Zuhl Museum: Home of the Zuhl Collection

Wow! On our last visit to Las Cruces, the Zuhl Museum was on my "to see" list, but we weren't able to squeeze it in. So once again visiting Las Cruces, we decided to check it out. Now I realize it should have been first on my list. Who knew petrified wood could be so beautiful and interesting?The Zuhl Collection is the largest collection of petrified wood on display in the country. In addition to petrified wood, they have fossils, minerals, and even a meteorite. Over 1,800 specimens are beautifully displayed in this small museum on the campus of the New Mexico State University. We had the place to ourselves when we arrived on a Thursday afternoon. There is much to see, so it was nice to be able to wander at our leisure.This is truly a fantastic place; don't miss it. Move it to the top of your "to see" list, and go. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.

June 1, 2023 - Zuhl Museum: Home of the Zuhl Collection (Las Cruces, NM)Housed at the New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the Zuhl museum is one of the most impressive collections of rocks and minerals, petrified wood, and fossils that I have ever seen. The displays are put together very well with lots of good descriptions of what you're looking at. In 1970, Herb and Joan Zuhl were vacationing in Brazil when they saw a rancher removing a petrified log. Intrigued, the Zuhls had the log dug up and shipped home to New York, where they had it cut and polished. Thus began a 30 year operation where they produced and sold museum quality specimens from their Manhattan gallery until 1991 when they retired to Las Cruces. They presented their huge collection to the new Mexico State University where it is now available for the public to see free of charge.

This is a small museum but worth a stop. It has so many gorgeous interesting exhibits to see. Also there is free admission. We have family in Oregon so it was interesting that so many of the exhibits came from the Willamette Valley

Photos can't do remote justice to the wonders in this tiny museum. I'll think of this museum and ponder its lessons and petrified treasures for the rest of my life. Thank you, Zuhl Museum.

This was the best two hours I've spent in awhile. This cute little museum is PACKED full of all kinds of good stuff. There's dinosaur "skellingtons", fossils, gems and minerals and the world's largest collection of petrified wood. If you're someone who likes to geek out on that kind of thing. This place is a must visit. The best part is that it seems there's usually a good chance this place wont be crowded (we were the only ones there for most of our visit) and you can take all the time you want and get right up close to the objects on display without a noisy crowd of people hanging over your shoulder. Also you get to ask all the questions you want of the very kind and knowledgeable staff. I even discovered (by taking the time to stand and really look) that some dinosaurs had a second set of teeth way back in their throat! WHAT?!!! Been to LOADS of natural history museums before and never learned THAT crazy fact!

This museum is so worth the visit. I'm encouraging all of my friends to check it out. I was surprised that there is no charge for entrance.

This museum is located on the campus of New Mexico State University. The museum has an extensive collection of petrified wood specimens, fossils, and mineral specimens. Although the main focus of the collection is the petrified wood specimens, I was most interested in the mineral specimens. The azurite, chrysocolla, quartz, and amethyst were some of the beautiful minerals on display that really caught my eye. There is no admission fee to visit the museum. The museum was easy to find and there is plenty of parking in the lot right in front of the museum/visitor center.

The Zuhl collection is located on the campus of New Mexico State University. We stopped for an hour and were stunned at the highest quality, size and number of specimens, petrified wood, fossils and minerals. One of the most astounding pieces is an enormous slice of petrified pine tree from northern Arizona, the largest ever cut and polished, at just under 8 feet across. I have seen similar items but nothing as large and beautiful of this collection. The collection boasts many awe-inspiring fossils, pieces from every time period from 3 billion years ago to as late as 70 million years old. I highly recommend you take the hour out of your day to see this collection. Free to the public, easy to park, amazing.

Such an awesome place if you have kids obsessed with rock collecting! Wonderful collection of petrified woods, fossils and minerals.

This fabulous collection DEFINITELY warrants a stop when you are in Las Cruces, and it's FREE! Few people know about it - but it is really impressive! Most museums just don't pack as many amazing pieces into such a small space. It's great to see them all together.I know it doesn't *sound* like I'm being serious when I claim that the world's largest collection of petrified wood is INTERESTING... but I think most people would agree with me. They have beautiful samples, some really great LARGE fossils, and an amazing collection of gems and minerals. I love the 5 foot wide slab with hundreds of ammonites in it, the gigantic bones, and the dinosaur eggs. My boys love the 6 foot tall cathedral geodes. The building is small, with plenty of visitor parking in front. There is a really nice courtyard inside with a fountain (and a great place to bring a sack lunch). You can easily tour the collection in 30 minutes or so. Kids are welcome, and it will likely fascinate them as much as it does you.Please stop... I think you'll be glad you did.