The museum also offers play area for kids where parents can engage in interactive activities with their children. The museum grounds also offers outside seating areas where you can chill and have picnic. read more

Western Science Center - Dinosaur exhibit - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

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I was pretty disappointed. This place has decent reviews... and I truly don't see how that's possible. I know they do have different exhibits and events that would have helped but to just go on a regular day, absolutely not worth it. Anything that was hands on, didn't even work properly. You can make fossils but can't even keep what you make? Try explaining that to a three year old. The total time it takes to walk that place was about 15-20 minutes. I'm sad with how poorly constructed everything was. Especially when I drove so far to see it. read more

Western Science Center - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

Amazing experience!! Great for all ages! Will definitely come back again and again! Lots of interesting things to see and learn about!

My school went here for a field trip, it was soooooo fun! I loved it, staff were kind, the little shop thing was cool and had good stuff, the activitys were fun too! read more

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Another great field trip location for our kiddos. A plethora of information on archeology and paleontology. We created fossils, did art rubbing of sloths, watched 2 mini films, and got to go outside and work on be paleontologist. The museum is clean and well organized. Staff was kind but not very engaging. This museum does require that everyone wear a mask inside and outside. read more

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Did not like the whole experience. It looked very outdated and not well kept at all . The whole museum was so short like seriously. It was pretty much empty not too many people . Will not be back . read more

Small museum but I thought it was cool. When I arrived I thought it was a huge place, from the outside looking in, there's lots of big buildings and such... but the actual museum itself is pretty small. They have a neat exploration area for kids, I took my toddler and she explored freely, it's toddler friendly. I didn't think it was super busy or overwhelming crowded and we went on a hot summer Saturday late morning. It costs $9 for those 13 and older. It didn't feel cool air conditioned indoors but it was still cooler than being outside. My 8 yr old got to do a clay imprint of a golden eagle talon and keep it, so that was neat too... read more

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The museum occupies a small corner of the building that faces the parking lot. 80% of the buildings surrounding the parking lot NOT part of the museum nor are they open to the public. The museum takes about 1 hour to see if you read every single exhibit sign, watch the 10 minute introductory movie in the theater and let your kids play with every interactive display. The main exhibit hall contains 1 dinosaur and a small sample of mammoth bones. Along the hallway, there is a small display of a 19th century homestead and some vague information about Native Americans that once inhabited the local area. Not worth the $9 admission price per adult. Only come here if you live close by or have many other activities planned in the local area. FYI we didn't see any wildflowers during our visit in early May 2023. read more

if I could I would give this a 0, but that is not possible so I give it a 1 DO NOT RECOMMEND I when here on June 5th and I was TACKLED to the floor by a security guard named OSCAR MUNOZ because he thought that I was stealing some BONES from the sand excavation area when I wasn't I was taken into the back room and then they checked my bags and sent me on my way. DONT COME HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TACKLED FOR NO REASON read more

Great place to take your dinosaur loving child. Plenty of hands on stuff for you kids to do. Just one room so it is a quick visit

This place was a one and done for us. I brought my 14, 11, 5, and 1 year old here on the recommendation from a friend who has annual passes. It cost almost $27 for us to enter a "museum" that you could walk through the entire thing in 15 minutes or less if you don't read every single sign and that's being generous. Their hands on centers and music center was just lacking and we probably wouldn't have stayed so long if the kiddos hadn't got caught up for an hour building the marble contraptions. You can pay 25 cents for two marbles at the front desk. The employees were super friendly and informative and seemed to genuinely love their jobs which was cool. In the fossil area, they were working on a dinosaur brain and they took the time to tell us all about what they were doing and further info on the dinosaur as well. The coolest thing that the kids enjoyed was the "make your own fossil" station using air-dry clay and fossil molds you could take home. read more

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I am visiting my mom from out of state and my mom wanted to check this place out. My encounter with the female at the counter to pay for the entrance wasn't the best and off putting. Aside from the regular rude encounter to pay, I decided to just ignore it and be polite and I stated the following, I'm not from here is there anything you recommend nearby to check out, not that it's her job to recommend anything but just to be polite and break the rude customer service, she gave me attitude and scoffed about it. Hence the reduced stars. Once we entered, the museum was cute and small. Some interesting stuff to learn about but maybe because my mom and I are history nerds and we love dinosaurs. read more

Decent exhibit though small. Quaint feel and is connected with an ASCT. Had a few interactive elements and a theatre. Probably good for 45 minutes stop. read more

Science Saturday & at the Western Science Center Great entertainment for the entire family. All ages welcomed Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult. . Explore the science of light and color with fun hands-on activities and demos! Free family fun! Come joins us for Science Saturday, on the first Saturday of each month (September - May), 10am to 1pm on the Western Science Center's piazza. Each month explore a different science theme with hands-on activities, demos, and experiments, all free for the whole family! Science Saturdays are held in a partnership with the Hemet USD Parent Resource Center. HUSD friends and family can make it a day with free admission into the museum on designated Science Saturday days! Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult. Western Science Center 2345 Searl Parkway Hemet, CA 92543-9706 Hours: 10:00am to 4:00pm Tickets not needed Parking: Free For information call (951) 791-0033 Or email admin@westerncentermuseum.org Website: https://www.westernsciencecenter.org/ Facebook Events: https://www.facebook.com/WesternScienceCenter/events Facebook Group: Facebook Page: Twitter: https://twitter.com/WesternCenter Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=western+science+center Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westernsciencecenter/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Science_Center Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/western-science-center-hemet-2 For future local events from all venues, check https://tinyurl.com/HemetEvents #hemet #calendar #sanjacinto #events #cmstothemax read more

