Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County

My oldest boy loved it here. I think admission is a bit pricy, $ 8 adult $ 6 kids, for the size of the museum but it was worth it for my son. He mostly enjoyed the excavation part of it $ 4 more. We had a great time & a fun educational place for the kiddos & adults.

I remember when an old radio station B95 asked for volunteers one summer to help dig up fossils in a landfill, because they had 30 days before trash would be buried on top. I was 11 and got to dig fossils, one of the greatest days for a kid that wanted to be a paleontologist. I’m so glad they didn’t bury it!!! I still have my dental pick that was giving to me for working on a mammoth vertebrate. I still have my dental pick that was giving to me for working on a mammoth vertebrate.

This place is small but really packed full of cool stuff to see and read. Since we were the only ones there we got to see some extra things «behind the scenes». The man working there was SO nice and friendly and helpful and totally made the experience way cool. Saw about 50 dragonflies by the pond.

Been going here for a few years, since shortly after it opened, I don’t know why I didn’t do a review before.
This is a little hidden gem in the middle of nowhere between Madera and Chowchilla.
It’s great to see it grow over time and now they have literature for a self guided tour. Don’t miss the watering hole outside! Great digging pit for kids.
An all over good time. I wish they had umbrellas for the tables outside, I would definitely bring stuff for a picnic!

The museum consists of a very limited number of skeleton replicas. You can see all of them (at most 10) on the museums website. The other exhibits are of bone fragments and a lot of horse jaws and camel or camel like animal bones. Also, don’t spend the extra $ 4 for the dig for the kids. It is a sand box with a few plastic shaped bones attached to the ground. Takes about 1 minute for the kids to get bored and the docent’s explanation of what to do is mediocre. Could tell the teenage docent couldn’t care less and had knowledge of even less. Last, $ 8 entrance fee is a total rip off. They should just bulldoze that place into the dump which is located behind the museum. The website of the museum recommends signing up to take your kids on an exciting exploration of the landfill… Hahahahahahahahaha …SERIOUSLY?!

What a fantastic little museum! A definite pit stop if you are traveling down the 99, but good enough to be worthy of a short day trip just for the museum. Some years ago they found fossils at the landfill across the street (which is still in use, so the large earth movers provide some entertainment themselves) They turned out to be those of 700,000 year old smiladons (sabertooth cats), mammoths, wolves, bears, and giant sloths. They have full-​size replicas of each and tons of actual fossils in different stages of restoration plus fossils of plants, shells, wood etc. Dustin, the museum guy during our visit, was knowledgeable and super super nice. He took us into the lab to show us how the work is done and sat us down for the short film of the history of the dig site and the museum. He also gave us a little lesson, with trawl and brush in hand, on how to excavate fossils before sending us outside to a «dig site» where my kids (age 5 and 7) had a great time digging up bones and identifying them. Go!

Opened in late 2010, this place is cool.
The museum focuses on a discovery of ice age fossils (no dinosaurs!) made across the street from the museum site.
When I visited there were only about a half dozen visitors and I got a personal showing of their introductory film and then a very personal tour of the displays. I can’t promise that sort of personalized treatment for every visitor of course.
They just got a full mammoth skeleton for their lobby, and it’s nice to see it there. They also have lots of fossils from the local digs, but also replicas of full skeletons of some of the larger animals found at the site. They also have a working fossil preparation lab. While they weren’t doing any prep work when I visited, it was still interesting to see the equipment they’re using and to see how they’re doing it.
In addition to the inside displays they have a large pond that should attract birds, and a big area for kids to dig in the sand to uncover bones.
Just off Hwy 99 north of Fresno, I can recommend this for a nice pit-​stop for travelers. I spent about 45 minutes there, I’d say if you have kids to allow more time for digging.