The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs Reviews

I think the Mammoth site is the only worth-to-go attraction in this area, although the admission fee is not cheap if you go as a family, but this is the site where active digging occurs everyday, people still digging out mammoth bones, and have new discovery everyday. it is recommended to down the Mammoth site app in advance, so it serves as an audio guide when you touring in the site, there was used to be a guided tour in-person before COVID, but since COVID, there is no more in-person guided tour, but you can use the app as an audio guide, you may also talk to some staff there, some of them are willing to answer your questions and very welcome you to ask them, to learn more about the site even they are doing their digging job, while some are so concentrated in her/his digging job, seems not want to be disturbed. In summer time, there are Paleontology program for kids, I highly recommend this for kids who are age 6 or above, my 7-year-old boy enjoyed it very much, they have very real bone for them to dig, and the staff teach them the practice of finding bones, they can have hand-on experience to find and dig the bone themselves, quite educative. Although kids as young as age 4 can join this program, yet I think they are too young to understand, and also too weak to dig, even for 6-7 years old kids, parent also need to help them to remove some dirt, it's actually quite energy-demanding job. There are also some exhibit, telling you the animals in the ice age, not only the Mammoth. There are a gift, also a shop outside, you can buy something to eat, we bought ice-cream. This is a quite good attraction for the family to spend half day there.

I thought this was a good value given the totally unique nature of a building being over an active dig site. Went during Coronavirus so there was no guided tour but we could ask interns questions while socially distanced. Signs are informative so don't even need a tour. If you're nearby, don't miss!

No doubt, seeing actual mammoth skeletons is really cool! But...this place could be so much better. Started out with a 10 minute video explaining how the site came to be. Then into the actual dig area where the guide pretty much repeated everything we just learned from the video. Our guide was new and definitely needed more training...it was pretty painful. So painful that my 11 year old actually changed the channel on her headphones to listen to the tour guide behind our group. Even aside from the tour guide, my expectations for this place just were not met. If you're on the fence about visiting this place, my advice is to skip it. There are lots of way better things to do in the area.

This stop was incredible. Our young kids enjoyed themselves and learned so much. Plus, they got to see the bones and learn the process of discovery.

On a whim I thought I would go see this place and thought it might be kind of a gimmick but this place is the real deal and I thought is was very cool. I think all ages would like coming here and there is a junior archaeologist program for kids to do actual digging. This takes advance reservation but any kid into dinosaurs would have a blast.

If ou have ever been interested in ice age life, this stop is a must. There is an entry fee, but well worth it. The site is an active dig and you will see staff and volunteers working to uncover more fossils. The well done tour / presentation provides a background to what you see. Outstanding! Educational programs are also available for children.

Excellent working archeological museum hidden away in hot springs Wyoming. Staff is helpful and knowledgeable, entry fee is fair. The working site is the museum and is intriguing to see. Clean and organized, good parking as well. You should go if in the area.

This was the first time I had been here...came with my friend and her two grandchildren. .we all loved it..sooo interesting. ..the tour was very informative. I would come again.

What a great experience. This is actually a geological site that is still an active dig. There are UPC labels all around to scan and then either read or listen to the story they tell about the history and the dig. There is a preview short movie to give you the background. Very clean and accessible.

This was a pretty cool stop on our day at Wind Cave. It was a Sunday, so there weren’t active digging or preservation staff working, but the movie, self-guided and staff guided tours were awesome. There is the large dog room, an exhibit hall, 2 theatre spaces, and the lobby hall. It was well worth the 40 minute drive from Custer (20 minutes from Wind Cave NP) and the price of admission ($14 per person for us and our teens).

We had an excellent tour lead by the staff's oldest guide, Christian. Compact site with intro movie, tour and independent wandering (photos permitted) takes about 2+ hours. Very interesting. Site is indoors in air conditioned comfort. Shop with adorable stuffed mammoths.

This was a cool experience. How often do you have an opportunity to see mammoth fossils still in the ground?

We enjoyed the whole experience. Parking lot is shaded and we saw a lot of people eating picnic lunches - great spots for it.

Before entering building you walk past huge panning station for the kids (you can buy bags of dirt laced with "gemstones" in the gift shop).

At front desk they had whiteboards posted to show what spots they had left in the various kid programs/classes for the day. We got the jr paleontologist program for our son (12) and were glad we did.

Enjoyed walking thru dig site - very cool! Jr dig program was a hoot. Watching all the kids play in a big sandbox and their excitement at finding the bones was really fun.

NOTE: It is DUSTY in this building. If that is an issue for anyone in your party, be aware!

Overall we had a great time!!!

The highlight of the trip today was the Mammoth Site. It was a big pit that the Mammoths fell into and drowned. As a result, there are tons of Mammoth bones here. They’ve preserved many of the bones in place and you can tour it. It was surreal. You felt like you were on a movie set and everything was made of plaster, but its still a working archeological site.

Incredible collection of mammoth bones; such a unique experience to walk among them and learn how they got there. Good audio guide as well. A worthwhile ~hr spent in the area.

Kids loved the jr paleontology class! The dig site was cool, and you also got to look into the lab areas (from large windows, not allowed inside), short video, and gift shop had some cool stuff. The only thing I was curious on was when they actually do the dig work (we were there in the day (1 pm) and no one was doing anything).

You get to see a remarkable sink hole that captured mammoths! It’s indoors so you can visit anytime. Great for everyone to see. Ongoing research and access for young people to help too.

Just ok. Very spendy for a large family of ten ($72!) eek!! Interesting finds. Cool to see the tusks and bones. As well as a few workers digging and chipping away. Not worth the money for all of us. My oldest (14) was most interested.

We really enjoyed the Mammoth Site. It was very professional and impressive. The museum, with displays attached to the dig site, was extremely interesting. We had trouble downloading the Mammoth Site
app on our phone, so one of the curators was kind enough to show us around and explain everything. I would strongly suggest downloading the app in an area with good service. It really is an amazing site to see. Even my 20 year old was interested.

Very easy to fond. We stayed at Super 8 right next door. This site is very well laid out. Would be excellent for children. Lots of hands on activities. Every thing was self explanatory but people were there to help if you had questions. The 10 minute film was excellent. Plenty of parking. There was an outside food bar. Free WiFi. I had downloaded the ap but didn’t have earbuds so it was useless.

Was not sure what to expect upon paying the entrance fee. Was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Site and museum. All ages will learn something. Do not hurry through it and take the time to read or listen to the content at each station, as well absorbing the visuals within the site. There is also a museum in the building. Take the time to tour it.

An amazing site! Interesting story on video. Take the guided tour. Take photos. This is an on going excavation place. We throughly enjoyed it! Nice gift shop. Plan 1-2 hours.

This is very interesting and worth the time to visit. The guide was knowledgable and took the time to answer questions. We did not feel we were rushed through.

Friendly, informative site, largest in situ collection of mammoth bones. A former sinkhole, lots of animals got trapped. Good intro video explains the site, walk at your own pace. Fine bathrooms, free wifi. Pricey.

This place far exceeded my expectations. It tells one story of the wooly mammoths' demise. It's fascinating to walk around the dig and see the fossils. We had the opportunity to talk to one of the guys working and got an insight to the archeological side. Definitely take the time to go.

What an amazing experience! I loved learning about dinosaurs when I was a kid. Here I got to see a real dig site with mammoth bones still in the ground waiting to be excavated! Those doing the digging were very friendly and willing to answer our questions. Though we didn't have kids with us, it seemed like they have great activities for kids that visit also. I hope to take my grandkids here.

Nice experience, interesting to see the dig area and how the bones were found and the work they are still doing. Nice visit

Very interesting to see, especially since it's still an active dig site, but you could easily go through it in an hour. We happened to be close by so it was worth the trip, but I'm not sure I'd recommend driving several hours out of your way.

This is a must ! You will not believe what you are about to see ! My kids were so happy and us too! Thanks to all the staff.

This is the most impressive collection of prehistoric fossils I have ever seen! To explain my title - all of the fossilized remains they have found in the sink hole so far are male. This is because males are kicked out of the herd when they become teenagers. You'll have to visit to hear the rest of the story!
When you go into the Visitor Center you are greeted by friendly staff and then seated for a quick movie that tells about the history of the Mammoth Site. Then you go on a short 30-minute tour. The informative guide shows the highlights of the dig site and then you can explore on your own to read the information posted around the area.

It was a great experience. You really appreciate how big these animals were back in time. Amazing to see in person. Great for kids, teens, adults.

Overall this is a cool experience. If you're in Custer it's worth the short drive down. It's surreal to see how many fossils there are. They do a nice job with the layout of the path and explaining things.

We went with kids aged 6, 8 and 11. They enjoyed it and lasted about 1 hour. They really enjoyed the informational video you watch.

The price is a bit steep in my opinion ($14 adult and $11 child). And while my kids wanted to do the Jr paleontologist dig....I couldn't warrant the additional $12 per kid. Yikes. They don't even get to take anything home from the dig, which is why they decided to not do it.

Fantastic and informative, nicely laid out, impressive bones. Watch the 10 min video first. Great to see the actual work going on too. Surreal giftshop experience: 3 staff doing a stuffed mammoth inventory...!

I stopped only because I was tired and saw the sign—oh, my! What a great place! For starters, they'll send a golf cart for us old, disabled folks, because it's a bit of walk from the parking area to the building. They have guided tours—starts with a short video, then you get a guide who shows you around the site. Enthralling doesn't begin to describe it! Tanner answered questions and kept the entire tour interested and alert.

My wife booked the stop so I wasn't sure what to expect. The entire site is indoors. They built a building around the difference site. There are so many nones in there is is almost unbelievable. Not just mammoth, but also bears, wolves, small mammals, and many more. You are up close and personal. If you want to see old bones being dug up, this is the best place. Plus, they are still digging in there today. The workers were very informative as well

An active dig site for Mammoths, covered by an airconditioned building. Very interesting watching people still digging. We were able to take our small dog with us if we carried her.

We weren't sure what to expect of this visit, but it turned out to be extremely interesting. The introductory film gives you a good background of how this came about and what we were about to see. Once you enter the site, it's totally amazing. The overall building and layout of the walkway was fantastic. Every few feet there was a sign with a QR Code that would explain what is in front of you. We highly recommend visiting here. (BTW, Siri took us to the back of the building where you couldn't enter the building. So Google Maps was able to redirect us to the front entry.)

