City: Rapid City, SD

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (800) 544-8162 ext. 2467 (week

Address: 501 East St. Joseph St.

Description: Even if you’re not a scientist, it’s easy to spend hours among the exhibits in this museum on the Tech campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The Badlands (see the chapter called The Badlands & Nearby) and Black Hills provide a ready supply of fossils and minerals, respectively, but you’ll also see fascinating, colorful rocks from around the world on display here. There are meteorites, models of famous diamonds, gold nuggets, and a case full of South Dakota minerals. Dinosaur skeletons (including a dino leg bone you can touch), polished agates, fossilized fish, and a slice of faulted sandstone (you can see where it buckled) are other eye-catching exhibits. And here’s your chance for a close-up look at boxwork, popcorn, and frostwork, which are some of the mineral formations in Wind Cave National Park (see the Parks & Mountains chapter). There’s a small selection of books and minerals for sale, too.The museum is open year-round, with summer hours 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mon through Sat and noon to 6 p.m. on Sun. Winter hours are slightly shorter; call for information. Donations are gratefully accepted. The museum, where students and others do research, offers several two-week paleontology digs each summer, but you have to take your own tent and sleeping bag. Call or write for information about getting college credit, which costs more.