Located adjacent to the Philips County Museum, the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum is one stop on the Montana Dinosaur Trail. Some of the best preserved dinosaur fossils have been found in northeastern Montana.

The star of the collection is “Leonardo”, a a 77 million-year-old Brachylophosaurus. Leonardo holds a Guinness Book of Record as the best preserved dinosaur remains in the world. Approximately 90% of its body is covered with fossilized soft tissue.

The museum is well-interpreted with many interactive displays. You can tell that the curators put a lot of effort and care into the museum’s design.

One other star dinosaur was “Herb” the Triceratops. Mounted in 1933, Herb was among the first mounted Triceratops skeletons in the world. The actual fossil bones are in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. This is a reproduction.

Herb has had some work done. Apparently paleontologists rarely find complete skeletons, so they use parts from other specimens to fill in the missing pieces. Herb’s skeleton is made up of parts from 4 Triceratops found in Wyoming and Montana. Don’t worry Herb, we will keep your secret. Besides, who doesn’t need a few spare parts after 66 million years?! You look great!

The museum is open seven days a week from May-September. Open by appointment from October – April. Admission is $5 for adults.

We are really excited about our next campground. We will be staying at Antelope Creek Campground on the prairie near Zortman, Montana.