This place was really amazing. It's small and you can get through it quickly. It has a nice movie to watch, and an amazing dig site to see. Really incredible to see how many full skeletons were found here. It also has a nice little museum as well and picnic areas outside.

This is a really interesting place to visit for just about anyone, especially families, and anyone interested in dinosaurs and fossils. It is very unique, and world renowned. It is the largest mammoth research site in the world. This site houses actual mammoth bones and a variety of plant and small animal fossils at a working dig site. The mammoth bones are partially uncovered and left in place. The building you enter was built over the site after the remains were found, creating this incredible scientific look into the past.

As one of the guides explained, technically these are mammoth bones, not fossils because they have not gone through the mineralization that much older bones do. The mammoths fell into this huge sinkhole and were unable to get back out, preserving them in clay and sand. Most of them are Colombian Mammoths, only three are Woolly Mammoths, and all are male! It is also the only site tin the world that has found both types of mammoths in the same site. And what you see is only the top portion they have excavated. They said there is much more to be found several feet below.

The site is easily accessed with several stairwells where you can get a closer view of the remains. Individual areas of interest are number tagged to references explaining what you are viewing. There are workers actively excavating the remains, and a few inside a closed glassed in area doing preservation work. The surrounding displays are well presented and the life-size replicas are impressive. Make sure to watch the 10 minute video that explains much of how this site was formed. The site also offers regularly scheduled Junior Paleontologists digs for children ages 4-12, advance reservations are suggested, see info on their website.

Very interesting. To get much out of it, you definitely need to go to the web pages that have the audio tour, though you can just read the text instead of having to listen to the audio, which is nice. Our family enjoyed the visit. In addition to the main working dig site showcasing various many mammoth bones in situ, they have some other displays in an adjoining building. Can look at everything in under an hour.

There aren't many places like this to visit. Sooo interesting! The orientation video is a must and does a good job of proving a lot of information about how the site was discovered and the conservation work.

This is a truly unique place. An exposed pit containing the remains of 60 or more mammoths that had drowned in the water-filled pit over many years and over 140 million years ago.
Discovered by a housing developer who had bought the land, he recognised its uniqueness and changed his plans.
The site is well presented and is now covered so availab le in inclement weather.
Lots of information to read and to absorb.
Great place.

My husband, 11 year old daughter and 13 year old son recently visited this site. It was so fascinating and cool to see these mammoth fossils. A museum was literally built around this sink hole. Loved the fact that this site is still an active paleontologist work site, with many years of exploration ahead. Our guide did a great job in taking us through it and answering questions. Highly recommend.

As long as you are able to leash and carry your dog it is allowed to visit the mammoth site with you. The short film was well done and the site is fantastic. This tragic story of animals not being able to escape a water filled sinkhole is a paleontologist's dream. We saw so many bones and tusks as well as a full size rebuilt skeleton. Very well done.

When you fathom what has gone down here, how it was discovered and what they resurrected, this is truly a unique place. I stared in awe at the remnants of these ancient beasts. Definitely well worth the price of admission, at least 1-2 hours to tour the dig site and the exhibits.

Saw this place listed in Trip Advisor while we were in Rapid City, so we took the drive down to Hot Springs to see the site. I had always thought there was only one type of Mammoth, but found that there are several and they varied in size from dwarf to the biggest,"The Columbian Mammoth" The site was fascinating and a great look into how paleontologists do their work.

Mammoth Site was a delightful museum experience, not overwhelming and easily manageable. Recommend downloading the free tour app (they have wifi so can do it in situ) for more in-depth info. If travelling with kids recommend the junior or advanced paleontologist program, genuine in the dirt digging for all ages (need to register/pay separately but not very expensive). Lovely gift shop, helpful staff, nice little bistro / eatery with shady eating area outside, clean restrooms, free and easy parking.

We were afraid this would be hoaky, like a single actual bone and a bunch of tourist stuff, but we heard it was well-respected, so we checked it out. Turns out, there was a sink hole into which over 60 mammoths fell, over several thousand years, creating the most amazing concentration of complete mammoth skeletons anywhere. They built a really nice building over the still-active dig site, with a walkway that lets you see it all from great vantage points. The tour guide was knowledgeable and helpful, the things we learned about mammoths that we thought we knew, and the quality of preserved fossils were all top notch. The entire experience cost ten bucks, more or less, and only took 45 minutes, plus whatever additional time you want to spend going back and reading placques and such. Highly recommended experience.

This is a paelantolgist's dream come true, what an amazing dig site and museum. You can do the guided tour or use a binder for a self-guided tour. There's even a junior dig program for visitors. This place continues to discover not only fossils, but real Columbian Mammoth bones! Over 61 dug up so far. There's a nice gift shop and clean bathrooms.

We were on the motorcycle passing through town and spotted the Mammoth Statue and decided to turn around and investigate. After looking at the reviews on trip advisor we felt it worthwhile. Although some of the signs leading up the pathway are a bit weathered, the museum is very well done and detailed. The tour begins with a well done 10 minute presentation followed by a self guided tour which allows you to scan a QR Code and listen to information on the dig site,different skeleton details and layers of the dig. We didn’t feel prices were out of line for what is being offered. You can comfortably see it all in an hour or so.

Unbelievable museum and history. This is definitely worth a visit, but plan plenty of time because you won’t want to leave.

Absolutely fascinating and wonderful. This is an amazing attraction and would appeal to anyone interested in natural history, geology, paleontology, or archaeology.

My 9 year old was sure she would hate it and ended up pulling me along to show me stuff she wanted to see. Took tons of pictures. Seeing a dig in progress was fascinating.

We loved this place!! Self guided tour lets you go at your own pace and they provide a pamphlet that explains each section. It’s very well thought out and informative. Awesome place for kids!

Fantastic find while we were dodging a storm. I expected something hokey and touristy, but it’s an actual working paleontology site. The tour is self-guided after a 10-minute video. You can view bones in situ, as well as casts and other artifacts from this site and others. If you have children that love science, turn left at the mammoth hut and go down to the basement lab viewing area via the elevator. Most people don’t even see that part of the museum.

This is an amazing place! The last time I was here was over 40 years ago where the parking lot was dirt and the site was only a tent.

This is a working site where fossils are still be excavated, catalogued and displayed. It is educational. It is a view back into time. Rest rooms are clean. Gift shop. Displays. Self-guided tour. Friendly and knowledgeable staff.

We were aware of this site due to an online search of places to see in South Dakota. This was very informative and we had a guide that explained every detail and invited questions on the tour.

Great and unique place to visit. We drove over an hour out of road trip to stop but it was worth it. Our kids were interested and listened as explained each stop. It would have been great to have an audio tour.

We didn't expect to see mammoth bones in South Dakota! It was an excellent walk around exhibit. It explained the how the mammoths from their dig were different from a woolly mammoth. There was another exhibit explaining how people lived with the mammoths.

Really glad that we went a bit out of our way to come to Hot Springs and see the Mammoth site. They're offering self-guided tours via a free app given the COVID situation, which was great for us and much appreciated. We were able to walk around at our own pace and learn a lot. It's a really amazing site to see, and the history was interesting to learn. Would definitely recommend.

Highly recommend! Must see when traveling to the Black Hills! After visiting Mt Rushmore we traveled to Hot Springs 1 hour away. When we arrived we reserved 2 spots for my kids (age 5 and 8) to dig for replicas part of the kid program. The 10 min video was great educational for family before walking into the active dig site, this was so neat to see this in person! Very impressive museum and kid program was worth the extra $12 per child they get 1 hour of digging!

Fascinating place to visit that will interest the entire family. With so many places competing for your time in the Black Hills try to not miss this one. Worth the visit and educational at the same time. 30,000 years ago Mammoths slipped and fell into a sink hole when they went to get water and were unable to climb back out. 60 mammoth skeletons have been uncovered and untold other species as well. The entire site is enclosed, work is still in progress preserving the site. Very well done museum!

This is a rare find with so many mammoths found in one place! Very interesting history. Amazing views! I would definitely recommend for children and adults alike.

To start with, our young children were enthralled with the 10 minute informational movie. It was a concise and detailed explanation of the site and and the geography of the Black Hills region. The dig site was amazing to look at and the self guided tour provided a good explanation to the various points throughout the site. The additional exhibit on ice age animals was interesting and will hopefully be expanded in the future.

we loved our visit to the Mammoth Site! they tried really hard to have good signage and information - but having a person there to answer questions and show us around would have made it 10X better. I was there with my college-aged kids who are both into science so none of us were bored in the least! would have loved to see them actually working on it, since it's supposedly an active dig site.

highly recommended!!!

This was a very neat experience. From the short film at the beginning to the self-guided tour. Quite amazing and absolutely worth seeing. Very enjoyable and interesting!

The whole thing was amazing and excellent. Worthwhile for adults and children. I would do it again if we're ever in the area again. Great learning experience.

We visited here in May and I am finally catching up on my reviews. This place is amazing and one of the coolest sites I have ever visited. It is amazing how many mammoth skeletons are here. Make sure you get the booklet and stop and read the information about each of the numbered places throughout the pit. You will learn a lot about this amazing site.

We weren't sure if we'd make this stop but two people we met during our stay recommended it....they were right! Well worth our time! Very interesting!

The Mammoth Site is a fascinating paleontology site. Dozens of huge mammoths fell into a sinkhole tens of thousands of years ago and their bones were preserved in place until they were discovered during a construction project. The interesting thing about the Site is that rather than excavate and display all the fossils, many of the skeletons have been left where they were discovered, exposed for visitors to view. The story of the sinkhole and the 61 mammoths there is interesting, as is the real-life fossil dig. An audio app allows visitors to take a self-guided tour with about a dozen stops highlighting key parts of the Site. There's also a small exhibit hall with information about mammoth-hunting native hunters and Siberian mammoths found in the permafrost. This is a unique site and definitely worth checking out.

Thank goodness a developer stopped bulldozing!
This site is a fantastic look into the the past and a treasure for our present and future. It was remarkable to have such close access to the dig site. Even though work was not taking place at the time of our visit, our guide thoroughly explained the excavation process and I don’t feel as though we missed out.
Highly recommend this site for visitors of all ages!

