San Diego Natural History Museum

Come visit the oldest museum in San Diego, and a flagship institution in Balboa Park, featuring the regional natural history and unique biodiversity of Southern California and Baja California! The Museum has four floors of exhibition space, a giant-screen theater, and San Diego’s only Foucault pendulum!

With permanent exhibitions, rotating films, a robust calendar of events and activities, and the opportunity to see scientists at work, the Museum will expose you to fascinating stories about the natural world, fostering a lifelong love of learning and engaging you in a worldwide scientific dialogue.

Current exhibits include:

Amazement from the Basement
Our newest experience offers a rare "backstage" glimpse into the Museum's collections and research work, inviting people to marvel in the diversity of nature, think like a scientist, and peek into the brand-new, state-of-the-art Paleontology Center.

Fossil Mysteries
From dinosaurs to megalodons to mastodons, travel through 75 million years and dig into the rich fossil history of southern California and Baja California.

Giant-Screen Theater
The giant-screen theater experience is one-of-a-kind. Settle into the 300-seat, stadium-style theater and enjoy films on the massive screen.
*Now Showing: Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope, Wild San Diego, and Galapagos; films subject to change.

Coast to Cactus in Southern California
This exhibition will take you on an immersive walk through the major regions of southern California's coast, inland valleys, mountains, and deserts and celebrate the abundant variety of life found here.

Unshelved: Cool Stuff from Storage
This exhibition gives visitors a rare look into the Museum's storage areas. Different specimens offer the opportunity to revel in the natural world in all its beauty and peculiarity.

Extraordinary Ideas from Ordinary People: A History of Citizen Science
This exhibition explores the past, present and future of citizen science through rare books, art, photographs, and historical documents.

Living Lab
Meet more than 20 of your not-so-cuddly neighbors, from stinging scorpions to elusive nocturnal lizards.

Hours

10am - 5pm Daily
Closed: Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Day

Known Exceptions (at this time):
December 24, February 6, and February 13 | 10am - 3pm December 24, February 6, and February 13
January 7 | 12pm - 5pm