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Wednesday, 27 August 2025

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The Ultimate Family Guide to Dinosaur Attractions in the Midwest

By  August 27, 2025  No comments

If you have any dinosaur fans at home, you know that they can’t seem to stop stomping around or sharing their latest dinosaur fact. Did you know that chickens are descendants from dinosaurs? Or that dinosaur fossils have been found on all seven continents?

Let’s just say dinosaurs aren’t going out of style anytime soon. As dinos continue to rule the world, you can get your dino fix a short drive from southeast Michigan — from our own Cranbrook Institute of Science to options in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and beyond.

For the ultimate dinosaur hunt, check out these dino-mite Midwest spots your whole family will love. And, to plot out your itinerary, check out our guides to destinations in three top states:

  • A roaring good time at 5 top dinosaur attractions in Michigan
  • Another 5 awesome dinosaur destinations in nearby Chicagoland
  • Even more dinosaur getaways located in Ohio

A touring dino extravaganza in 8 different cities

Jurassic Quest

Touring locations: 

  • Lake County Fairgrounds, Grayslake, Illinois — Sept. 12-14, 2025
  • Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois — Sept. 19-21, 2025
  • International Exposition Center, Cleveland, Ohio — Sept. 26-28, 2025
  • Glass City Center, Toledo, Ohio — Oct. 18-19, 2025
  • Gateway Convention Center, Collinsville, Illinois — Nov. 14-16, 2025
  • Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Nov. 21-23, 2025
  • Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Indiana — Dec. 5-7, 2025
  • Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, Minnesota — Dec. 12-14, 2025

Cost:  $22-$36 per person, free/under age 2

The nation’s largest traveling dinosaur experience roars around the Midwest in late 2025. Families can see 80+ life-size dinosaurs, ride on moving dinos, dig for fossils and explore hands-on science and animatronic shows.

3 top dinosaur attractions in Michigan

Michigan is home to unique dinosaur experiences, from roadside sculptures to modern museums that bring prehistoric creatures to life.

Cranbrook Institute of Science

  • Address: 1 Institute Way, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
  • Cost: $15/adults, $11.50/kids ages 2-12, free/under age 2 (and for members)

At Cranbrook, families can meet a fierce T. rex, trace the spikes of a Stegosaurus, and explore other life-sized dinosaur reconstructions alongside real fossils. Rotating exhibits and interactive displays keep kids engaged, while the planetarium adds a cosmic twist.

Dinosaur Garden

  • Address: 11160 US-23 S., Ossineke, Michigan
  • Cost: Walking tour $10/person; dino pass $24.99-$34.99; putt-putt golf $6; fossil dig $3/child; miner’s sluice packages $11-$22; free/under age 2

This one-of-a-kind park, which opened in the 1930s, is filled with reproductions of life-sized dinosaurs, including Pterodactyls, a T. rex and the mighty Triceratops. Dinosaurs are set against natural scenery, and guests can pose with the statues. There are plenty of photo ops, along with a fossil dig, mini-golf course and a frozen yogurt bar.

Young boy reaches toward a giant dinosaur head display at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaur Discovery.
Photo credit: University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

Explore “Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas,” which showcases the latest dinosaur science from the past two decades. Fossils, computer simulations and life-like models will allow guests to discover how dinos looked, moved, behaved and became extinct, based on the newest interpretations of ancient fossils.

Children and families interact with a life-size dinosaur puppet during a lively show at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Photo credit: Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

1 can’t-miss dinosaur attraction in Indiana

Indiana offers an immersive museum experience that puts your family face-to-face with dinosaurs.

Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

The dinosaurs on the outside of the building welcome guests, but you’ll find even more indoors. Inside, visitors can explore the “Dinosphere” in five immersive experiences. They include Giants Jurassic, Creatures of the Cretaceous, Monsters of the Mesozoic Seas, Art Lab and Paleo Lab.

5 fantastic dinosaur attractions in Illinois

Illinois is packed with interactive exhibits and world-famous fossils perfect for dinosaur fans of all ages.

Bess Bower Dunn Museum

In the museum’s Prehistoric Lake County collection, stand up close to the world’s most scientifically accurate Dryptosaurus, complete with fleshed out skin, protofeathers and claws. Then try a hand at pit digging to find an ancient treasure.

Burpee Museum of Natural History

Take a look at Jane, the most complete juvenile T. rex. In her exhibit, Jane: Diary of a Dinosaur, you can see what happened during the 66 million years she lay buried. From there, see Homer the Triceratops in his exhibit, Homer’s Odyssey. Plus, explore the Pleistocene in their second-floor Ice Age exhibit.

Chicago Children’s Museum

Step into the museum’s Dinosaur Expedition — a recreation of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno’s journey through the Sahara, where his team uncovered remarkable dinosaur finds. You can even find a life-size Suchomimus skeleton in a huge dino pit. Advance ticket purchases are recommended.

The Field Museum

Chicagoans all know and love Sue, the city’s famous Tyrannosaurus rex that calls the Griffin Halls of Evolving Planet her home. In the exhibit, you can learn even more about Sue, a 40-foot-long and 90% complete T. rex. Don’t forget about Máximo, the largest Titanosaur ever discovered, and the Spinosaurus!

Young boy reaches toward a baby dinosaur model hatching from a giant egg at Jurassic Gardens in Volo, Illinois.
Photo credit: Jurassic Gardens

Jurassic Gardens

Embark on a thrilling prehistoric adventure at the indoor Jurassic Gardens with 30+ lifelike animatronic dinosaurs, an arcade, fossil dig and a dino-lab. There’s a gift shop and plenty of photo opportunities to capture the occasion.

