Quick look rating: 5/5 Quality, 3/5 Service, 5/5 Experience…read more To note: This is a review of a wildlife museum of the animals of Colorado/Rockies. If you are on a visit to the Rockies area, this is a great stop to check out and get familiar with all of the different animals and their habituate. When I first went through I was surprised by how well the animals were displayed! What a great way to learn about the animals of the area before your families adventure into the rockies! There is a national park ranger on duty there and to answer questions. This is an ideal place for kids to help them understand the balance of nature and learn. Out front are some of the biggest trout in a small trout pond where the little ones can check out! There is a fish food feed meter that distributes fish food. Bring your quarters, the kids love this, to be able to feed the fish. Even the little kid inside you will love it as well! Right next door is the Durango State Trout Hatchery and Rearing Unit where you can really check out trout! Long rows of different sized and aged trout. What a fun museum! This is a must stop for a family adventure!

The museum is really cool and for residents or visitors to Colorado well worth a visit. It is…read morestaffed by volunteers and ours was very knowledgeable. The building is not air conditioned so be forewarned as we visitedon a warm day. We also went to the hatchery and that was fun too.

Went here twice in the early weeks of June 2026, while I was visiting Durango with my family. This…read moreplace was great! STEM to the max! I have a 4 and 1 year old. They both enjoyed it a lot. And my wife and I also enjoyed solving the equations. Good size outside area. They do have a separate area for tiny babies. They have a good size front area too. They are right next to the river. The staff was very friendly and attentive. I definitely recommend this place for anybody who has kids. It does get busy. Thank you!

We got there late so only had a hour to spend there but you could easily spend 3 hours there! My 4…read moreyear old daughter loved it!! So many toys/books and interactive activities there!

The solemn duty of recording and maintaining the history of Durango and LaPlata County is being…read moredone by the dedicated staff and donors to Animas Museum. The 1930's cottage and the log cabin on site are remarkable and should not be missed if you are interested in history and this area.

My son and I were in Durango to ride the train but the wildfire forced cancelation of our ride .We…read moredecided to enjoy our day visiting as much of the town as we could. We went to the Animas Museum and had a great visit. We actually messed up and came in the back door, It is an old school house and has desks of the era, many great old photos of the town . Turns out that Animas was the towns original name. My favorite Was a list of the teachers jobs such as starting the fire. The list of punishments for various kid misdeeds is priceless, lashes were applied liberally. A very nice young man named Pablo showed us around as well as a wonderful little lady who was very helpful with the history of the building. Make sure to go it is only a five dollar donation. Make sure to check out the original old cabin Were here on June 20th 2018 Scott a Miller

So gorgeous! We absolutely had the best time ever! On the train last year to Silverton can't wait…read moreto ride again!!!

The museum was absolutely amazing! But our favorite thing was riding the Durango Silverton train…read moreJessie our hostess in the red mountain car was the best! She made our son's fifth birthday super special! We will definitely be coming back!

I'm giving this museum a 10++! Silverton was the best part of our mining towns tour through…read moreColorado and this museum was filled with surprises at every turn! We spent 2.5 hours there and could have spent more! The greeter/docent was full of information about the entire town and its history. This is a MUST STOP AND SEE!

This place was very interesting. We were on a girls trip to Colorado and went on a drive from…read moreDurango to Silverton to see the trees changing colors. We stumbled upon this museum and we were interested in seeing what they had to offer. It was a mining museum that had collections of rocks and minerals, uniforms and tools used by the miners and other items that were interesting. For those folks that need it, they do have a small elevator. This is also next to the restroom on the lower floor. Besides the rock/mineral room, I found the assay section interesting, where they had scales and weights used to weight the gold or minerals mined. In the gift shop I found two rocks I liked and bought them and a few postcards. Included in the tour is a visit to the jail and the quarters for the acting sherriff. The sherriff quarters had glimpses of a typical bedroom and kitchen for the late 1800's. My sister went to the jail and she said it was an open room with an iron ball with lots of chains to connect the prisoners to. Outside the jail is caboose used to haul minerals from the mines.