Great museum for the kids, but the gift shop left a bad taste in our mouth. My daughter went with her class this week on a field trip. We send the kids with cash to buy things in the gift shop. Keep in mind these are second graders handling cash and buying things. The lady didn't place the stuffed animal on the counter that my daughter wanted so she didn't think she charged for it. We found out later when we called that they press a button and don't scan the item. My daughter paid full price but didn't take the animal as she did not see it scanned. And they did not provide a receipt. That is so dumb, you got kids buying things and don't give them a receipt?! The staff at the gift shop are bad. We went back and paid full price for the stuffed animal..so we paid double because they did not give our daughter a receipt the first time. Shame on you! read more

Such a wonderful experience! We went on the first Saturday of the month. The kids science activities were amazing and very educational. My kids really enjoyed themselves and spent over an hour just doing the special science activities outside. Inside the museum was spectacular. Such a gem that we have this in our valley. The exhibits took us about an hour to get through. We liked all the kids activities inside too. read more

Western Science Center - Dig Area - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

I went here with Debra R and Jose R. The museum was really nice and I enjoyed learning about the fossils. The gift shop was really small. read more

Western Science Center - Museums Near Me - Hemet, California

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An excellent local museum with plenty to do and learn for an afternoon. Their mastodon displays are beautifully done.

I guess if you're not from the area ( we'll say Orange County or San Diego) it might not be worth the trip. That being said, It was still a good time for us. When you arrive to the science center it might take you a while to find the actual entrance. It's in between the science school and a visitor's center. When you pay, you are led to the huge room and told about the movie theater and the two short films you can watch. The theater is pretty cool but the early 90's films are definitely dated. The actual museum is a large room with partially reconstructed mastodons and a sloth. There are a few kid iterative exhibits like making a cast of various animal teeth. There is one interactive game " Dating Game" that was kind of funny. Probably the the one thing the kids gravitated towards most was the building block set ( go figure). You'll probably spend less than an hour here. The price tag was pretty high all things considered. Again, I wouldn't drive over an hour just to visit this place. My suggestion would to make a day out of visiting fun things in the Inland Valley ( including lunch and dinner). If we had more time we would have visited the March air force museum first, then make our back home through Hemet, CA. - Besides the Western Science Center you can also make the drive up the hill toward the Diamond Lake boat launch area. There's a nice hiking trail, or you can rent bikes ( $10 ). - They had some live green frogs on display but no information at all. Odd. - Some of the hands on displays were broken. read more

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Had a field trip with my daughters school here today. From outside it looks big but inside it's small unless we missed the other buildings. But no one said don't forget next door or anything. If you lived close it would be cool to visit but I would not recommend driving over an hour for this place. We spent 2 hours here but we kept going back to the puzzles numerous times.My daughter is 6 and she said she had fun. I came, I saw, and I don't feel I need to go back. read more

They get a 1 star due to the fact that it is April 14th and they still choose to force you to wear a mask. Was told as I was walking in that "technically, you're not allowed in the giftshop without one either" so I left. read more

If you like archaeology then you should definitely pay this center a visit. It is all archaeology and fossils. This museum consists of a store in the entrance, One large hallway with exhibits, The main exhibit Hall and one temporary exhibit hall. The large hallway has 3 exhibits; big dam hole, historic archaeology and pre-historic archaeology. The main hall is the most interesting it's where they have all of the fossils, dinosaurs, exploration station and fossil prep, immersion theater and lecture hall, dinosaur hunter exhibit and a station for children to make their own clay fossil. The temporary exhibit hall just opened yesterday (November 10th) it is about Main Street California, artifacts from turn of the century life. It's a nice museum, it is not expensive (but you will spend maybe an hour or less here, so the price should be lower), it does have alot to see when it comes to archaeology... if I were in the area I would stop by again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get here. The metropolitan water district of southern California museum is across the way and it is free to enter. read more

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This is a lovely museum in Hemet Ca, not far from Temecula. We took our 6 year grandson and 2 year old grand daughter there who were visiting from Washington State. This is a small museum compared to La Brea, however, there are a lot of displays that will exceed your expectation. The cost is nominal and parking is free. There is also a circular theater room that provides a movie on the prehistoric animals that existed here. It is focused on prehistoric mammals - though they also display some dinosaur era horned dinos. They have a few hands on displays. They used to have a hands-on paleontology type display for kids, and that seems to longer exist there when we visited. However, they have other hands-on displays and fun projects for kids. The discoveries have come from when they had originally excavated the Diamond Valley Lake water reservoir. This museum is a gem to be discovered and definitely worth the visit. My grandson who is really into prehistoric animals just loved it. Researchers from the Western Science Center recently discovered a new species of mastodon. It is the Pacific mastodon (Mammut pacificus) - a 10,000 year old fossil, named "Max." It is the largest mastodon species found in California, researchers said. A new species of mastodon in North America has not been named in over 50 years. So this museum is still a very active in paleontology research. The are also on facebook and you can see what special programs and displays are also being offered. I highly recommend a visit. read more

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