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Dayton, OH

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Sunwatch Village

4.1 (10 reviews)
Closed • 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

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Jennifer L.

Very cool museum that's a mix of indoor exhibits and open air. After purchasing our tickets, we were given a 12-minute screening about the discovery, excavation, and information about the village. In the exhibit, we were able to see artifacts that were dug up from the site, and other information about the villagers and structure of their lifestyle and politics. There were mini models and recreation of the natives that lived there. Outside, you can see part of the reconstructed village. It was smaller than I thought! I couldn't tell whether they rebuilt the buildings in a smaller circle, or whether that was the actual size. It was also only a little less than half the village it seems. I really enjoyed going into each of the huts and seeing how different they are. It was obvious that some are not finished building. The shop has nice items even including lesson plans for teachers! I like the children's books they have because they're published locally and usually isn't easy to find elsewhere. They teach about the local history of Ohio so it's nice to collect them. Overall, I highly recommend going to this museum. We probably spent about 1 hour there - which was shorter than I thought. I would love to see this museum expand and continue to build up. It's such a crucial part of the American history. I also personally wish they'd change the name from Indian to Native American.

Carey C.

Driving from MI to TN, we had been in the car for hours and needed a break. This place looked like a short jaunt off of 75. Only about 2.5 miles. What a little gem. This outdoor open air museum was a look into the past 800 yrs ago to give a snap shot of how the Fort Ancient Indians lived. They actually reconstructed the village. It was so cool to walk in these structures. They still have powwows here! You start off with a 12 minute movie on the history of the site and then there is an extensive room of artifacts, dioramas and exhibits. They got a great little gift shop too. I bought a teepee shaped incense burner, a necklace and some refreshments, so we didn't have to stop before getting back onto 75. Great stop!

Maryana R.

To my surprise, there are not a lot of Yelp reviews for this amazing museum, so I am excited to write a review and share my experience after visiting the Sun Indian Village archeological site. The village was reconstructed based on archeological findings and definitely took me back in time. I was imagining what life was like in this 13th century Indian village, while walking through the open air archeological site and going in reconstructed Indian huts. Inside the museum you can see different artifacts that were found in the village and watch a short movie about it. I have to say that it was my first experience visiting an Indian archeological site and it really transformed me back in time.

I would say it was just alright. The rebuilt structures are cool, the video you watch in the movie room is neat, and the shop is cute and affordable. My one major complaint is this place is absolutely not wheelchair friendly at all. The path is made of what I assume are ground up tire, I'm sure there's a conservation reason for this, but it really should be stated that it is not wheelchair friendly at all. We had a young boy in our group in a wheelchair, and the woman at the front desk didn't mention that it was next to impossible to push a wheelchair on the path. We ended up having to push him on the grass and groups of us had to work together to lift him to certain areas. It was absolutely disgraceful to the park. I understand there are probably reasons the path is like that; but we really should have been told this upon entering the visiting center.

Village dwellings

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1 year ago

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4 years ago

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1 year ago

Not much to see. Wasn't impressed with the whole area. The Indian huts were the most interesting thing about the whole place.

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7 years ago

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9 years ago

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11 years ago

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8 years ago

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6 years ago

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11 years ago

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13 years ago

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Review Highlights - Sunwatch Village

“Very cool museum that's a mix of indoor exhibits and open air.”

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Creation Museum - Cool exhibit

Creation Museum

4.0(337 reviews)
52.6 mi

If I could give it 10 stars I would! I could spend a week in this place. I have a degree in…read moretheology, and every single poster makes me want to go read a book or study something. It was truly amazing. The amount of work and expense and research put into this place, is off the chart! You absolutely cannot miss this. If you're considering going, consider no more, and get in the car. It's a must encounter for every Christian who has ever wondered how the book of Genesis is relevant for today and compatible with science. If you're asking those questions in any form, you're just gonna love it! You will encounter friendly people, extremely well-thought-out exhibits, beautiful grounds, and architecture (especially the plants), easy services and amenities, and exceptional presentations by extremely intelligent and well researched people. And, of course, theme park priced food, which was good, but not exceptional. You're not going for the food, you're going for the mind blowing explanations and answers to questions you and your neighbor asked for a long time.

We enjoyed visiting the museum - however if you're going to the Ark encounter - there is some cross…read moreover material. Lots of walking - wear comfy shoes. The exhibits had a lot of reading - which made it difficult as it started to get crowded. The gardens were beautiful. We attended the worship session first and ended up starting at the end of the exhibits... signs would have been helpful or arrows on the carpets. Security was heavily armed and K9 dogs ... staff was extremely friendly and helpful with all questions.