We were traveling with our granddaughter and thought she would enjoy this site. She did and so did my husband and I. The tour starts with a movie that explains how the animals came to be trapped in the same place, then everyone was given headphones so we could easily hear the guide as we traveled through the site. There is an elevated walkway around the site where the fossils are and a lot of information is available. Once the tour is over, you are free to explore the site on your own. There is also a nice gift shop.

Great stop. So educational. Kids would love this experience.
Watched people search for more bones.
Use your own phone and QR reader to hear information at each site.

The entrance fee was reasonable. The hostess was knowlegable. The site was phenominal and very interesting.

This was one of our first stops on our vacation and it was great. This is the real deal. All the bones in the dig site are exactly as they were found. It is an active excavation site, so you may have the opportunity to chat with the people working there about their findings. My kids were fascinated with the story of the mammoths and how they came to be discovered in this place. This is a much better experience than just seeing casts of fossils in a museum. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was happy to answer any questions. I would recommend this to anyone traveling in the area.

Great visit! The self-guided tour brochure was easy to follow and great for us to guide our young kids through at our own pace. The whole family really enjoyed our visit here at a unique museum & working site!

Great museum. The 10 minute film beforehand was very helpful. It’s extra cool that it’s an active excavation - I may try to come back just to participate in the dig!

Visited again on our trip to the Black Hills this summer and this place does not disappoint! My kids age 9 and 6 loved it. Highly recommend booking in advance the Junior Paleontology program online before you arrive it’s worth the extra $ and kids will love it! They get to dig for Mammoth bones for an hour. They sell out fast (4 sessions a day) so that is why I say book online if you can. The museum is great too and so informative.
If I had to say top 3 attractions in Black Hills it’s Mt Rushmore, MammothSite and Devil Tower!

My husband hadn't visited here in well over a decade, and I had never been. We visited Hot Springs one afternoon during our 3-day stay in Wall. I'm glad he talked me into spending the money on admission. It was really neat seeing such a massive deposit of mammoth bones and other fossils.

We decided to stop here after our trip to Wind Cave, and on our way to Yellowstone. I was encouraged by the great reviews on Trip Advisor. While this was a worthwhile stop, and I’m glad we did it, I don’t know how people spend 2-3 hours here. The film at the beginning was interesting and explained a lot about the site that I didn’t know previously. I find it really cool that the owner of the land immediately recognized the significance of the site and knew it needed to be protected. I also think it’s really neat that it is still a working archaeological site. I’m just not sure it is worth the cost of admission, as we spent less than an hour at the site. I suppose if it’s a one-and-done thing, it would be worth it.

Very interesting. The building was constructed around the “dig” to protect all the “finds”. The bones of At least 61 mammoths were found here. Of course, you have to listen to a lot of inaccuracies as far as the theory of evolution. If you know your creation facts, then you will see how this fits in. Truly amazing to enjoy this inside activity on a 100+ degree day..

Very interesting. Air conditioned and nice restrooms. Children will love it. My husband says we should worry more about what is happening in the U.S. today rather than beings long dead...

Mammoth Site is a very interesting place to visit. Just the thought that mammoths lived here years ago was neat. They could drop the "million of years" assumptions that they promote as fact. But it is still a neat place to visit.

Wow. Just wow. This is the coolest working exhibit ever. Very well done and a must-see, especially for any kid who loves fossils and mammoths!

This is a recommendation we picked up while touring Black Hills, and the museum is really worth a visit. The program starts with a comprehensive video then a knowledgeable guide takes the group around the highlights. Then you are free to roam and get your photos. You also have access to a lab and an exhibition hall with findings from other sites.

Not all dinosaur/fossil/prehistoric sites are created equal. If you travel with kids you have been asked to stop at a lot of these types of sites. Some are great and some are horrible money grabs. This is one of the great ones. This is one your kids will talk about for years. If your kids are fans of the Pleistocene Age (Ice Age movies for instance), they will love this stop.

This is an ongoing paleontological dig site. There are paleontologists working here nearly every day and will interact/answer questions. Your visit starts with a short film that explains how the site came to be, how it was discovered, and their techniques for preserving the many specimens found here. The self-guided tour (a guide book is included) takes you in an oval around the dig site with signage and graphics to help explain what you are seeing. You have amazingly close access to wondrous specimens.

Took out granddaughter (7) to see the dig site & all the fossils. She was enthusiastic and enjoyed the dig site but by far, the best money we spent there was to do a “family dig.”
It is in a separate building with a/c & we found 2 large (12X12ish) boxes about 30” deep and they had anchored multiple casts of bones found in the dig site.
We were led by 2 college interns & were given tools and instruction on how to unearth fossils and then we were on to discovering mammoths ourselves. After our dig time was up, we followed our intern to the back, where we made casts of mammoth teeth as our souvenir.
Well worth the extra money.

Just enough learning to keep the younger kids interested and detailed enough to teach the Grandparents a few things too! Our guide was great it was her first week but she kept the tour going and answered questions throughout like a pro!

Fascinating to be able to see the fossils of the mammoths in the partially excavated pit. Not sure there's another place like this. Its work in progress so you can see what they are doing, esp if you take the outside tour. Worth a visit.

Really interesting
There are scientists there doing exploration even as we visited. Self guided tours only.

This was a great place to visit. We saw a short film to start with. We were there on a Sunday morning so the campers and adult archaeologists were not working. Our grandsons (11 &12) learned a lot. There are numbered sites where you can use a cell phone to learn about the different groups of bones. There was a museum in another area with dioramas and animals that had been preserved by a taxidermist. They also had activities in other areas for young children. We picnicked outside where there were picnic tables under the trees. We had to drive 2 hours from our hotel to see this, but it was definitely worth it.

This was an intriguing add to our agenda while in Rushmore area. I knew the kids (12 & 14 yo girls) wouldn’t be super excited but I needed to see it. This is an active dig site but because we went on a Sunday we didn’t see anyone working the sight. The evolution of this site (how the animals ended up here as well as the fact that this was discovered in the middle of a subdivision and the site was erected around it) was fascinating. The docents situated through the site (even on a Sunday) were very informative and able to answer many questions. They have a couple of hands on options for the younger kiddos that looked fun. Small snack shop outside was clean and had good options. Employees were very friendly. Overall glad we made the 60 min drive from Rushmore area (Hill City) for this morning trip. Stopped in Custer on the way back for lunch.

We all loved it. So interesting and informative. You need about 1.5 hours to go here. My kids wish this wasn't so far away so they could volunteer to "dig" in the summer.

Loved all of the information, I enjoyed the sites. Friendly staff. Would definitely come back and recommend it to others.

The Mammoth Site is a museum as well as an active dig site. The dig site has been beautifully enclosed to preserve the dig. You have to take a guided tour to access the site. The tour starts with a very short video which gives a nice overview as to how the dig was found, explains the process of how the bones are excavated and preserved, and what to expect on the tour. You are then given headsets to be able to hear the tour guide as he takes you on a tour of the actual dig site. Our guide was very informative and personable and welcomed questions. The site is absolutely amazing! To be able to see dozens of mammoth tusks and skeletons so well preserved is so incredible! After the tour which lasted about 45 minutes you are free to explore the site on your own and take as many pictures as you like. You then exit to a small museum which has excellent exhibits and provides more information about the mammoths. The museum is about a 45 minute drive south of Custer State Park and so very well worth it. Thank you to the developer who recognized the significance of his discovery when he was bulldozing for a development and thank you to those who continue to support this living, breathing piece of history!

In the summer of 1991, I joined up with an Earthwatch group and we were some of the very first volunteers to work on the dig. So much has been uncovered since we were there. It is such a terrific piece of history. I am very proud to have hand in working there. The visit dates below do not allow for 1991.

I learnds so much from this place. This is an ACTIVE archeological site. What a site to see young and not young working. Pictures are great be to be up-close-and- personal.

Well worth the trip. A beautifully excavated and displayed site. It has a great backstory, both in terms of how it was created and how it was discovered. I saw children and adults enjoying it equally. QR codes at several spots on the walkway gave access to clear explanations of what was in view. I just returned from a 7,400 mile road trip and, of the many amazing attractions we saw, this was my favorite.

We have visited the museum previously, but went again this year and booked an "advanced" paleontology dig for the kids, who are 11 and 13. I wouldn't recommend for kids any older, it is not a real dig but they did enjoy learning and the instructor kept their attention. Unfortunately, they did allow a young somewhat unruly 7-yr old child into the session and it did make the experience less enjoyable for my kids, who were there to learn. The museum itself is very interesting and it is fascinating to see real bones being unearthed.

So cool to see an active archeological dig in progress! I learned so much about the history of the Black Hills area and the ice age creatures found under the earth. The Mammoth Site is a must see if you’re in western South Dakota. The museum is great for any age.

Exposed serendipitously, at the beginning of a construction project. Recognized as a special place, halting further development. This is the largest collections of mammoths in the world. These animals got trapped in sinkhole. Their demise has given us great insights to the Black Hills and to their lives.
Unique, educational, and a continuing scholarly dig site.
Good for family and for adults.
Educational movie and guided tour with the admission cast.

Went in June 2023. This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen on a road trip. It's incredibly sad but to see these mammoths being unearthed and given attention is amazing. I very much recommend actually using the audio tour feature, as well.

Stopped on the way back from Mount Rushmore. Thought we’d spend a few minutes then be on our way. Over 60 mammoth’s in this active dig. All indoors with great walkways for up close viewing and perspectives. Knowledgeable paleontologist and interns everywhere, and each extremely friendly and anxious to share their knowledge. Hard to imagine anyone who could not get some enjoyment from visiting.

Our friends son (10) wasn't sure buy once he found a piece of the fossil he was hooked. It has been over 10 years since we were here and the facility is upgraded. Fin watching an active dig and not sweating!

My husband easily spent 2 hours here with our teens! If you love musuems it is a must to see. I even enjoyed it.

There are about 60 mammoths that have been discovered here & you can watch them being unearthed. If you are interested in mammoths there is no other place in the world to go to see what you can see here.

Really excellent site to glimpse back in history. It is mind boggling that an ancient sink hole captured so many animals. Great short stop.

We didn’t know what to expect and we were very pleased. Amazing to see mammoths where they died thousands of years ago. Audio guide was very informative.

Great and unique place. They discovered mammoth remains in 1974 and have preserved the site beautifully. They first show you a video explaining the site and how the mammoths got there. Than a guide takes you to the site which is a huge pit with mammoth fossils preserved very nicely. Great learning place for kids.