3 amazing dinosaur spots in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s museums and exhibits combine learning with hands-on prehistoric fun.

Dinosaur Discovery Museum

  • Address: 5500 1st Ave., Kenosha, Wisconsin
  • Cost: Free; suggested donation $5/person at the door

Hang out with more than 20 meat-eating dinosaurs! In the exhibit “Little Clint: The Story of a Baby Dinosaur,” kids can follow the journey of a juvenile T. rex (excavated in Montana) from its birth to its display in a museum. Participate in the “I Spy Activity” to receive a prize at the end of your visit.

Milwaukee Public Museum

The Third Planet exhibit features dinosaurs in a diorama complete with thunder and the roaring of a life-sized replica of T. rex. Milwaukee Public Museum was one of the first museums to recreate life-sized dinosaur models in their natural habitat. 

University of Wisconsin Geology Museum

Kids will dig the Edmontosaurus and Triceratops, and a roomful of other dinosaurs in this small “gem” of a museum. Stick around and explore other real gems, a cool fluorescent display and extraterrestrial geology.

3 delightful dino stops in Ohio

Ohio offers everything from major science centers to small specialty fossil exhibits.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Meet “Happy,” a 70-foot-long “Haplocanthosaurus delfsi” sauropod, plus other dinosaur friends in the Kirtland Hall of Prehistoric Life. You’ll also find Coelophysis Bauri, the museum’s oldest dinosaur (closed during construction; check online for updates of reopening of this exhibit). Advance tickets are required.

Family smiles while viewing a lifelike feathered dinosaur exhibit at the COSI Center of Science and Industry’s Dinosaur Gallery in Ohio.
Photo credit: COSI: Center of Science and Industry

COSI: Center of Science and Industry

See a full-size cast skeleton of a T. rex or the 60-foot-long metallic model of the long-necked Apatosaurus. With a one-of-a-kind partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, there are many interactive and educational elements to learn from.

Orton Geological Museum

Arrange for a free tour of the Museum Gallery by calling or emailing the museum. All ages are welcome to the tour and there are even virtual tours available. Take photos with life-size skeletal displays of your favorite dinos and check out other prehistoric fossils, too.

1 standout dinosaur visit in Minnesota

Minnesota combines impressive fossil collections with interactive exhibits for kids and adults.

The Science Museum of Minnesota

Get a chance to see one of only four real Triceratops on display in the world. Plus, it’s the museum’s largest complete specimen on display. You also can’t miss the 80-foot-long Diplodocus that your kids will love to snap a photo with.

7 dinosaur stops you’ll find in Kansas

Kansas showcases fossils unique to the region, from ancient marine life to life-size animatronic dinosaurs.

Fick Fossil & History Museum

You can see the oldest known mosasaur fossil, with its eye socket intact along with more than 11,000 shark teeth and a 15-foot Xiphactinus Audax.

Two giant animatronic dinosaurs tower over visitors at Field Station: Dinosaurs, an outdoor prehistoric-themed attraction in Kansas.
Photo credit: Field Station

Field Station: Dinosaurs

Your kids will be amazed by the 10 dino-dazzled acres filled with 40 life-size animatronic dinosaurs. Find out which dinosaurs were unique to Kansas, then dig for fossils and play Jurassic Golf, explore the Raptor Maze and more.

Keystone Gallery

Spot a 20-foot Mosasaur and 14-foot Xiphactinus, plus other fish, turtle and bird fossils.

KU Natural History Museum

Take a photo with Annabelle, a 50-foot-long, 140-million-year-old Camarasaurus. There’s also the skeleton of one of the first vertebrates, the Pteranodon and a 16-foot-long bony fish, the Xiphactinus, which was first discovered in Kansas in the 1850s.

Museum at Prairiefire

Meet AMNH 5027, the first complete T. rex ever assembled by famous paleontologist and Kansas native Barnum Brown. The Discovery Room awaits those interested in more hands-on fun, including Paleontology. 

Museum of World Treasures

  • Address: 835 E. 1st St., Wichita, Kansas
  • Cost: $10.95/adults,$8.95/ages 4-12, free/ages 3 and under; $35.95/family day pass: 2 adults, 2 youth

Dinosaur fans can wave to Ivan the T. rex, Cutie the Daspletosaurus and Ed the Edmontosaurus, along with a number of other prehistoric fossils. For more interactive fun, there is a fossil and cast touching station.

Sternberg Museum

Walk through the land and sea diorama complete with a life-sized animated model of a T. rex. Ever see a fish within a fish fossil? This, along with other Cretaceous Period fossils can be found here.

1 remarkable dinosaur attraction in South Dakota

South Dakota’s roadside dinosaur sculptures are a classic family travel stop.

Child and adults carefully work on cleaning a large dinosaur fossil at the Dinosaur of the Hell Creek Museum in South Dakota.
Photo credit: Dinosaur of the Hell Creek Museum

Dinosaur of the Hell Creek Museum 

  • Address: 11324 US Highway 212 Belle Forche, South Dakota
  • Cost: $12/ages 3-plus, $10/family of 4-plus, free/ages 2 and under

Get lost in this fun road trip diversion, Dinosaur Park, which lures travelers and dino lovers with their life-size, concrete and steel dinosaur sculptures. 

 

Create the ultimate family dinosaur adventure! Get more details about five top places to explore in Michigan, Chicagoland, and a few cities in Ohio.

This content is sponsored by Southeast Michigan Ford Dealers. Visit buyfordnow.com. Find more articles like this at Metro Parent’s Ultimate Family Road Trip Guide.



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