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Creation Museum - Our guided tour guide

Our guided tour guide

Creation Museum - The Flood

The Flood

Creation Museum - Engaging on Every Level

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Engaging on Every Level

Contemporary Arts Center

Contemporary Arts Center

4.4(123 reviews)
45.0 mi•Downtown

Creativity Center review: The brand new Creativity Center is a dream for local parents! With…read morechildren involvement as the top priority, CAC has designed several interactive art features for a fully immersive experience. The grand elevator opens up to a whimsical wonderland of funky colors, shapes and designs. It is an open invitation to fun! The art is intended to be taken off shelves and manipulated into whatever a child's imagination leads them to. Sights and sounds throughout the CC provide a stimulating sensory experience for children and adults alike. Put a record on the record machine and mix some tunes or lay in a bowl of ravioli... the fun is endless!

I visited this museum on a weekday afternoon. It wasn't busy, as I had expected. The cost was $12…read moreand I purchased the ticket online. At that particular time, they only had 2 floors open. The draw for me was the Gee Horton exhibit. It has since closed (as of August 30) but it was beautiful. I did visit the other exhibits while I was there and it took maybe less than an hour to go through the entire museum. I think the cost is pretty standard for a contemporary museum, but I'm not sure if they offer any free admission days as that would be a great incentive to get people in the doors. The staff I encountered were helpful and they also have a coffee shop with plenty of seating on the ground floor.

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Contemporary Arts Center
Contemporary Arts Center
Contemporary Arts Center - That's ME walking between (but not touching) a collection of mesmerizing fabric pieces by Julia Oquero Bianca.

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That's ME walking between (but not touching) a collection of mesmerizing fabric pieces by Julia Oquero Bianca.

Carillon Historical Park - In Schoolhouse at Carillon Historical Park

Carillon Historical Park

4.7(73 reviews)
1.9 mi

This is an absolute gem with so much to see it could really be multiple different museums…read more You enter the main building from the very spacious parking lot. You can get admission to just the site, add on admission to the Wright's home (offered on certain days for an additional charge) and also add on for the train or carousel rides. Overall, admission is very reasonable at $14 for adults and $10 per child. Worth it considering all that you can see and do at the site. There are a lot of historic buildings you can enter. Most have placards outside describing what their history is. Some of them had costumed interpreters in them and some with animatronics. (which my daughter declared as super creepy). In the main building, there are exhibits about the history of Dayton where you can learn things like that at one point, Dayton had the most patents of anywhere in the US and the cash register was invented here. It was cool learning about the area (even though we aren't from here). I imagine it would be even more impactful if you were local. There is also the Wright Brothers building with a ton of information about the Wright Brothers and more Wright artifacts than any other museum or location. Everything is very well maintained and all of the staff are friendly and just waiting to give you information about whatever area they are in. If you go to Dayton, make sure you visit here!

So, this place is awesome. It's like half railroad park, half Wright-brothers park, half historical…read moremuseum, and half outdoor garden-park. THAT'S FOUR HALVES!!!! I went here as part of a group, and they seem to get a lot of school field trips, but they're well organized, and it's a big place, so even with a ton of kids at the place, you don't feel like you're crowded. They have really great people working here, who are more than happy to answer your questions and explain things to you. I had like, fifteen minutes alone with the candle-maker lady and my son, and she entertained all of his questions and was really cool to talk with. They have a lot of Dayton-related history around NCR, and flight, and nuclear energy, and old automobiles. I bet it's a blast to work there. My favorite part though, was the outdoors area. It's just a really well maintained facility with lots of big old trees, and shade, and you can really just kick back and relax and chill out.

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Carillon Historical Park - In Newcom House at Carillon Historical Park

In Newcom House at Carillon Historical Park

Carillon Historical Park - Inside Newcom Tavern at Carillon Historical Park

Inside Newcom Tavern at Carillon Historical Park

Carillon Historical Park - In John W Berry Sr Wright Brothers National Museum at Carillon Historical Park

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In John W Berry Sr Wright Brothers National Museum at Carillon Historical Park

Joseph Moore Museum - Mastodon

Joseph Moore Museum

4.3(8 reviews)
36.9 mi

The museum at Earlham College has an amazing collection of fossils and artifacts. The museum is…read morefree and open to the public. It is usually only opened in the afternoons. Although small, they have a complete allosaurus, mastodon, giant sloth, giant beaver and much, much more. You can get close up to the exhibits. They also have a great display of Ordovician fossils with descriptions. You can find many birds and other small mammal specimens native to Indiana. The staff is knowledgable and friendly. They offer tours and programs for kids as well. Nicole was our guide and she was engaged and had a passion for the museum. They have a small gift shop with educational items. If you pass through Richmond, Indiana, this needs to be in your to do list. What a great experience and opportunity to see world class specimens.

