KU Natural History Museum

First its not a donation its 7 for adults they demanded it at the door.You have to pay! lots and lots of stuffed animals and fossils no minerals gems rockswent through it in 15 - 20 minutes topsenjoyed UMKC better

Have visited Lawrence, KS a number of times over the last 18 years and had never gone to this museum. Made a point of doing so today, while in town again. It is a very nice museum, with an incredible amount of items on display and presented well. Would recommend it to anyone interested in natural history and such. It is free ... and they do recommend a $7 donation. Donate the $7, it is well worth it.

Made my first return visit in years because of the display of the old and new gargoyles ready to go on the outside of the building. Such great work! Fun to see the originals, now over 100 years old and how they've fared in the Kansas weather. The new versions are just superb. Can't wait to see them installed.Much to my delight, the little moving prairie dog in the main floor exhibit has a new life, much more animated and stealthy while peeking at visitors. Very highly recommended. Everything else was as remembered: the live bee exhibit, the snakes, Comanche and more. Truly one of the gems of this city and one reason Lawrence is a great town. Very highly recommended. Can't wait to visit again.

I have walked a million miles through this museum and I want to walk another million more. This museum is a sheer treasure tucked away at a big university.This is the Dyche Natural History Museum and it was birthed from a turn of the century worlds fair exhibit. Lucky for us the artifacts ended up in Lawrence and the museum was created. The centerpiece of the museum is a panorama of various animals. It is AMAZING! There are polar bears, a walrus (a BIG walrus!), prairie dogs, long horned sheep and many, many other animals. It is displayed in such a way that the entire museum seems to gravitate toward this one exhibit. There are not words to describe the beauty of this display.My favorite exhibit is the Comanche display. Comanche was the last U.S. Cavalry survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Through a series of unique events, Comanche ended up at this museum. He looks just as majestic as he did when he was on the battlefield. I love seeing him and letting my mind wonder through history. This exhibit makes my knees weak a bit.There are four floors of this museum. There is a very large bug display aimed at children that is very informative and interactive located on the third floor. That floor also houses a live bee hive encased in glass and I was mesmerized seeing them do their work. There are some AMAZING fossils on this floor, as well. A large number of the fossils were discovered in Kansas and it is so difficult to imagine these prehistoric creatures roaming the earth, much less our own state. Another exhibit that i enjoyed are the grotesque pieces scattered throughout the museum. A grotesque is similiar to a gargoyle except the grotesque does not spout water. The museum has been restoring these structures and they are so ugly/beautiful. Quite wonderful to see up close.This is a museum that encourages you to touch and play with the displays. I love that aspect of any museum. It is a very tactile experience at Dyche Museum. The museum in free and, of course, there is a gift shop located in the lobby. The prices of the gift shop are very reasonable and that was surprising to me. Every one of the staff I interacted with was nice and helpful. They actually went out of their way to help answer my questions. There is no cafe but, heck, you don't need refreshments in a museum this fabulous. You will be way too busy looking at the exhibits.Parking might be a challenge for some. There is public garage parking about a block away. There are also parking spaces scattered here and there. Honestly, this museum is worth a little walk. Well worth it from every perspective.

So much to see, very nice diorama, exhibits on 5 floors. Lewis Lindsey Dyche was a man with a vision of preservation. Every turn had an interesting display from Comanche, the only surviving 7th Cavalry horse from the Battle of Big Horn, the Grotesques, limestone statues currently being replicated. Well worth the time.

I'm more than a little biased since this place holds a lot of childhood memories for me. That being said, the charm of the ancient taxidermy, magic of the dinosaur bones, and surprise at the living reptiles still gets me every time. Many don't know that Dyche who the building is named after was an early taxidermist who collected (I think!) most of what you see on display. It was exhibited at (and again I think!) the St. Louis world's fair, so beyond your personal feelings on taxidermy - from a historical perspective this collection is the bomb.com. Pro tip: before you head upstairs for live reptiles and the bees (which I hope return), stop and say hello to Comanche - the preserved horse in the hallway. He was the only survivor of the battle of little big horn and is often overlooked. This horse has a serious story to tell and it's worth the stop. Bottom line, this is a perfect little gem on the KU campus and is well with a visit when you're in town.

I went for their Annual Creativity Day Fair. Although it was mostly targeted for a younger demographic I was pleased I went. They had various activities, ranging from coloring and paper airplanes to swabbing for bacteria cultures. I would strongly suggest parents taking their kids, there is a lot of look and observe. Especially if there is an event, there have a lot of activities. The only downside was that it was hard to navigate, the brochure with the activities were listed but the location was hard to really pinpoint.

We used to love to take our kids to the KU Natural History museum...when it was free. Now there is a student at the entrance that stops you and asks you to make a "contribution" of $7 per adult and $4 per kid. You can choose to pay however much you feel like, but it's kind of awkward. Honestly we probably won't go back now that we've been several times. The museum has a ton of cool specimens. If you haven't been before, it's worth a trip.

Love this place and still never gave it the credit it's due.Great place to take kids if you're hoping to kill a couple of hours and/or try to educate them. Plan on being educated yourself, by the way.5 floors to roam and plenty to see. Dinosaur bones, bee hives, etc. Really cool.Worth the trip.

Be sure to visit each level. Great educational place to take kids. Usually close parking is available. May take more than one visit to see it all.