Houston Museum of Natural Science

We’ve devoted plenty of space on USA Travel Guide to popular museums, whether regional favorites or national icons. Today, we’ve got another big one. In fact, at anywhere from 2 to 2.5 million visitors every year, the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas is rivaled only by D.C. Smithsonian Museums and the humongous Natural History Museum in New York City for attendance. As good Texas folk ourselves, we’ll stand behind the museum in Houston.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is in many ways typical. You’ve got reliable subject matter: precious stones, chemistry, local wildlife, dinosaurs, space, electricity, ancient Egypt, weather, the Earth. But like its mega-museum cousins, the Houston Museum of Natural Science rises to the top by making sure every last detail is state-of-the-art. Every exhibit is world-class.

Take the Hall of Paleontology – or as kids around the country know and love it, the “one with the dinosaurs”. This expansive exhibit features a sprawling array of lifelike models, fossils and replicas, ancient seashells, and the world’s only mounted Diplodocus Hayi, which belongs to a class of impressive super-herbivores. Everything from the display cases to the detailing on the walls puts you in the time of dinosaurs (without ever becoming cheesy).

Another must-see attraction at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the Foucault pendulum. A staple of universities and science museums the world over, a Foucault pendulum is a long pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the Earth by seemingly shifting directions mid-swing. It’s a quick exhibit, but always a sight to behold.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science has expanded consistently and considerably from humble beginnings in the early 1900’s. Today it shares its massive Hermann Park complex with sister facilities: the Cockrell Butterfly Center, Burke Baker Planetarium and the Wortham IMAX Theater. Try to make time in your schedule for a show at the Planetarium. They’re all high quality, with several options to choose from.

Arguably the Houston museum’s mass appeal is not as much in the permanent exhibits, fantastic as they are, but in the steady schedule of “box office”-level traveling exhibits. If there’s a big get to be had, the Houston Museum of Natural Science has brought it to town at one time or another. When traveling to Houston, always be sure to look up the current temporary exhibits, because they almost always require separate or special admission.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is open daily. Adult admission is normally $15, however they have free admission Tuesday afternoons. Hours may vary seasonally and for temporary exhibits (of which there are always 3 or 4 going on). The museum is located in Hermann Park near downtown Houston. Website.

Have fun at the Houston Museum of Natural Science!

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