Absolutely worth the visit! My children were pulled into the portions of the exhibit that are hands…read moreon! It can seem quick at a child's speed of looking through the exhibits. I think every corner is utilized in a learning experience. They have reptiles too! Something worth looking into are the 'trail talks' the museum offers during warmer weather. My kids will not stop talking about the fossils they collected while on a trail talk lead by two Earlham students. So much fun, but worth wearing the right gear and packing water. *Yes, you do need to wear a mask and show your vaccination card to enter the museum. It is on campus, and therefore abides by protocol of trying to keep campus as safe as possible for everyone.

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Joseph Moore Museum - Giant beaver

Giant beaver

Joseph Moore Museum
Joseph Moore Museum - Giant sloth

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Giant sloth

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery - Respectfully, it is past time to retire this flag...

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

4.3(81 reviews)
5.2 mi

This is a fun museum! It's a nice compact building with two floors that cover a variety of topics…read moreto explore and plenty of hands-on activities. I definitely recommend taking note of the program schedule on their social media or when you first arrive, because the programs add a lot of fun to the day, particularly for older elementary kids. Even better, all of these are included in your entrance fee, no nickeling and diming here! We attended a planetarium show with an astronomer who narrated a trip around the universe's moons, hands-on experiments for ages 5+ in the Do Lab on exothermic and endothermic reactions, a science theater show on the fire triangle, and an animal encounter with an opossum on the Discovery Zoo Vet Stage. All of these were really excellent and amongst our favorite parts of the visit. In between shows, we explored the many galleries and spaces available. There are some really nice little kid spaces where they can get hands on and do pretend play, like a play pizza kitchen, working with animals like a vet, and the solid waste exhibit (recycling truck). There's a toy brick area with neat Lego displays and hands-on Duplo building. For the dino fans, there's a paleo lab with fossils on display and paleontologists working in a lab with windows where you can observe what they do. (Note - this was trickier to find - the door is off of the museum restaurant, the Eco Eatery). The Treehouse is a really nice and quieter space, as it encourages birdwatching with binoculars and bird feeders. The water play area was a hit although it was missing a couple of pieces for some of the hands-on activities. For the older kids there are some more reading-heavy informational panels in exhibits on topics like Ancient Egypt (they have a mummy on display), the Sonoran Desert, or the multi-space space rooms around the planetarium on the sun, the universe, and the exoplanets. There's a mini zoo on the second floor, with a lot of neat animals to see. We must have been there at the right time, because a lot of them were very active, such as the river otters, the naked mole rats, and the new toucan. The two story climbing tower immediately catches eyes and offers a fun way to access the different levels. It even has a section that goes up higher than the second floor, plus a number of slides of varying heights to try out. Because of the breadth of areas contained in Boonshoft, they have what may be the most impressive list of reciprocal agreements I think I may have seen at one place. If you have a membership to your local science museum, zoo, or kids museum, it's worth asking when you come in if they have an agreement with them. We got 50% off on the spot through our zoo membership, which was nice. There's a nice sized parking lot out front, and the many staff members we interacted with were very helpful and informative. You can bring in food or utilize the restaurant on-site. In addition to the restaurant seating, there is a good seating area in a room across the hall with some nice windows where you can enjoy a packed meal.

I haven't been here in years! We used to bring the kids here for the playground but the entire…read moremuseum is super cool. Lots of spaces to wander thru, lots of eye catching displays to keep you entertained and elevate use of your brain. The waterway is one of may favorite parts of the museum and glad it's still up and running 20+ years later. We actually went to watch the Mesmerica 360 show in the dome theater. That was rather mundane to me but that's not the fault of the museum. My biggest peeve of the visit was seeing the us flag was still being masted when it is in tatters. I posted in my 'check in' and I will post again here in my review that it's time to retire this flag and replace with a fresh replacement. Whomever is in charge of the grounds here should be embarrassed. Please do better.

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Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

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Sunwatch Village - museums - Updated October 2026

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