This place is amazing. It was really cool to be that close to mammoth bones. This is a gem in a small town in South Dakota. The gift shop is even reasonable priced.

This was a great experience. My oldest didn't want to leave and walked around three times. You start by watching a movie and then head into the room that houses the site. You actually get to walk around the site. There are lots of types of tours and you can even do some digging. Our age grouping prevented our family from doing a special tour/dig.

You get a booklet to take the tour and there are people all around to ask questions.

There are picnic tables to use outside as well.

This site is amazing. The tour guide (Christian) was very informative and entertaining. They provide ear buds so it is easy to hear every word clearly. We definitely recommend this as a stop for seniors as well as family groups.

Found this place on. Motel travel brochure. Spent about a hour touring an actual Monmouth dig site. You could walk around and up an over the site while work was being done. After you enjoy the actual dig, you enter a small museum which helps you better understand about the excavations in process. Enjoyable. Also, Hot springs itself has some very interesting commercial architecture.

Absolutely unique place with so many mammoth fossils. Well set up. Enjoyed a great tour. Special thanks to tourguide Christian! Made me feel very welcome and enjoyed his passionate guiding and helpful information a lot.

This place. Love it. Incredible views of the pit and bones. Great small museum also, gift shop and ways to support the great work. Very friendly to mobility impaired people, golf cart and wheelchair

REALLY worth the side trip from Rapid City area!
Especially if you have children!
Be sure to book the dig adventure for your children. They get to "dig" in a simulated mammoth dig site (really just a huge sandbox) and find mammoth bones. Sounds corny, but trust me, anyone under 12 gets totally sucked into it (and ok, some over 12, too!)
And the mammoth dig itself (the real one) is incredible. Totally enclosed in the museum and still active.

The first time I visited the Mammoth site it was a big hole in the ground with chain fence around it back in 1975 or 1976. Today it is a real educational site for the whole family. Our guide was really good information.

Interesting area. Self guided tour. Very interesting to see the archaeology that has and is taking place. Family was there over an hour looking at everything. A little gem off the beaten path.

Delightful introduction to paleontology focused on an actual live dig site (enclosed for its protection). The original site was a slick-sided pond that served as a trap for at least 60+ mammoths back in the day. The private organizations that controls the site does digging for a period of the summer, and then the rest of the year cataloging what was found. Meanwhile we visitors get to see the actual dig site and learn about it.

While a lot of the focus is on adults, there are activities and possibilities for kids, too. And, of course, a large gift shop.

Outside of the excellent narrative at the dig site, the curated displays adjoining it are interesting but disjointed, hit or miss on dozens of different topics, all of them intriguing, but with no through-line to tie them together.

I'm curious how this place develops, and expect to visit again if ever in Hot Springs.

The information about the site was very interesting. To know that so many bones are buried there and they have only gone down 20 feet, with much more to go. We were impressed with everything from the dig itself, the labs and the museum area. Learned so much we didn't know. If you want to volunteer to dig, give yourself more than 3 hours.

Such a cool place! I had no idea what to expect. Have to take a tour to go through the dig site. It was so awesome to be so close to fossils that are 140,000-190,000 years old. Wow!! This is a great tour for old and young alike. It’s an indoor working paleontological dig site. The tour takes about 90 minutes.

6 hours of driving to get here because I have wanted to see it since I was 10! We arrived at 5.30pm and had the place to ourselves. The entry includes a short video and explanation of why the site is there. We then went into the dig site which is full airconditoned and covered. Our tour guide was young and very enthusiastic. She could answer our questions and seemed to enjoy guiding people. The site is fascinating to say the least. Even the teenager liked it. We also bought a bag of "sluice material" which you wash outside. We picked a fossil one and it was very exciting to get sharks teeth and other fossils out. Lots of fun! Worth a visit with nice staff.

This was a stop that I was very interested in making when planning our road trip. It definitely lived up to our expectations! We loved the air conditioned room where the active dig site is housed and it was cool to see the different bones being dug up. Of the 61 mammoths in the site, only 2 have been dug up so there is still a lot of work to be done here.

We were able to bring our dogs (in their zipped up strollers), or at least we were not told to take them out. Hardly anyone wore masks in there, visitors or the people working on the site, so if you are worried about it, wear your mask!

The cost to enter the site is $12 per person which is reasonable. The gift shop has very cute mini lego type souvenirs of mammoths, bison and prairie dogs; my son got the mammoth and bison. It's a good place to spend about an hr out of the heat.

The Mammoth site is a pretty interesting place. There are a lot of bones to see and you could probably spend hours checking it all out. They are currently refreshing some of the exhibits, and they are actively digging at the site so there is a lot of change. Seems it's probably a good thing as everytime you go it will be different than the last time you were there.

We stopped here with our kids (10 and 7) and had a great time. The tours were well managed and our guide, Mackenzie, was really really great! We all learned so much!!! I highly recommend taking your kids here. We didn't utilize them, but there were picnic tables outside under large shady trees that would have been great for a picnic lunch or dinner.

Really glad we went there for the tour! Very informative tour guide. Fascinating fossil finds! Definitely a must see if you’re in the area.

The Mammoth Site provides a unique opportunity to tour an indoor archaeological dig. Over 60 mammoths have been discovered at this ancient sinkhole, dating back approximately 26,000 years. Many of them are partially dug and on display. There were scientists on site during our visit conducting digs with teams of students. It was interesting to watch their methods. They also have skeletal remains and other items in an adjoining museum. Finally, there is a large gift shop. I recommend a visit to The Mammoth Site.

This is one of the world's premier spot for mammoth excavation. It allows great opportunity to learn about mammoths and the area's past, too. Perfect for the whole family.

What a wonderful and enlightening museum! The mammoth site is the result of 60+ mammoths falling into a pond and being unable to escape. Now surrounded by a building and roof, the museum boasts a film, guides, and museum facts to enhance one's visit. Definitely worth a visit! (So great, we spent two hours there!)

If you visit Mount Rushmore, you must also visit The Mammoth Site. The Mammoth Site is an active archaeological dig in a facility. You can see parts of several Wooly Mammoth fossils still in the ground, being dug up. When entering the exhibit, go clockwise. The signage was low, and my wife and I walked the wrong way through the exhibit. QR codes are at several stations explaining the dig and can be read or listened to on a cell phone (no additional charge). They do offer a military and veteran discount.

Only because every tour book said we must visit and only because it was number 1 above the springs in Hot Springs did I think we needed to visit. Everyone in my group kind of questioned me when I said we were going here. However, everyone agreed after visiting that was a great attraction that they were glad we saw.

It is hard to prepare you for what you will see. It is a large active archeological dig site with literally dozens of Mammoth fossils. Because it is so large, it is climate controlled and under roof. Let me say it is a perfect visit like Wind Cave for a warm, sunny summer day.

Our group love learning about how the Mammoths got stuck here, even seeing their footprints in the layers of soil. We also learned the difference between Wholly and Columbian Mammoths and most of these were the larger Columbian. Anyways, it was simply a great exhibit that was comfortable and educational and really easy to visit. I highly recommend you stop here especially if you are thinking about skipping. There is no where else you can find this.

It was a great tour. Very informative and interesting. The dig is totally amazing. I've never seen anything like it.. It's a great place and our tour guide knew what she was talking about. We'll bring the grandchildren next time

Very cool way to show the site. Bones left where they were found and dug around. Very interesting for a history or nature person.

This was a fun place to visit. It was interesting to see an active dig site. Disappointed no one was digging during the time we were there. The tour was informative. Would recommend visiting.

This is pretty cool place. I noticed some bones pretty obvious what they were, but others were hard to visualize what they had been. Loved how I could see the layers in the dirt and how far back layers were. I appreciated the head sets for the tour so I could hang to the back out of the crowd but still hear the guide. Feel they could have more skeletons in the outer rooms and would be great if they could expand.

After an interesting (no, really!) informational video, we were taken on a tour of a working archeological dig. The chance to see the partially excavated remains of multiple mammoths and other ancient animals was truly uniques. Very worth a visit!

The Mammoth site was fascinating. However, the self-guided tour system needs some adjustments. The information provided during the self-guided tour was certainly interesting, but in order for an entire family to enjoy the commentary, each person needed to have the app downloaded on their own device and needed to use headphones during the tour. The audio will not play unless headphones are plugged in. When I questioned a young gentleman about this, he said, "headphones are available for purchase in the gift shop." After paying $48 for a family of four, I feel they could provide better options. I ended up reading the commentary aloud to our family so they too could get the most out of the experience. I likely would not pay that amount of money for a 1.5 hour self-guided tour.

We drove to Hot Springs specifically to go to this site. It was several hours drive away from where we were headed. Their website allowed us to book tickets for May 21st. When we arrived at the site we were told it wasn’t open until the next day. We were disappointed but thought no big deal, we will get a refund got our tickets. Except they refused to give us a refund. Stating that the website is run by a third party and we would have to call them. I consider that to get ridiculous! They wouldn’t take responsibility for a mistake that shouldn’t have happened! I wouldn’t give money to an organization who refuses to take responsibility for their mistake. I get that stuff sometimes happens in life and mistakes are made but they should have enough integrity to be responsible and fix the mistakes.

This place does not seem to get as much publicity as other attractions in the Black Hills, but I found it to be extremely informative and educational. A totally unique place to see an actual working archeological dig. Well worth a visit!

We weren’t originally going to come because it was an hour and a half from where we were staying. We were so glad we decided to visit because wow, what an incredible site this is. It is reasonably priced and you can either take guided tours or you can self-guide. I would recommend the guided tour as the guides are quite knowledgeable about the dig site and explain fully what exactly everything is you’re looking at. The guided tour ran about 45 minutes. We were then given time to explore on our own which is when we took our pictures and there is an adjacent museum exhibit featuring extinct bison skulls, Indigenous peoples artifacts, and other relevant displays. You can also take an elevator down to the laboratory where you can view scientists as they work to preserve and archive specimens. It’s all quite fascinating and absolutely worth the stop. I would highly recommend checking this site out!

What a fantastic site to visit and learn about how it was discovered and maintained. So much to see and learn about. I loved see everything that they had to offer.

We are on an extended RV trip of the west. we didn’t know this existed, when we checked into our place they told us about it. It is the one if the few live dig sites, of Mammoths in the world and includes over 60 mammoths!! It was a great 1-1.5 hour stop to learn a lot and be inspired.

