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.

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.

Beautiful and beautifully, displayed artifacts and historical information. The people are great and…read morehelpful. The site is beautiful, up on the hill, with the Escalante Pueblo on the very top. It has a large Kiva and rooms, well preserved. The interpretive signs on the walk up are great, about the local flora and how it was harvested and used. We were all adults visiting so for us it was awesome. Learned so much again about these amazing people and their culture and craftsmanship.

This place does not accept cash. The notes that are legal tender for ALL debts, public and private…read moreare not accepted at a national monument. I drove out of my way to come see this place and they don't accept American dollars. Guess they don't want my money. I just feel that I should be able to pay with cash at a national monument.

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.

What a fun place!…read more While we in Ouray, CO, we stopped in to the visitor's center and the Ouray County Historical Society Museum was recommended to us. I'm so glad we went because it was a wonderful local museum! From the outside it is not obvious that it contains about 30 rooms full of local history on the way people lived in Ouray in the 19th and 20th century as well as exhibitions on mining, medicine (the building originally was a hospital), military service and a fantastic mineral exhibition that must be seen to be believed. Marie, the docent volunteer, was super interesting and knowledgeable about everything in the museum. We also met Steve, who was in training to be a docent and he was actually one of the last people to be born in the building when it was a hospital. Between the two of them, there is really noting they couldn't tell us about Ouray and the surrounding communities. A trip here is certainly worth the time and money. It was a highlight of our trip.

Tried to visit the museum but it was closed. The only small indication was a small notice on the…read moredoors stating "closed for end of season". This seems rather strange as we paid for HIGH season for our hotel room. So we do not feel like mid August should be end of season. While restaurants and shops in Ouray were open post COVID, doing business carefully with social distancing, mandatory masks, limited capacity and so forth, this museum is closed :(( I think it's a huge miss because tourists could bring some much needed funds, if they were only given a chance. Undeterred by the closure we tried to make the best of our visit by perusing the museum's grounds. There are 2 old cabins which have been transported from the surrounding areas and preserved on the museums grounds. I wish I could give them more stars, but I am literally giving them one star each for the two things we were able to visit...the two little cabins (and what we could peek of the insides from the dusty windows) and the small grounds they sat on.

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

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.

This was an awesome quick stop on our trip. The part that made our day was that the owner took us…read morearound on a personal tour and history lesson of each of the train cars and the surrounding equipment. Our 4-year-old daughter and the kid in me loved every minute of this tour. Totally recommend this stop.

Very sweet little stop-off! We stopped here on our way from Ouray to Montrose Airport to eat our…read morelunch with 2, 5, 8 yr old at the picnic table adjacent to the rail cars. Kids were able to get on and explore a few of them (the others are just in restoration stage at the moment, that's all). Adjacent museum has a few great dioramas, plus many books about the area and railroading. Plus it's FREE! Give a lil' donation though, it's how all the restorations are funded :-)

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!