Our 775-square-foot paleontological laboratory is run by the Garden Park Paleontological Society, a local non-profit organization, which uses our facility to prepare recently unearthed fossils from Colorado’s fabled Garden Park Fossil Area, and from many other fossil projects from around the country. Paleo Lab
Continue learning as you stroll through history’s the wild side with a visit to our dinosaur park. Here, visitors will find a smooth, compacted-dirt trail that meanders through a high-plain desert forest that’s home to 16 different life-sized, skinned, animatronic dinosaurs, some of which will track your movements, and which are sure to surprise and excite.
To get the road-trip wiggles out and to take advantage of our stunning view of the Royal Gorge Bridge and the mighty Sangre de Christo mountains, we offer two ropes courses, one for junior guests (age 2-9) that is a fun way for them to explore their budding balance, and a large one for the more adventurous—a three story course that will challenge guests to experience fun obstacles at a height of over 24 feet. Of course, safety is paramount and participants of both courses will be tethered in full-body harnesses while still being able to self-guide themselves freely and securely anywhere on the course.
For added excitement and lasting memories, guests traversing the T-Rex Terror Ropes Course will be able to get face-to-face with both a 80-feet long Diplodocus, and the mighty roaring T-Rex, which stands more than 20-feet tall. There’s nothing else like it in the world!
Please note that we have the following weight, height and clothing restrictions for T-Rex Terror Ropes Course: Please, no dresses, flip-flops, sandals without ankle straps, high-heel shoes, or any other type of shoe that could easily fall off your feet. Also, you must be at least 4-feet tall and weigh less than 300 lbs.
Weather in the Colorado Rockies often defines the word “unpredictable”, especially in the spring and fall and during the summer’s thunderstorm season. Because safety is always foremost in our minds, we reserve the right to close the Ropes Course and our Dinosaur Wild Walk to ensure the well being of our guests. If your visit to the Royal Gorge Dinosaur Museum coincides with a weather-related closure to our outdoor attractions, you can:
—Take another spin through our museum and wait for the weather to clear (Hint #1: Colorado thunderstorms are typically powerful-but-short-lived. Hint #2: The Chewy Marshmallow Treats at our snack shop are really good!)
—Collect a rain-check voucher from our ticketing office. You can return anytime during the same calendar year and present your voucher and your original receipt and enjoy our outdoor attractions.
—After an hour of weather-related delays, we are more than happy to refund the outdoor-portion of your ticket fare—just present your receipt at our ticketing office and we will take care of you and your family.
Our indoor interactive center is geared towards kids (ages 3-12) and features games, multi-media stations, and age-appropriate content that serve to educate and entertain tomorrow’s scientists.
Step into our state-of-the-art, Dolby-enhanced theater and enjoy our rotating selection of dinosaur-related films. Our ten-foot screen adds a fun, family orientated, multi-media element to any RGDE visit.
Some visitors love hunting for old bones, while others love hunting for fun mementos of a fantastic visit to a world-class dinosaur museum. The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience’s Gift Shop offers thousands of items, ranging from the fun and whimsical to the large and toothy. Can’t wait for your visit? Visit our online store here [Coming Soon].
Enjoy light, pre-prepared snacks, as well as a variety of soft drinks, specialty teas, gourmet drip coffee, and more. Our snack shop offers needed provisions for hungry paleontologists, as well as a place for tired parents to catch their breaths after a Jurassic-era adventure.
If there’s one thing that kids love more than dinosaurs, it’s discovering (cast) fossils. Our Kids’ Dig is filled with a non-stick variety of pea gravel and the faux bones of a T-Rex for pint-sized archeologists to unearth. (Please note: this section is periodically briefly closed so that our faux fossils can be re-buried.)