This is a very cool site in terms of history and fossils, but is maybe a little on the boring side. While there are a TON of fossils to view, it's a rather small site and mammoths are about all you'll see. My 9 and 4 year old enjoyed it, but were bored quickly. The gem/fossil panning is worth the money and was the highlight of the trip. It was fully airconditioned and there were bathrooms readily accessible, along with ample SHADED parking. The cost to get in, while reasonable, wasn't worth what you got to see. All in all, though, not worth the drive from Rapid CIty.

My wife and I took the tour through this attraction, the price was very reasonable and the guide was excellent. You start off with a 10 min. movie about the site, then take a guided tour to see the bone digs. Very informative and fun.

Astonishing display of ice age fossils looking just as they were found in the earth - you literally stand in the midst of ancient history. The educational content is excellent, and the app for a self-guided tour very well done.
Do not miss this national treasure!

Unique opportunity to see an actual archeological site. Cool things that are real to see but it was much smaller than I thought. We spent 30 minutes there and that was enough.

If in the southern Black Hills, this location is a must! It is the jewel of hot springs. It allows you to see a number of different types of fossils.

It was interesting. Worth the visit. Clean and well maintained inside. I would say I was surprised it needed a lot of care around the grounds. Mowing etc. Need some kind of fences to cover exterior junk etc.

We spent a few hours going through the Mammoth Site. After paying admission we watched the short video then went into the dig room. This is a large room which covers the actual dig site and is still active. The self guided tour was nice - we could go at our own pace, stop and go over something again if we wanted and get plenty of pictures. And after finishing the loop you can go back and revisit areas or do the whole tour again if you’d like. From there you go into exhibit rooms with so much information on prehistoric animals and their life many millions of years ago. There is a hands on area which is especially fun for kids. And then you exit into the gift shop which has lots of fun and unique items. We found the information and the experience to be very enlightening.

We enjoyed the tour and the information from the guide about this site. It is awesome to see. It is well worth the time and the cost of the tour.

We were looking for things to do in the area while on vacation. This was a hidden surprise. They’ve done a great job by allowing visitors to see the site up close and the video is wonderful.

Excellent display of this dig site. Fun for the whole family. Display was full of great detail. Highly recommend.

We had never seen anything like this before. A building built over an amazing cache of mammoth skeletons! The walkway around the pit gave us great views of the dig site. Our only regret was that we could not participate in helping with the dig because of the time of year. What a treat it would have been to be able to touch this unbelievable cache of mammoth bones.

The self guided tour was planned out incredibly well! Tons of great information and a lot to see. Love the layout and accessibility of the site.

This was a cool place. It reminded me of dinosaur national monument. The dig site which was this time a watering hole vs a mud pit. I liked seeing the working dig. My son did the junior paleontology program. He thought it was great.

As truckers we pass this place often, and we have always wanted to stop by and see it. We finally got our chance when we did the "grand tour" of the Black Hills and the Badlands area.

We just loved it. It was informative, awe-inspiring, and educational. It is a "live" site, meaning that the experts are still hard at work (and will be for a long time) uncovering these mammoths and other animals, but there was plenty for the young'uns to see and do.

The only request(s) that I would make is, as a handicapped individual, I would like to see a bench of some sort at the bear exhibit so people could rest bad backs and knees after walking the first ramp. Secondly, when the front desk people check the handicapped in to please inform them about the elevator at the end of the 3rd tier of the excavation. We didn't find out about it until a kind lady took pity on my poor, out-of-breath hubby and pointed it out to him.

This is such an amazing find that I highly recommend a visit, both young and old alike.

Unreal! We had no idea that this place even existed. We were on a month long trip to National Parks and decided to stop. We came in mid May and it was not crowded at all. It’s an absolutely amazing place, and I highly recommend a visit. We spent about two hours looking at the site. make sure to read the story behind it and how it came to be!

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Mammoth Site with a 19 year old who has always been into Paleontology. Excellent tour that was long enough for those interested with lots of time for questions and short enough for younger or less interested folks. The interior of the site where the tour was performed was very impressive overall.

I have some future paleontologists on my hands. Sons 8 and 10. They loved learning about all the mammoth fossils at the Mammoth Site. I enrolled them in the Jr. Paleontology Program and it was well worth it. Great gift shop as well.

We were blown away by this spot, as we were under the impression there was only a few mammoth remains - try 60+ mammoths in entirety all found in this single location!

We loved our time at Mammoth Site at Hot Springs. It literally brought us from modern times to the ice age! We saw hundreds upon hundreds of ancient bones from both Mammoths and Colombian Mammoths and other ice age creatures. Our family was so interested to see the skeletons and the different displays. I recommend anybody to make the drive and see it sure it is far from Rapid City. It is worth it though in stimulating the imagination of how our home once was like during the ice age!

There's a good deal to like about the Mammoth Site. It was interesting to see professionals working the dig site. There was the usual tourist kitsch, but that's pretty much unavoidable. For younger visitors interested in fossils, the experience would be fantastic. Overall, the experience is more geared towards kids. We tagged along to watch the "dig" where staff salt sand with fossils for kids to find. The guide wasn't bad, but seemed to be phoning it in. We've seen far more enthusiastic docents. Overall, probably the best things to see in Hot Springs.

Recommended by friends who discovered this find a few years back.

Interesting site that shared so much history and hand's on knowledge of an active archaelogical dig made The Mammoth Site a reputable tourist attraction.

Facilities were basic, with focus on artifacts. Enclosed exhibits could use some polishing.

When you first walk in, you'll get nervous that there's not enough to see and you've made a grave vacation mistake. Not true. I will say that it's not great for preschool and under. It's a bit of reading with a lot of visuals. School age children and up should be fine, especially if they like animals and paleontology.
The opening video is very informative and completely worth the 10 minutes of sitting in the beginning. Don't skip it.

Fascinating! They give you earphones that are painful, but it is the best way to hear the tour guide. After he or she has taken you thru the site you are welcome to spend as much time looking and taking photos. There is a museum in another room off the dig site. We spent about 3 hours total, most people probably spend only a couple hours - if that.

I guess this place would be more interesting if you had degree or interest in digs. Some useful information and displays.

Guided tours of this facility are worth the stop! The story behind the dig, the site itself - all fascinating! If you are into archeology, biology, or history in general, go see it.

This was a very interesting stop. How often do you get to see a live archeological dig taking place? Everyone in my family enjoyed it. The video at the beginning is important to watch beforehand.

Simply awesome.watch archeologists at work. Read and listen to explanations of mammoths who once walked in this area, see their bones!

One of our favorite stops during our trip out west! What an interesting, rare site this is. The film was so informative and we could not believe the site once we proceeded there after the film.

Thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Mammoth Site. Watching the archeologists work and seeing what they have uncovered is amazing.

This place is amazing. We found this while exploring south west South Dakota and were very happy. This is the site of an amazing discovery of mammoth bones which are still being excavated. The entire facility is inside a real nice building. It includes a movie, the dig site, a museum and gift shop. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The price was reasonable.

Very well organized with an easily accessible tour if you have a phone. The dig is a work in progress - and is still discovering new fossils. Definitely worth a visit!

While a bit of a trek from Rapid City, it is worth the trip especially if you have any kid interested in Dinosaurs. Cool site that is an active dig site. Very interesting history, bones and the whole thing is neat. They do have extra activities for a fee for younger kids. Older ones if interested in this topic, will enjoy the museum as well. So glad we got to do this visit. It does take roughly little over an hour to tour the site.

This site is houses the remains of more than 60 male Columbian and Wolly mammoths. This is an active paleontological dig, so chances are you will see scientists working while you are there. Plan on spending an hour. There is a 10-minute video explaining how these remains came to be there. Then you will move through a self-guided audio tour, explaining what you are looking at in the site. This is a great way to spend a hot afternoon!

This is a great destination if you’re really into fossils and mammoths. My wife and I went and it’s really geared towards children. It would have been excellent if either of our kids were 8-12 years old. When we have grandchildren, we will definitely come back

This was a highpoint of our trip. It is an on-going dig that is uncovering dozens of Wooley Mammoth and Columbian Mammoth bones. It is all-enclosed in a large building built to enclose the site. Very informative workers and interns to explain everything. There are junior programs available for both younger and older kids. Fascinating!

We enjoyed our visit and learned a lot. Excellent social distancing and I appreciated the staff in masks. My daughter really enjoyed the dig site.

Very interesting to learn more about the mammoths, see all the skeletons, and learn about the process used to uncover and preserve them. Amazing to see how big they were.

We enjoyed our stop at the site while traveling through SD. The QR code self paced information made it easy to spend as much time as preferred in each area. So many fascinating things to read, look at, and discover.

We went there by chance as we were visiting Mt Rushmore as part of our tour of the Midwest. It was well worth the trip and the staff and guide were excellent. There were videos to watch too that were fascinating. Good for all ages.
G. Stevens. From UK.

What a fascinating piece of history dating back to 190,000 yrs ago! The story of the site and seeing the bones is mind-boggling! So glad we stopped, would highly recommend this stop to your South Dakota trip! Well worth it! All inside too so no worries with the weather!

We really enjoyed this exhibition. We did the Self Guide Tour with many displays and explanations. The film about this area was also very revealing and well explained. It makes sense to allow enough time, since questions can also be asked during the excavation itself. The comparison to today's elephants was also interesting.

We visited Hot Springs to see the Mammoth Site. Price of admittance is reasonable. The best part for us was that they had a free kennel for our large dog that traveling with us (his first "road trip"). The kennel was in the shade which is nice for a very hot day. It had a raised bed and lots of water. If your dog can be carried, you can take it inside the airconditioned facility.

This is a one-of-a-kind hidden gem, and a must stop. Definitely see the intro movie which I thought was wonderfully done and illustrated what you're about to see very nicely. You'll probably not see anything quite like this anywhere else. Highly recommend spending an hour or two here.

The site is very unique. How often in your life are you going to see a dig site? Imagine finding a couple treasures digging in your backyard to build a pool and instead of digging them all up, deciding to construct a building around it to protect it. I am trying to paint a picture of the scale of this thing but you really have to see it in person. At first, you may just see a pile of dirt and bones and want to rush and be mad you paid money to see dirt and bones and walk out but stop, breathe, read the signs, look at the details and think about what you are looking at, what happened here, then look again with fresh eyes. After the dig portion, the museum portion has various bones and info for comparison. Some of this info is in the dig portion, such as the different species of living elephants and extinct ones. Massive mammals. The museum portion has some hands on stuff that kids may enjoy. (I marked travelled as solo because there's no family option w/o children. Some of us drive around our senior parents. That's family last time I checked.)

