NC Museum of Natural Sciences
Who is Willo? How is North Carolina connected to a dry tropical forest? And what is a One-Hundred-Ten-Million-year-old Acrocanthosaurus doing in the state’s capitol? Learn the answers to these questions, and many more, at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.
For over one-hundred years, the museum has maintained its mission to educate the people of North Carolina. Today, visitors come from all over the world to learn about North Carolina’s diverse geography, geology, plants, and animals. At its current site since 2000, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, located on Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Raleigh, is the largest natural history museum in the Southeast.
The museum features four floors of exhibits that extensively cover the state from the mountains to the sea in recreated habitats, special areas and exhibits. There is also an auditorium, a working paleontology lab, the Acro Café, and a museum store. Two floors below ground level are reserved for research and collection rooms not open to the public.
Visitors can watch a working beehive in the Discovery Room, hold a wolf pelt in the Naturalist Center, and explore a dry tropical forest in the Living Conservatory. Exploration Station carts, located in different sections of the museum, use hands-on materials and animals to teach a variety of natural history topics. The Special Exhibits Gallery brings in different exhibits for a limited run. Various free programs, many featuring live animals, are offered daily.
Museum highlights include the skeleton of a Great Whale suspended high above the vast Coastal North Carolina exhibit, an Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur made from actual bones that are One-Hundred-Ten-Million-years-old in the breathtaking Terror of the South exhibit, and Willo, the only known dinosaur with a fossilized heart.
Want to know how lobsters and butterflies are related? You’ll find the answer in the museum’s Arthropod Zoo. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences offers programs for educators and students, and employs a full-time research staff. An online collections database is also on hand. The museum offers outreach programs and is available to host birthday parties and corporate events.
The museum is located at 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601. Hours are Monday – Saturday 9 – 5. The first Friday of every month the museum is open until 9 pm. The Discovery Room, Naturalist Center, and Living Conservatory are closed Mondays. The museum is also open Sundays from noon – 5. It is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs may be checked out at the front desk, free of charge. Special needs accommodations can be arranged with prior notice.
General Admission is free, donations are accepted. There is a cover charge for special exhibits. Children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Public Parking is available within two blocks of the museum. Above ground parking is free on weekends in some areas.
Please Note: No animals, birds, insects or other subjects are intentionally harmed for display in the Naturalist Center.
For more info: Phone: 919.733.7450
For over one-hundred years, the museum has maintained its mission to educate the people of North Carolina. Today, visitors come from all over the world to learn about North Carolina’s diverse geography, geology, plants, and animals. At its current site since 2000, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, located on Bicentennial Plaza in downtown Raleigh, is the largest natural history museum in the Southeast.
The museum features four floors of exhibits that extensively cover the state from the mountains to the sea in recreated habitats, special areas and exhibits. There is also an auditorium, a working paleontology lab, the Acro Café, and a museum store. Two floors below ground level are reserved for research and collection rooms not open to the public.
Visitors can watch a working beehive in the Discovery Room, hold a wolf pelt in the Naturalist Center, and explore a dry tropical forest in the Living Conservatory. Exploration Station carts, located in different sections of the museum, use hands-on materials and animals to teach a variety of natural history topics. The Special Exhibits Gallery brings in different exhibits for a limited run. Various free programs, many featuring live animals, are offered daily.
Museum highlights include the skeleton of a Great Whale suspended high above the vast Coastal North Carolina exhibit, an Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur made from actual bones that are One-Hundred-Ten-Million-years-old in the breathtaking Terror of the South exhibit, and Willo, the only known dinosaur with a fossilized heart.
Want to know how lobsters and butterflies are related? You’ll find the answer in the museum’s Arthropod Zoo. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences offers programs for educators and students, and employs a full-time research staff. An online collections database is also on hand. The museum offers outreach programs and is available to host birthday parties and corporate events.
The museum is located at 11 W. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601. Hours are Monday – Saturday 9 – 5. The first Friday of every month the museum is open until 9 pm. The Discovery Room, Naturalist Center, and Living Conservatory are closed Mondays. The museum is also open Sundays from noon – 5. It is wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs may be checked out at the front desk, free of charge. Special needs accommodations can be arranged with prior notice.
General Admission is free, donations are accepted. There is a cover charge for special exhibits. Children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Public Parking is available within two blocks of the museum. Above ground parking is free on weekends in some areas.
Please Note: No animals, birds, insects or other subjects are intentionally harmed for display in the Naturalist Center.
For more info: Phone: 919.733.7450
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