Fossil Discovery Center of Madera County

What an awesome find just 40 minutes away from Fresno! My son is currently at the age where dinosaurs are everything and to be honest he's been a dinosaur lover, since he was two. So, I knew this place would be a fun day trip experience for him. They don't really have many dinosaur items here, but he loved all of the giant bone displays. We got here on a Sunday and it was dead. It was also the first Sunday that football is back on TV, so I kind of planned it this way. We were able to check out all of the fossils, watch a video on how everything got started, and dig in their fossil excavation area. They give you a fossil map to help you identify what you have found. We found a sabertooth tiger skull and a short-faced bear skull! Of course, you can't take any of these items home, as it's cemented into the ground, but it's still pretty cool to use the dirt brushes and shovels to dig up these fun little treasures. The Fossil Discovery Museum started when the skull of a woolly mammoth was discovered about a mile away from the where this museum is located. Once the woolly mammoth fossils were found, they continued to dig and found sabertooth tiger, short, faced bear, giant sloths, and a ton of other perfectly preserved fossils. They even have a section where you can touch actual fossils with your hands! A visit here will take at most an hour and that's if you take your time reading all of the display information. It really is an awesome way to spend the day with your family and learn something new about your community!

I bought discounted tickets to this place. We went on Sunday it was around 11am and we had the whole place to ourself. When we entered we were greeted and were given instructions on the layout. The lady was so nice and helpful. We watched an 8 min video. A bit outdated but it was so interesting and informative I learned quite a bit. They had a guided tour or a self guided tour. We had our 2 year old with us and her attention span isn't the greatest so we just decided to do a self tour. We roamed around freely read all the fact cards. Just amazed at all this history. They also had an outside tour and it's so interesting to see and read about how the Native Americans used the different plants for food, shelter, clothing and medicinal use. The Yokut House was covered so we didn't get to see. For a small fee there's also an interactive fossil mock dig for kids to enjoy. I thought this place was great, holds so much history and educational value also inexpensive. We enjoyed our visit.

Really fun place for kids to learn about fossils and dig in their outside dig pit. My kids enjoyed the field trips but a quick family trip is better less kids.

A hidden treasure in California's Central Valley! We had a great time exploring. The tour started with a short video about the fossils discovered in Fairmead/Chowchilla and it was cool to hear from the paleontologist/fossil experts of the Fresno area. I really did not know there were fossils found around here because I thought CA was all just submerged in water in that era. After the video we toured the building and saw large skeletons, taxidermy birds, and got to hold real skeletal remains. Our favorite part came next when we visited the small man-made pond and walked around the perimeter. Finally we stopped at the tables for lunch which was VERY sunny so I recommend a hat/umbrella/sunscreen. We went on a Saturday and it was very peaceful. A simple, stress-free outing for kids of any age.

Great place to learn all about fossils! My kids learned so much and even got to dig for fossils. It have limited hours so check the hours and dates before heading out!

10+ amazing what we have right here at our back door! It makes an easy trip for little ones with much to see in a small space, and they get to dig for fossils when they are done!

We absolutely loved this place! I wish we would have come earlier but over all everything was great. Staff is super nice and friendly.

Had a great time here with my family when we visited on our way down to Fresno. It is worth checking it out and spending a few hours.

We showed up at 11:30 and the door said they close at 12 for a private event. 1/2 the stuff is closed down. The staff still wanted to charge full price for admission for 1/2 of time in the museum. None of this was updated on their website.

Came here for a field trip. Really nice place with speakers that are informative. The kids got to dig up fossils and had a good time. Just wish it had a little more fun activities. Even so, great place to take kids and family.