We had a group of all adults and we still loved going. It was so informative and we loved the free guided tour provided through the QR codes. We really didn't know very much about mammoths prior to our visit and though the museum did a phenomenal job of explaining everything. We would certainly return should we ever go back to this area.

This is very well managed location close to Hot Springs. The short 411 is they could have turned this into another housing development instead we may find out more about early America on this site than many more famous locations

This place is set up in a building with walk-ways above, around, and through the actual working dig site. Great written and audio recordings explaining the genesis of the site and what you are looking at as well as many other displays explaining the geologic history of the site though millions of years.

There was a small fresh water pond millions of years ago. So many animals slipped into the pool and couldn't get out.
The skeletons of the mammoths is astounding.
The QR codes work very well with short explanations if you are able to access it with your phone.
Highly recommended.

This was an unexpectedly fun stop. For younger kids the junior paleontologist program is a must, our 5year old has been talking about how much she loves it for days.
The site itself is interesting, lots of great information and neat to see the paleontologists actively working at the site. Not an all day stop but a nice morning visit for us, with the jr paleontologist program and the self guided tour we were there for about 2 hours

Incredible to see an actual dig site, impressive extensive mammoth remains, easy to follow explanation of site before going in and getting to see first hand the progress of the dig. Individual head sets for easy to follow tour with real guide. We appreciated the extra time to explore the site on our own after the tour. Nice gift shop as well.

The first mammoth was discovered by accident in 1974. It has grown significantly as more mammoths have been uncovered. Fun fact: all the mammoths are male. You can listen to details of specific sites on your phone. Photos are allowed. We spent 2 hours here and really enjoyed this aspect of history.

My son loves paleontology. He was so mesmerized by the site. Getting to watch the workers actually working on the dig site was amazing. There is so many things to see it is really incredible.

A wonderful place to visit if you enjoy learning about history. It was so interesting to see all of the mammoth bones still in the ground and learn what researchers feel happened to them. We had a really enjoyable visit.

Interesting and fact filled adventure of a time long ago when Mammoths and other creatures, some of which are still around today and others that are extinct roamed the area.

Definitely do the atlatl throwing and paleontologist dig for kids! Mammoth site was fun to see and a must do in the area.

Stopped here since our at Custer State Park. Interesting history but smaller than expected. Did have a ton of fossils to view so if you have interest in the history of fossils and wooly mammoths, this is worth the stop. We got through it in about 30 minutes.

We weren't sure what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. This place has a lot of great information and I actually learned quite a few things in the short time I visited. The movie is excellent and to see the dig site and the size of the tusks and bones was unreal. We were impressed. The gift shop is nice too. Overall very happy with our visit! The only thing that I would say in criticism is regarding the admission price for kids, maybe lower the price for kids/students. It was expensive for a family of 4 with teens. Loved the place though.

This place is just amazing. The site is still being worked and I'd say they have probably only dug into it less than half way. They have found over 100 different Mammoths that had fallen into this water hole. Also, several other animals of that period of time. The tour is definitely worth seeing.

This was very much worth the trip down from Mt. Rushmore area. Very interesting displays, very good movie explaining the area and the Why and How of things, and they're still actively digging and preserving and researching on the site which made it interesting to watch and see the progress they've made on the animals and different areas. We also had a nice little lunch in the parking lot at picnic tables that were set up. I would plan about 1/2 a day for this...have some breakfast wherever you are, drive down to see this (take about 2 hours inside)...pack a lunch and eat out in the breeze and shade...then go to another Black Hills adventure like Mt. Rushmore or one of the Caves in the area. Well worth the trip, and the money to see and support this.

Visited with a tour group. Katy, from The Mammoth Site, is an excellent person to tell you about what is happening in the pit. "The pit" is where they continue to search for bones from centuries ago. The actual pit is the biggest part of the museum, and you will likely see people working in it while you are there. This is a live dig site that they built a " museum" around. Very interesting and amazing.

This museum came about by accident when a developer discovered a mammoth bone with his bulldozer! Thank goodness he recognized the treasure he had unearthed! This is the only accredited museum in the state and still a dig in progress with scientists on site. There is a guided tour that starts with a movie and then moves into an amazing space filled with bones. Our guide was very informative and encouraged questions. There was lots of time for photos and after the guided tour, visitors could roam stay to look more closely at the incredible bones and partial skeletons of the animals that perished in a sinkhole in the distant past. This was a very interesting and informative tour of a place I hope to visit again!

Our Road Scholar group enjoyed our guided tour of the dig site and the lab at Mammoth Site of Hot Springs. Road Scholar offers another program in which participants have the opportunity to provide hands-on help to the staff. We hope to come back for that program.

This was an amazing tour for Americans to learn about these mammoths that lived and died 140,000 years ago. I had no idea about the 2 types of mammoths living in America until today: Columbian and Wooly mammoths.

They offer a guided tour of the site and you are instructed about the area, the sink hole and how the mammoths fell into the “lake” and drowned. If you are taking a tour ask for Christian’s group. He’s the best and makes the tour educational, interesting and fun.

Cost is more than reasonable.

Turns out this is a must see in my mind. I had no idea it would be so interesting. Bones being dug out everywhere. The intro movie and display signs were very informative. Nice displays. Large, well stocked gift shop. Would absolutely go here with kids.

We stopped here on our way home and were so glad we did! The self guided tour is very informative. So impressive to be at real archeological dig. Our group of 5 had ages ranging from 20's to 60 and all agreed it was a highlight of our trip.

Unique, a perfect stop on a cloudy grey day after going to Mount Rushmore. Very interesting history of this site and how it came to be. Who would have guessed there would an active indoor archeological dig you can visit. Great displays and very educational.

Despite being indoors it is big an airy and the staff all wore masks including the folks doing the digging. We were able to chat with them to better understand what was going on.

Definitely worth the detour.

The introductory video first gives you insight of what to expect, but it’s the gravitas of the dig site itself that really brings it to life. I found the site not only to be well documented as you travel around it, but visually stunning. Watching the paleontologists work was another highlight. If you have a chance to ask them some questions, you’ll find them a wealth of information.

We took the museum tour and learned a great deal about the mammoths and other animals of that era. First there was a short video on how the pit was formed. Then a trip to the indoor excavation area. There was no active excavation going on during our visit but what they have uncovered in the pit to date is extraordinary. Our tour guide Oliver was very informative and friendly. Awesome way to spend 1-2 hours. Highly recommend this museum. Nice gift shop for the budding paleontologists in your family.

The was such a cool experience! We were able to speak to a person working at the site. He's been there 15 years! The museum part was really cool, too. Highly recommend a stop when you are in the area.

Definitely recommend this tourist attraction. Well worth the money. When you first arrive, you watch a 10 minute video that gives good background information. Then you go into the building with the archaeological dig and it is so neat to see! I mean, how often do you get to get up and close to REAL LIVE fossils that are being pulled out of the ground as we speak?!
We spent maybe 1-1/2 to 2 hours there. It’s the perfect thing to do when it’s raining as it is all indoors.
Put this one on your list of places to go while visiting South Dakota.

They offered a wonderful event for kids to experience - kids actually took off socks to be on the soil to dig with special tools that real paleontologists use.
It was such a fun and educational session to get their hands on the site to learn how patiently and gently paleontologists work on site. Great program and highly recommended for those who are with young children.

Pictures don't do this place justice. It's incredible to see and learn about this phenomenal find in 1974. Walking around and seeing the actual place where fossils were found and seeing them as they lay was incredible! Don't skip this if you are in SW South Dakota!

This was an amazing site. I was absolutely fascinated with the work they are doing here. My wife spoke with one of the volunteer paleontologists and she had been working on one little spot for the last eight years. They are carefully recovering a part of history with a long way to go. Many interesting exhibits and history of the eras of history and the animals who evolved through time. This would be a must-see for with natural science curiosity.

decided to stop here as we passed through driving up to the black hills area. Based on some reviews and the "awards" thought it would be better. Maybe in the pre-covid time it was. Now its slightly boring. The video presentation at the beginning is good to help get an understanding of what exactly took place before this current building was here. They dont give a tour anymore, you have to download an app, have a smartphone and headset. Not exactly practical for a family. I guess if everyone had their own phone it would be ok. Just look at the bones, walk in a circle, and then move to the next room to learn about bison, Buffalo and some rocks. It was fine to get out a bit and stretch our legs but I wouldn't go back. I dont think I would recommend families spending money here either unless there was some particular interest in this subject.

Calling all geeks and nerds! If you, like me, have (since Jurassic Park) wanted to visit an actual working archeological dig, then this is the place for you.
So much information on this self guided tour - you can be in and out in maybe an hour and a half, or you can enjoy all of the books and crannies and hang out for three hours - your choice. Cute gift shop, too :)
Highly recommend

Excellent learning experience! Great place to do research for a school project. Since my visit was for graduate school research, the Super 8 across the street was a perfect location. I just walked out the front door and there was a path to the museum, right there. The grounds are rustic and nice for a walk, too. It's an open air, country location, not right in town, with mountain views, which my partner and I found perfect for a romantic getaway, as well. A nice wooly mammoth themed restaurant made the trip perfect for double duty as a couple's weekend and research trip. In the gift shop, I was glad to find samples of various types of rocks found locally, especially since my teacher demanded I, "bring the whole class back some rose quartz." Thankfully, I could do that conveniently and affordably, right there at the museum! They sell a cool activity I brought back for the class, different types of rocks for under $10 a large bag, and a laminated, illustrated identification chart for a quarter a chart. I will be handing out rocks and each student can classify their rock. The polished rocks can be found, in the rough, all over the ground at the site, so it is a good way to share a little bit of my experience, and a good ice breaker before I launch into the large prehistoric animal facts. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff, and many good things to see. My partner loves large animals and found the experience fascinating, even with no particular interest in geology or anthropology. I used to teach grade school, and think kids would love the museum, too!

this is a must see. i admire the original owner of the land and his son for realizing the value of the find and making sure that the right thing was done to preserve all of it. this is an active dig site that is housed in a building with other scientific displays. there are 61 mammoths at the site. we enjoyed this so much. were glad we were able to experience it.

