Skip to main content
Home
View My Favorites
Shedd Aquarium

Things To Do

Places To Go in Illinois

Plan Your Trip

Accessibility in Illinois

Burpee Museum of Natural History

737 N. Main St., Rockford, IL 61103

Museums

See award-winning exhibits such as T. rex Jane: Diary of a Dinosaur, and Homer, a sub-adult or "teen-age" Triceratops. Four floors of exhibits include Windows to Wilderness, a woolly mammoth skeletal cast, Pennsylvanian coal forest, a Native American exhibit, Geoscience, and a viewing lab.

Come explore Burpee Museum and its award-winning exhibits such as Jane: Diary of a Dinosaur, and explore the history of the young T. rex skeleton found by Burpee Museum researchers in the badlands of Montana, called one of the ten most important dinosaur discoveries in the past 100 years. Burpee Museum also features Homer, a sub-adult or "teen-age" Triceratops! Homer was found in the Montana Badlands by Burpee volunteers, just like Jane. Visitors can view his skull and see Burpee staff members working on his bones in the lab. In addition to Jane and Homer, families can also experience four floors of engaging exhibits. Windows to Wilderness focuses on the nature of the Rock River Valley, and Burpee's Green Roof is the first rooftop garden in Rockford. Other exhibits include a Woolly Mammoth skeletal cast, Pennsylvanian coal forest with simulated thunderstorms, Native American exhibit with full-sized dwellings, Geoscience, and a viewing lab where visitors can watch Burpee Museum staff work on specimens from the museum’s collections and recent dinosaur discoveries. Don't miss Burpee Museum's annual PaleoFest in March.

Images

burpee homer2
Burpee 3

More Information

  • Mon: Closed
  • Tue: 10:00am – 5:00pm
  • Wed: 10:00am – 5:00pm
  • Thu: 10:00am – 5:00pm
  • Fri: 10:00am – 5:00pm
  • Sat: 10:00am – 5:00pm
  • Sun: 10:00am – 5:00pm

Adults 13 and older: $10, Children age 3 through 12: $9, Children up to age 3: Free, Members: Free, Contact museum for information about donation day

How to find us?

Back to Listings

What's happening nearby...

2024 Holiday Festival of Lights - Rockford

Sinnissippi Park •  Nov 29 – Dec 31

Drive through Sinnissippi Park and enjoy dozens of spectacular holiday light displays. Festival of Lights has been a stateline family tradition since 1989.

Read more about 2024 Holiday Festival of Lights - Rockford

Illuminated: A Lighted Garden Experience

Anderson Japanese Gardens •  Dec 07 – Jan 05

Illuminated is Anderson Gardens’ wintertime lights experience, featuring dramatic up-lighting and thousands of white string lights woven throughout the landscape and canopy of the Garden.

Read more about Illuminated: A Lighted Garden Experience

All Aglow

Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens •  Nov 30 – Jan 06

The outdoor gardens at Nicholas Conservatory are filled with sparkling holiday lights.

Read more about All Aglow

You might also be interested...

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens

Rockford

Tinker Swiss Cottage is a historic house museum located in the heart of Rockford, Illinois, built in the style of the architecture of Switzerland.

Read more about Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens

Ethnic Heritage Museum

Rockford

The museum features a room for each ethnic group it represents: African American, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Hispanic.

Read more about Ethnic Heritage Museum

Frank Lloyd Wright's Laurent House

Rockford

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House in Rockford, Illinois is the only building ever designed by the famed architect for a person with a disability.

Read more about Frank Lloyd Wright's Laurent House

Share your Moments

#EnjoyIllinois

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get inspired by top travel stories, gain access to exclusive promotions and contests, and discover even more reasons to #EnjoyIllinois.