The Wyoming Dinosaur Center & Dig Sites

Located in Thermopolis, Wyoming, about 145 miles south of the entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center & Dig Sites is home to nearly 20,000 fossils found in the area, plus thousands of other displays of specimens from across the U.S. and around the world. 

About 165 million years ago, a shallow body of water called the Sundance Sea covered the region. Over time, what’s now called the Morrison Formation trapped thousands of fossils from the Late Jurassic Period in the earth. 

The center, dedicated to the preservation, discovery, and education of Thermopolis’s paleontological significance, was opened in 1995. Using techniques that paleontologists and archaeologists have used for two centuries, a dedicated team at the center guides visitors through day-long site digs, uncovering dinosaur bones and fossils.

Over the years, the quarries have exposed bones from Camarasaurus and Diplodocus, long-necked plant eaters that lived about 150 million years ago. Meat eaters have also been discovered, including Allosaurus, a large, bipedal predator that averaged 25- to 35-feet long. The notable “Thermopolis Specimen,” is the only Archaeopteryx found outside of Europe, and Supersaurus “Jimbo” is one of the largest-ever mounted dinosaurs.

The center’s field technicians have discovered and identified over 130 dig sites to date, and with the help of erosion, new materials are exposed and discovered every year.  

Inside the museum, visitors can learn about the origins of life on earth, beginning with a single-cell protozoa through the emergence and dominance of dinosaurs. Over 70 mounted skeletons can be found throughout the exhibit space, along with hundreds of other displays, dioramas, and replicas.