cleveland museum of natural history

We got there when it first opened so, parking was not a problem We have a 15 and 11 yr old daughters. They both loved this museum. My husband and I enjoyed it as well. We spent over 2 hours going through it. They have a live animal exhibit outside. The river otters were very entertaining. We'll be back!

I absolutely love the Natural History Museum! I am not a history buff by any means, but the exhibits and information I absorb from my visits here always intrigue me. So much to learn and pay homage to our evolution and ecosystem. I also enjoy the travelling exhibits as well. I have heard the museum is amazing for special events too.

We stopped by the Museum of Natural History on a trip to Cleveland. We were pleasantly surprised at how neat this museum was. Fair warning though, there is a LOT of taxidermy! My two-year old loved the animals (dead or not!). They also have a live animal area outside, so visit on a nicer day to see them. That was very enjoyable and we were probably the only people out there (and it was the first sunny, "warmer" day this winter). We also loved the collection of dinosaur bones - lots to see - very impressive. This place truly has every aspect of natural history you could imagine. Also, if you have little ones, be sure to find the Discovery Center Play Area in the lower level. Despite the museum being very crowded (the parking lot was full/closed), it didn't feel that way. In fact, we were one of about 4 groups of people on the entire lower level. And, my son was only one of two kids in the entire kids play area. That was refreshing, considering how crowded most museum play areas tend to be. It has fun and educational activities and toys for the kids.Also, we enjoyed the traveling mastodon and mammoth exhibit - they encourage people to touch the displays there!Great experience, spent about 1.5-2 hours here and didn't even take much time to read the exhibits, just looked at everything. Also, got in free due to our reciprocal membership at a Columbus museum - win-win! This definitely deserves a visit on a trip to Cleveland.

My son loves dinosaurs and animals. This place was a fantastic visit, particularly on a snowy day! Live animal show was great, and I never felt crowded by other visitors (even though museum was busy). I also had a good sandwich in the café. I'm glad I got there early so that I could park in the lot right next to the museum. Being from out of town, I'm not sure where folks park when this small lot fills up, particularly on snowy days when street parking becomes difficult.

I used to travel by rapid and then shuttle to see this place as I was growing up in Cleveland two to three times a year. It's a fascinating place and so much has been improved over the years. Almost took me to tears to see it again.

On the Sunday following Christmas, my husband and I took our daughter and two grandsons to visit the museum. Our choice of days wasn't the smartest as everyone else with kids seemed to have the same idea of spending the Christmas holiday break viewing the new exhibit, But the museum seemed geared up and ready for the crowd and things went fairly smoothly. The first problem we encountered was an already full parking lot and no available street parking. We ended up parking in the garage at the Museum of Art. If you park on the very top of the parking garage you have just a short walk across the street to the Natural History Museum. Problem #2: The museum opened at noon and we arrived around one o'clock to find that there were only 3 tickets left for the 2 p.m. planetarium show. We all very much wanted to see the show. We took the three tickets and decided we'd figure it out later. Instead of paying the regular admission fees, I realized that we'd be better off buying a senior membership (in my husband's name) at the senior rate. The membership allows free admission for my husband and I and our grandchildren and we were able to use a free guest pass to cover my daughter's admission. Our planetarium tickets were also free (both the 3 tickets for the 2 p.m. show and 5 tickets we picked up later for the 4 p.m. show). In addition we would get free parking -- or we would have had free parking had we been able to park in the Natural History Museum's lot. Unfortunately we would still have to pay the Art Museum garage rate. We hadn't been to this particular museum for a number of years and I'd forgotten how fascinating it can be. The boys were excited with each of the exhibits as we wandered from room to room. The special Mammoth and Mastodon exhibit going on at the time had an exciting collection of skeletons, casts, tusks, preserved flesh, immersive media and engaging interactives. The star of the exhibition is a replica of a 42,000-year-old intact baby mammoth specimen that a Siberian reindeer herder and two of his sons discovered in 2007. "Lyuba" is the most complete and best preserved specimen of her kind. The famous Johnstown mastodon on permanent display, is recognized as one of the best mastodon specimens ever recovered. The permanent collection is really just as interesting as the special exhibit we saw and well worth the time we spent there. At the end of the day, our new membership card also gave us a discount in the gift shop. A great museum. Definately worth a 3-4 hour visit.

We stopped on the way out of town to see the Mastodon exhibit There was no parking (school was canceled lots of kids) So we parked on the street had two hours but that was just about right for my attention span. Would have wanted more if we stayed for IMAX What is great is you can then walk from there to the Art Museum just add another quarter to the meter. Parking is not a problem just free parking is limited.

My husband and I really enjoyed the museum. Spent a few hours wandering the exhibits.This is a family friendly place. There were a lot of children (during Christmas holidays). There are a lot of interactive exhibits and the lower floor is geared mainly towards children.I do advise eating in the cafeteria. They have a pretty good selection but, if you go on a busy day, be prepared to wait. It's a small area and it fills up fast.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is at a tipping point--already a very good museum, with its planned expansion in the near future it has the potential to be great. Currently, the museum houses a small, but excellent, permanent exhibit on human evolution, as well as a larger Hall of Life with the requisite skeletons of dinosaurs and other extinct organisms. There are also permanent exhibits on geology and earth science, as well as a planetarium. There is a small outdoor area with native Ohio animals. My favorite part of the museum, however, are the excellent special exhibits (at no extra cost). On an annual basis, I bring my college biology course to visit both the museum and the special exhibits. Also, the museum supports a number of top notch researchers and preserves native local habitat. Definitely worth a visit.

Nice place to kill some time.Outdoor animals were super cute especially otters, owls and bobcats.Indoor exhibition nice. Staff engaged.

Has so much stuff, in all areas of natural history, and even includes a small zoo with many animals native to the Ohio area. Definitely better to go in the summer when you can see all the animals, but in general everything there is amazing, particularly when you consider that the special exhibits cost nothing extra.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day at the museum! My kids vary in age from 3 to 21 and each and every one of them had a great time! We particularly enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit and Balto exhibit! The kids were fascinated with the adventurous life Balto lived and how he was rescued by the people of Cleveland! We were fortunate enough to see the Silk Road exhibit ... an amazing delight for all the senses!!

Great place for children of all ages. My sons are a big fans of this museum. University Circle is a great place to go.

This is such an excellent museum,with special exhibits constantly changing. Very well displayed dioramas and friendly docents

Went for the first time while visiting family. All the kids had a great time and really enjoyed the interactive exhibits. We were fortunate enough to have a nice weather day and could actually go outside and see the animals which was a bonus. The exhibits are very educational and the special Mammoth exhibit was awesome as we learned a lot. Highly recommended especially for grade/middle school aged kids.