Beautiful
Wonderful experience in a small and very natural environment. Very nice staff. Good vibes and a nourishing polarity session. Will be back!

This attraction is loaded with history of the area and about mammoths. There is a brief video and self guided tour of the active dig area. The whole family enjoyed learning something new. You can get around in about 30 mins if you are rushing but it took us close to an hour to get into some detail.

This is a really nice museum, and very impressive that it’s pulled off with private funding. Kudos to the businessman who recognized its significance and didn’t hesitate to change his development plans. It is definitely a worthwhile stop for young and old.

We had planned a stop here on our long road trip despite knowing nothing about the place. It turned out to be an excellent place comprising an actual excavation site of woolly mammoths for millions of years ago. A short film informs you of the history and then you get onto the site itself. It’s all under cover so it’s an all-weather attraction. The site is over a few levels and you get very close to the actual excavation. There are also plaster casts of items which have been removed and some good dinosaur skeletons on display. It is very well done.

Take the time to visit, well worth your time. You really learn alot obout the mamoth's are other animals of that time period. Very interesting!!

A tour of this site is pretty unique in that you can see close up where excavation has revealed the presence of numerous mammoths. Excavation continues. The narrated tour, with earbuds, is professionally presented in layman's terms. There is a small gift shop.

This will be the Closest you will ever be to a mammoth on this ongoing dig. You can join in if you wish, too! We had a great afternoon and the movie gives really good information on geology and a timeline.
Kids will love it, and we adults will become kids again! 😊

Really enjoyed the viewing of the active dig site. Good introductory 10 min video, set the stage well. Some fun activities for the kids to do too.

Interesting site to stop by if you are in the area. Good for kids nicely preserved excavation that is continuing. Educational with restrooms and small snack shop and picnic area.

The message is- stay away from sinkholes. Seeing million +animals preserved in this sinkhole was am amazing way to understand what happened to them. It was enlightening.

It was neat but I felt like the cost was a lot for what it was. Good hour stop if your in the area. Went with 3 teenagers and they liked it.

We enjoyed our visit to Mammoth Site. Very interesting history and staff were friendly. We spent about 1-1.5 hours here. Good for both adults and children.

This is an actual dig site for mammoths. It is entirely indoors. You walk along the ramp which encircles the dig site. There are various bones that you can see that are impressive, especially for children. There are a couple other exhibits, plus a gift shop, but no food.

We enjoyed our time here which was very informative and educational. Great option if the weather is less than ideal.

I had no idea what this was, but went along by my friend wanted to go. Very pleasant location, interesting tour, wonderful guide (Chris). I would very much recommend this!!

Excellent guided tour and information about Mammoths and the many other extinct creatures that roamed the earth thousands of years ago. This site has an exceptionally good video explaining how Mammoth bones got to the location in a hill when it was originally a lake. It made it easier to visualize life so long ago.
The staff was very friendly and very willing to answer any questions asked during the tour. Would visit again if we travel to South Dakota again.

Very knowledgeable docents. Watch the short movie to understand how the mammoths got there. It was neat to see the dig still in progress. Lots of hands on stuff for adults and kids. Bring earbuds if you want to download the self tour app. Would recommend.

If you or your kids are into fossils and dinosaurs this is a must see if you travel out west! This place is amazing and has tons of fossils that you can see up close as it's actually an active dig site to this day! You can walk through and watch them at work trying to meticulously chip away to make new discoveries all the time!

One of the reviews said allow 2-3 hours. Not sure what they were doing, but 1 -1 1/2 hours would be sufficient, unless it's busy I guess. It wasn't when I was there.
Amazing original bones and be sure to watch the video first.

It is great to see all those intact fossils but there were too many visitors which took away from the experience. Ashfall Fossil site is much better.

Who would have guessed there’s a pit of 60 mammoth bones in SD? I learned a lot here, and seeing these massive fossils up close was amazing.

Took our kiddos here and had a wonderful time! Staff was great, tour was very informative and the kids dug it! We all had a great time and will definitely will be back!

This was quite simply spectacular! Very informative and the resident “digger” was full of knowledge and willing to share. This is certainly a DO NOT MISS stop when in the area.

We signed two grandkids up for the Jr. Pakeontologist program and they loved it. It was definitely worth the money. We had no idea such a place even existed.

This is an amazing place. You can use your phone or read a self-guide brochure to learn as you tour the facility. They built the building over the sinkhole that doomed all the mammoths so they can actively dig and protect the site. It is a great place to bring kids they had exhibits with things for kids to touch and staff to teach them. The site and the mammoth bones are so unreal its hard to leave. They also have another room with exhibits of other animals in the area. The gift shop was also very nice with a good selection of gifts. They also have some fun activities for the kids outside for an extra charge. The day we were there they had archery and gold panning. I wish my grandchildren were with us.

Learned a bit about the mammoth situation in the area. Rates and souvenir prices are reasonable. Even enjoyed an outdoor 'chemistry' exhibit.

Just been to Natural History Museum in New York and saw things which reminded me of your facility.
What a surprise it was when we walked in!
We had no idea you were built over such a find.
An unbelievable experience to see skeletons of ancient mammoths, many in situ and not removed from their resting place.

I don't understand why this venue is not better known.

Whilst we left donations at the time, I fully understand these brilliant venues need additional income and I'm sure there must have been Discovery programmes and the like involved, but I have never seen anything in the UK.

I've explained to many people of our visit but no one had heard of you.

I hope you can get greater funding and a wider international audience as you are certainly a treasure to keep.

Wishing you every continued success.

Wayne Evans

Wales

UK

I think that they could have done a much better job with this. There is so much potential for the interactive experience that this could have been.

This by far was one of my family's favorite places we visited. My 7 yr old did the jr archeologist program which he loved (they will be in the dirt digging. It was dey so we were able to brush it off of his shorts, socks and shoes). The dig site itself is amazing to see and so interesting. We learned a lit while we were here. Compared to the cost of many other activities this is such a good value. We didnt make it to the fossil museum nearby because we spent so much time here. Oh and definitely buy the bag of dirt with either fossils, gem stones or both. We bought the bag with both and had so much fun putting it through the slew to rinse it off and discover our treasures. My sons favorite were the shark teeth he found in it. My husband's favorite were the arrowheads we found. Lol

Such an amazing experience to see! They are still actively uncovering the bones of the mammoths and you get to watch people working on it!! We spent a lot of time here and we talked with Bruce for a very long time! He is a retired astrophysics scientist that is currently helping with the dig. He showed us many of the cool bones being uncovered and explained about the sediment that the animals sunk in with the hot spring! If you get a chance ask for Bruce He will teach you so much!!

I went there based on a recommendation. I was not disappointed. Laid it to be so educational and it was. Worth the admission price.

We visited in June 2020, and spent time at the site, as well as had the kids do the Jr. Paleontology dig, digging for the mammoth replicas they buried. It was very enjoyable - we highly recommend this!

Unexpected surprise!!!! Went to this event with a Road Scholar group. I never knew this place even existed. Finding a place where active digging is still done - and by amateurs (even kids) is fascinating.

This was out second visit with grandchildren. The first time was on a weekend when no activity was going on. We purposely went on a rainy weekday this time. It was very informative.

This a very interesting detailed tour of the site. Use the QR codes to hear all the facts and how this was created. Wonderful for children.

Amazing Fossil site for the young and grown-up s alike. Convenient times. Still an active dig site and very informative.

This was really interesting. The dig site has people still uncovering bones. It is very inexpensive and a great place to visit during COVID-19 because it was not crowded and everyone social distanced.

We came here as a family with a 4.5 and 2.5 year olds. Everything was great. The older did the jr paleontology program and LOVED it, she keeps telling everyone how she found a tusk. Near the gift shop they had a kid cove with special toys and digging for smaller kids which the little one loved.

The actual dig site was great to see, and very cool. Including literally as it has AC which was nice on a hot summer day.

The kids also did the gem stone panning they had which they enjoyed.

We would recommend this to other families, and any adults with an interest in paleontology. You could see the whole thing in an hour, but with older kids I could see being here for several hours (we were here about 2, 2.5 hrs or so)

Traveling with two tween girls, we spent 6+ hours at the site. We started with the dig and ended with an atlatl class. Both classes were great (nice price-point too!). Very different - a dig that "felt" real and they found huge bones, then atlatl spear-throwing. Between the classes, we explored the bonebed, taking much longer than I expected. I felt it was a good learning experience - neat to see the bones in situ. There were self-guided explanations (with your phone). We ate at the cafe (disappointing, but fine). My kids tend to spend much longer than other kids, so I wouldn't recommend budgeting this much time. If you register tyour kids for one of the classes + touring the site, I'd allow 2-3 hours.

Fascinating place to visit and learn about. Great workers and volunteers. Definitely recommend as stop for adults and children.

The mammoths were here! Roaming the earth right were we are standing now! Tour really explains what you are seeing and puts every thing in perspective. If you haven't had enough, explore the museum for more.

This was our 2nd time visiting the Mammoth Site. We have learned something new each time. It was also a great surprise that the exhibit hall was remodeled with 2 new hands-on exhibits for kids to learn more about water flow and elevation! We will be coming back.

The dig site is INCREDIBLE!! Take the phone based guided tour and prepare to be blown away. Explain the info to younger kids to keep them engaged. Discovered in ‘74 and what a high density dig site. 61 mammoths at various level of exposure in an area smaller than a high school gym.

Good display of tools and replica bones. Hands on activities for the younger kids. Nice gift shop. Talk to trained volunteers digging and cleaning artifacts.

Unplanned highlight of our week in the Black Hills!

My family of four visited this place recently and were very impressed. Very well done and educational for kids and adults. Fascinating presentation of the fossil site by well educated guides made for a nice 1-2 hour visit. Both of my children (ages 11 & 14) are in to geology/fossils and were very enthralled with this place. Highly recommend!

Do you like history about mammoths? Would you love to see a dig site up close and personal? Would you love to participate in a dig? Well if you answered yes to any of these questions, visit The Mammoth Site and you could fulfill all of those dreams. Of. Purse there is an entrance fee to enter the dig site, that’s a form of supporting the dig! The Mammoth Site is all about a sink hole filled with Mammoth remains and other animals that got caught in the sink hole. It is an active site that you can tour! There are classes held that invite volunteers to join in the dig!!! Lots of history is presented, you can take as many pictures as you want, wander in approved areas as long as you want. We had a great time. They have a nice souvenir shop as well and it is open a pretty good range of hours. Dinosaur buffs should also enjoy it even though it is all about mammoths! See footprints left behind in the sediment, marvel at just how big these animals were.

This place is cool. If you have a little one who likes science or dinosaurs, bring them here. I had no idea what I was in for when my wife told me we were coming here. This is an indoor attraction which is impressive in scale and quality. There are preserved mammoth bones inside the bone enclosure. The video beforehand is educational and just the right length.

Mammoth site was excellent. It was inside a building to protect it and visitors/workers from the weather. the guides were very informative and entertaining. The displays were good. The actual sinkhole was really terrific. The fossils were laying in the same position that they were found. The site is worked in the summer and the winter is spent cataloging the finds. But it's nice to visit all year.

They built a building around the entire sink hole where the mammoth skeletons were originally found and are being excavated and studied. Very informative exhibit.

Get the free audio guide to help you around the place.

Granddaughter signed up for an 'atlatl' (spear-chucking) class which was good fun.

I stayed in Hot Springs, SD specifically so I could go see the Mammoth Site, and it did not disappoint. If you have a smartphone, you can read or listen to the tour on their site, which really added to the experience and gave a lot of information. All the signs and displays also were very informative. It wasn't crowded when I visited so there was no waiting to see or read anything which was nice. Seeing the real mammoth bones in the dig site is really an incredible and kind of surreal experience. I probably spent about 2.5 hours there . Highly recommend!

This is a very interesting and educational exhibit, especially if you’re interested in history, geology or are just a fan of things relating to the dinosaur era. There’s a short introductory film that lasts about 15 minutes and plays on a loop. The exhibit shows you just how the bones are laid out. It’s easy to navigate and is handicap—accessible. There is audio for a self-guided tour if you wish. There’s an exhibit beyond the gift shop that has more specimens to see. It offers more history of bison in North America. Plan to spend minimum one hour and probably more.

Spectacular preservation and on going research at the dig site. Amazing to see the size of the Mammoth. Well worth the trip.

This is such a unique stop and often missed by travelers to the Black Hills. The beauty of it is that whether you are an adult or a child, a scientist or a neophyte, you will find this site rewarding. You will learn something and have fun. I fact, many young kids have been inspired to pursue paleontology or related sciences because of their childhood visit to the Mammoth Site. Make the detour; hours are generous, price is right. You won’t regret it.

We dedicated several hours to looking at the exhibits at the Mammoth Site and strolling through the excavation area. If you are interested in ancient history, this is one cool place.

Simply amazing, interesting and well worth your time
The staff love their jobs and are very knowledgeable

This was a disappointing stop. We went during covid so the tours aren't live, you need a phone with headphones to get the app and play the tour. Luckily we had tablets for the kids so all four of us could listen. The front desk person was so unhelpful. Two couples ahead of us had no idea about the tours and app and he didn't mention it. He didn't give any of us directions about where to watch the movie- we just figured it out by walking around. Once we entered in the "dig site" we all went the wrong way and noone told us so about half way through, we figured out there is a number system to follow. One guy talked to the interns the entire time so we just walked around on our own and looked. So so so disappointing for the price of the tour.
Its somewhat interesting that the mammoth site is there but its such a bland place and tourist trap. My 9 yr old is knowledgable about dinosaurs which is why we took him and my 6 yr old didn't get it. Plus because we were all listening with headphones, we weren't really interacting. Will not go back.
3 stars just because its an institution in hot springs and people ask if you went so its something to cross off your list. but definitely don't feel bad if you don't get there and don't drive far just for this one attraction.

This is an active dig of mammoths that used to inhabit the area of the southern Black Hills. The dig is indoors, so it can be visited anytime of year under any weather. Kids will enjoy a hands-on activity. Nice gift store.

If you like dinosaurs or archeology, this is the place for you! An active dig under roof that reveals the remains of 62 mammoths uncovered to date! See a full skeleton of one of the huge Colombian mammoths, along with a short-faced bear, unearthed in this pre-historic sink-hole. You can visit the Boneyard (dig site) and talk to a volunteer paleontologist about the dig, the museum displays, and the working lab in the lower level. There are activities for children as well. Worth the stop!

Frankly, we were disappointed in this attraction. We did not agree with the time frame they dated remains. There wasn't much to view, so if you do go not much time needed. We do not recommend this site. Better time spent at other attractions.

Our family visited the Site 20 years ago and again this year. Great both times and now you can walk both around and over the site.

The bone bed is amazing! It’s an active research dig site with 61 mammoths found so far. Colombian and woolly mammoths. Highly recommend

Educational and intriguing. We started out getting a video on how they believe this site was created, then went on the tour. The tour did a good job pointing to the areas in the pit that were discussed in the video so it felt very cohesive. It was just the right amount of interactive / listening to keep our attention.

If I had this to do over again, I would have come earlier to dig at the site, but we missed that experience.

We loved buying the bag of rocks and panning them out in front of the museum. It was a great way to end our visit.

We stopped here not quite knowing what to expected and were pleasantly surprised with the experience. We had our 2 young kids and they loved seeing the mammoth bones in the dig site. The introductory film was also perfect for their attention span and was very educational. They also like the other exhibits in the other hall. The adults also found it interesting with the circumstances to what created this history. Well worth the stop and very reasonably priced, a must do if you are in the area.

This site is very educational. The self-guided tour takes you back into prehistoric time. Interesting and educational.

Very interesting active dig site. Over 60 Mammoths have been found to date. Site discovered in 1974 during excavations/grading for a housing project. This was once a water hole with a slippery bottom, that trapped them and so far 87 others including camels, llamas, a bear, and many rodents and rabbits. One Mammoth that was found "Napoleon Bone-A-Part" died approximately 190,000 years go!

This is a terrific museum to visit for everyone - you don't normally get to see fossils still in the ground, and especially so many! Such a treasure for scientists and visitors alike. Highly recommend.

This is excellant for young and old. My grandchildren had visited it before and recommended it. We watched the film then took the tour. You can even participate in the dig.Plan to visit!

So glad we stopped. Excellent guided tour, approximately one hour with intro video. Large gift shop. They offer military discount-thanks.

We visited here on our last day in South Dakota. This visit was kind of a last minute decision. It’s amazing to see how many mammoth remains are at this spot. The entire site is in an enclosed building. In an area of about 200 feet by 100 feet they have found the remains of 61 mammoths! Also, they still have another 45 feet of depth in which they continue to dig. You get to walk around and see many of the remains still in place.

The Mammoth Site was not a top attraction on my trip list. I didn't have any clear expectations upon arrival, but I'm sure glad we went. This is a real archeological dig site under a roof. After watching a very good video presentation, we entered the dig room. I'm thankful that another tourist explained how a smart phone can be used to scan a QR code to access a site for each stop in the facility. Visitors may either read the information on the phone or play the audio which is what we chose to do. We recommend doing this since it adds so much more to the experience rather than just walking thru. After making the most of the large dig room, we spent a little time in the display area in the next room.

While vacationing in South Dakota, doing the usual top ten items, we are so glad a national park ranger mentioned this place. We came here on a rainy day, which was perfect! Really enjoyed the great short film, very well put together and informative. It kind of set the stage for the rest of the visit in person.

The dig site is massive. Because of the sink hole, so many mammoths were trapped here eons ago. You get an up close look at the area. So many details to focus on, explanations were excellent. We got to see ongoing effort to excavate more bones. There were two mammoths that made for great photographs.

The gift shop was very grand too. Overall an amazing experience not to be missed. Definitely not a tourist trap!

This was such a cool experience. I've never seen anything like it before. A real dig site, turned museum. Is it a tourist trap? A little, but at the same time, it's also educational, exciting, and science in real life. Would recommend!

Kind of cool to see and hear about this big former pit, and an exciting place to see many fossils, but it kind of got old. Wish it had more signs instead of QR code things to scan on the phone. Cool to do once, but not a thing I’d go back to do again.

This place is so neat! Very easy to navigate if you watch the short film first. An amazing display. Extremely well done. Kids would do well here (didn’t have any with me) because you can get all you need in an hour.

We had been driving past this site for years saying one of these days we need to stop. Well finally that day came and we stopped. We are so happy we did! The dig site is amazing in every way! I highly recommend stopping on your way to Custer or wherever. We are planning another trip to SD and this is going to be our first destination!

A wonderful site, full of (old) things to see. The tour was led by a well -informed young man who went off afterwards to research the answers to questions outwith his knowledge.
Leaving the bones where they were found increases the impact and even if archaeology is not your thing you really must visit if you are in the area.

We visited with a Road Scholar group of 28 members and were blown away by the immense size and history of this place. None of us had ever heard of it! 62 mammoth skeletons have already been partially or wholly excavated, and the painstaking work will continue for years to come. We had an excellent private guide who took us around on the boardwalk above the bone pit and pointed out important finds. She also patiently answered all of our questions.

Active mammoth dig that has been enclosed in a building, allowing people to view bones and people at work unearthing those bones. It's really cool! There are audio tours you can access via your phone. We were able to talk with people working on the site about the work, bones, and how they came to work on the site. Really fascinating! Handicap accessible for those who need it. Only takes about an hour or so. Picnic areas outside and a little lunch shack. About 4 minutes from downtown Hot Springs. We really liked the experience!

More interesting for adults but kid still liked it. Loved learning about the actual size of different types of mammoths and how scientists figured out how they died.

Very impressive to see fossils in place where they are found. But still wonder what else is below. Private so it is expensive but worth it.

This place should be required for all students as it shows what happened to the flora and fauna before man appeared. This was a sinkhole where mammoths and other animals became trapped and died. There is two ways to see it, go with a grould or go on your own with a guide book. We did the on our own and had a fun time. After you go through the site, make sure you go downstairs to the lab - it is interesting even if you cannot go in it. Then you will exit through a small museum with displays and explanations of what you are seeing.

Mammoth excavation site is interesting to the fact that the spot was discovered, they raised money to excavate, it’s not government owned, and there were truly Mammoth Elephants roaming in the area. You can see the proof before your eyes. They have a shirt movie and then the excavation room and a separate exhibit room. It was a good stop and they had AC.