Not sure where we read about this place but after we toured the nearby Aztec National Monument we…read morestopped in downtown Aztec for this quirky museum. It is now $5 but well worth it. The volunteer manning the front desk was beyond helpful and got us oriented for our self guided tour. The displays in the main building are a real hodgepodge of artifacts. We wondered how many of the Native American items were looted and should be returned to their rightful owners. Nonetheless it was an interesting collection. We then entered the annex and were taken aback by the cyclorama - never seen anything like it. Afterward we wandered the small village of original and reconstructed village buildings. Very impressive. The amount of work it took to move, gather and in some cases rebuild these structures is hard to imagine. They obviously have some very dedicated volunteers and donors. Surprisingly worth the time to visit this slice of Americana.

Great local history museum. They have an indoor portion and then an entire campus with buildings…read more The Director was very helpful in assisting us when we came with someone in a wheelchair; she opened the back gate and brought out the ramp for the basement. A lot of the historic structures limit wheelchair accessibility, but she was happy to help with what she could. If you have a limited mobility visitor with you, I suggest calling ahead so make sure the staff working that day know how to accommodate you. We spent about an hour and a half here total.

I'm glad my friends who visit Telluride each year recommended I stop in this museum. It was the…read moreinitial hospital during the mining days, which was later converted into a museum. It had so many interesting displays and pieces of history, from the Native American Indians times, through the boom-and-bust mining days, to the present-day ski resort revitalization of this charming town. The exhibits are strategically placed to allow you to experience how the area evolved. It is easy to walk around, taking your time examining specific items that are of interest to you. The small gift shop is charming and has a number of books and periodicals of the town's history that may be difficult to find elsewhere. For a nominal entrance fee, you can easily spend an enjoyable hour or two learning the history of this great town. There is also a museum donation canister at the entrance way, which I gladly deposited additional money in as I finished my tour as it was definitely worth it!

Interesting displays, including audio features and a rotating special exhibit; broad range of…read morecultural, environmental, and economic stages touched on in a short time; and a very reasonable admission fee. If you can visit on a walking tour day, it's well worth the time (1.5 hours), and you are able to go inside some of the most historic buildings, like the opera house, and the "New" Sheridan Hotel and connected bar. Ours was by Ashley, and he was engaging, friendly, fielded every question with aplomb. It may be hard to engage small, active children but older kids and adults will find plenty of interest.

Hours listed are not accurate. We drove to check out this museum buy to find it closed despite it…read moreshowing open on Yelp. Business is closed unless you pay a $20/person fee for a tour.

Bottom Line: A unique and quirky museum featuring a carefully curated collection of pharmacy…read morememorabilia and artifacts. I love American history, Americana, weird history and local museums so I was eager to check out the Ouray Alchemist. The Ouray Alchemist is a small museum that only offers private tours and storytelling about Wild West pharmacies. To visit the museum you must call or email ahead to schedule your visit. The admission fee is $12. The tour duration can range from an hour or more but if you have limited time you can let the museum know. Curt, the owner and a retired pharmacist, has spent his lifetime collecting, and restoring where appropriate and necessary, artifacts related to pharmacies in the 1800s Wild West and particularly Colorado. His collection is incredible! My jaw dropped multiple times. I was impressed with the entrance to the museum which is from an c. 1888 Aspen drugstore but I was also impressed with the volume of artifacts and the many antique mercantile displays. Two things that really caught my eye were two sets of antique drawers for selling spools of thread and two soda fountains. The one soda fountain in particular was incredible . . . it had been fully restored to working condition. The marble and chrome (presumably) front of the soda fountain was like a work of art. As a lover of history and museums I really enjoyed this visit as did my husband. But for those who aren't into guided tours or lengthy museum visits, this might not be the best choice in Ouray. Also, I wouldn't recommend it for kids because its almost like a lengthy show-and-tell but don't touch type of experience. The museum also has a small gift shop and they sell products for high altitude adjustment.