Museum of Ancient Life

Opened in 2000 as part of the $230-million Thanksgiving Point museum complex with Gardens, a working Farm, a Children’s Museum and the Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, Utah, the Museum of Ancient Life contains sixty mounted dinosaur specimens and proclaims itself the largest dinosaur museum in the world.

The collection includes two Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons, the world’s most complete Stegosaurus skeleton, ultra-rare specimens of Cerratosaurus and Gargoylasaurus, a Quetzalcoatlus with a 40-foot wingspan, and a 120-foot-long specimen of the largest dinosaur ever discovered, the Supersaurus. In addition to its many hands-on exhibits, the museum is also known for its lovely, if slightly kitschy, dioramas and miniature dinosaur tableaus.

The brainchild of Cliff Miles—the man who named the Gargoyleosaurus, Hesperosaurus, and Minotaurasaurus and was the adviser for the Jurassic Park films—the facility also features an IMAX 3D theater and a working paleontological laboratory, where visitors can observe preservation work up-close.