• HOME
• ABOUT US
  • HISTORY
  • MISSION, VISION & PURPOSE
  • BROCHURE
• VISIT US
  • MUSEUM HOURS
  • PRICES
  • LOCATION
  • BLACK HILLS TRAVEL LINKS
  • SPECIAL PROMOTIONS
• PALEONTOLOGY
• GEOLOGY
• EDUCATION
  • K-5
  • 6-12
  • DISTANCE LEARNING
  • JR PALEONTOLOGIST PROGRAM
  • SCOUT MERIT BADGE
• RESEARCH
  • CURRENT
  • ONGOING
    • EARTHWATCH
    • ELDERHOSTEL
• VIRTUAL MUSEUM TOUR
  • THE EXHIBITS
  • VIRTUAL 360˚ TOUR
• SUPPORT US
  • MEMBERSHIPa>
  • MAMMOTH SITE PROJECTS
  • WISHLIST
  • GIFT GIVING
    • ANNUAL GIVING
    • ENDOWMENT
    • PLANNED GIVING
• BOOKSTORE & GIFTS

Travel back to the time when Ice Age mammoth, camel, and giant short-faced bear roamed the Great Plains of North America. Imagine a sudden collapse of a 60 foot deep karst sinkhole. Bubbling from the bottom, a warm spring percolates through the layers of limestone, now creating a large steep-sided pond. Picture thirsty animals venturing down to the water below...then, after drinking, animals unable to gain a foothold to escape. The sinkhole was a deathtrap.

DOWNLOADABLE BROCHURE
2010 South Dakota Guide to Archaeology & Paleontology.pdf

Stand on the edge of discovery and walk where mammoths, bears, and other Ice Age animals walked...

The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota, is the world’s largest mammoth research facility. You can tour an active paleontological dig site and view Ice Age fossils exhibited as they are found.

Open year round, the Mammoth Site offers the museum visitor a 30-minute guided tour plus a 10-minute video. Tour information features the Mammoth Site and Ice Age geology, paleontology, and paleoecology. Today, visitors to the museum observe first-hand a scientific excavation.

During the month of July, Earthwatch volunteers, under the direction of Dr. Larry Agenbroad, excavate, identify and study the Ice Age fossils. Read the latest Earthwatch news...

Visitors to the museum can take in: