Visit
Where is the museum located?
Texas Science & Natural History Museum is located on The University of Texas campus at 2400 Trinity Street, Austin, Texas, 78712. Find detailed directions and parking information on our Getting Here page.
When is the museum open?
The museum is open:
Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm
Sunday 1-5 pm
Closed on Mondays
Check the events calendar for holiday or other closures. Please note that the museum is closed with Texas Football has a home game at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium.
What is the price of admission?
Free admission for:
Texas Science & Natural History Museum members
UT Austin staff, faculty, and students with current UTID
Children age 0-4
NARM and ASTC members
Active military with current ID
Adult (age 18-64) — $10
Ages 5-17 — $6
Seniors (age 65+) —$6
Students (non UT, with ID) — $6
Discounted group rate for school visits.
Proud to be a Blue Star Museum and a member of Museums for All.
Is the museum ADA accessible?
Yes. The accessible entrance to the museum is on Trinity St. south of the main entrance. All public areas of the museum are wheelchair accessible, including the exhibit halls, Gift Store, elevators, and restroom facilities. Find more information on our Accessibility page
Is the museum open for field trips?
Yes! For information about field trips and group visits, please email tmmtours@austin.utexas.edu.
Does the museum offer tours?
Yes, guided, volunteer-led tours are available on Saturdays and Tuesdays at noon; please check the Events page on the website. We will add additional guided tours as we onboard staff and volunteers.
Do you have a gift store?
Yes! The museum store at Texas Science & Natural History Museum offers a wide variety of gifts, jewelry, toys, and games for curious minds and lovers of the natural world. Museum Members get a 10% discount.
We work with large companies and independent artists alike to create a one-of-a-kind selection, and we’ve established relationships with over 35 new vendors to come up with an array of products, including:
- Hands-on STEM toys, learning kits, and games for all ages
- Books for every type of reader, from board books to contemporary popular science
- Puzzles, including vintage patterns
- Rocks and minerals, from pocket-sized trinkets to decorative geodes
- Stuffed animals and toys, from dinosaurs and snakes to birds and sea creatures
- Posters, notebooks, stickers and notecards by local artists
- Wildlife identification guides
- Household items and glassware such as brain coral coffee mugs, time scale pint glasses, insect and gemstone water bottles
- Jewelry
- And so much more!
As part of The University of Texas at Austin, we also have merchandise celebrating all things UT, and as part of the College of Natural Sciences, we are thrilled to carry goodies from our partner institutions like the McDonald Observatory.
Are you open on Saturdays when there is a home UT football game?
Due to traffic and parking constraints on campus, the museum will be closed to the public on the days on which the Longhorns have a game at the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. See Longhorns football schedule.
Events
Is the museum available for private events?
Yes! This historic gem in the heart of Austin, featuring beautifully restored Art Deco architecture, can host indoor and outdoor events, seated dinners, cocktail receptions, tailgate parties and more. And museum admission is included for all of your guests.
For information about hosting an event, please see our Private Event Rentals page or contact TMMEvents@austin.utexas.edu.
Can I host a birthday party at the museum?
Yes! Please see our Birthday Parties page or email tmmevents@austin.utexas.edu.
Birthday parties and other groups are welcome to use the main lawn and picnic benches near the outdoor classroom for food and drinks.
Can you identify a fossil specimen for me? (National Fossil Day)
Yes, our popular fossil identification program occurs on National Fossil Day in October and during other special events. Please watch the Events page on our website for details.
Join Us
How can I purchase a membership?
Annual museum memberships provide a wide range of benefits. See our Membership page for details.
Do you have volunteer opportunities?
We look forward to welcoming back volunteers to serve as docents, help with our educational programming, help our visitor services team and other opportunities. These programs are being finalized. If you are interested in volunteering, please email tmminfo@austin.utexas.edu.
Exhibits
- What’s new at the museum?
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The museum has undergone renovations that honor the history of the building while modernizing it for the future, updating the infrastructure and adding new exhibits. Currently, three of its four floors are open to visitors.
The first floor Paleontology Gallery and Geology Gallery feature the museum’s legacy paleontological exhibits as well as treasures from the geological collection. The next phase of renovations will include new signage and interpretive programming to help visitors understand the science and significance of these amazing fossils. The Discovery Center (opening 2024) will offer a hands-on educational learning lab where families can get up close and personal with real fossils and engage in scientific thinking.
The second floor features the impressive Great Hall, which houses the Texas Titans, Texas Transformation and College of Natural Sciences Showcase exhibits as well as the museum gift store and visitor services desk. The original Quetzalcoatlus northropi, a pterosaur with a 33-foot wingspan and the largest flying animal to ever live, is now joined by a tyrannosaur, also 33-feet long. Two murals on the wall of the Great Hall shows what Big Bend would have looked like 67 million years ago and what the animals would have looked like when alive. Visitors can listen to an artist’s recreation of dinosaur calls and play a game to learn more about the reptile family tree. Texas Transformation gives visitors an overview of over 600 million years of life with stunning imagery, newly exhibited fossils, and a four-minute paleogeographic time-lapse providing context for Texas’ shifting geological and environmental identity. The College of Natural Sciences Showcase (North Hall Gallery) is a space for rotating exhibits, exposing museum visitors to the interesting, cutting-edge science happening in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences. “Decimation Proclamation”, a beautiful new artwork featuring hundreds of colorful, shimmering butterflies, graces the Trinity Street entrance to the Texas Science & Natural History Museum.
The third floor’s Texas Wildlife Gallery features the museum’s legacy diorama displays, introducing visitors to the diverse animals and ecosystems of Texas, predator-prey relationships and a variety of naturalistic habitats representing the main ecological regions of Texas. This exhibit area will continue to evolve throughout 2024. Memorial Gallery, to be installed at a later date, will share the history of the Texas Memorial Museum, from its founding during the Texas Centennial and completion of the Art Deco building in 1937, to the contributions of University and statewide communities over the years.
The fourth floor’s Science Frontiers will include new exhibits showcasing the advanced research happening at UT Austin and the College of Natural Sciences. Permanent and rotating exhibits will explore the role of cutting-edge science impacting life in the natural world, touching topics such as biodiversity, sustainability, human health, and more.