The San Diego Natural History Museum is a flagship institution in Balboa Park, showcasing the regional natural history and unique biodiversity of Southern California and Baja California.
The museum has four floors of exhibitions, a 3D theater, and San Diego’s only Foucault pendulum. Through its permanent collection, special exhibitions, numerous educational programs, and the opportunity to see scientists at work, the Museum fosters a lifelong love of learning about nature and the environment for visitors of all ages.
Current exhibits include:
Art of Science (running until Jan 15, 2023)
Data is beautiful and science has style - see the beauty that can emerge from scientific research. In collaboration with the UC San Diego library, see the winners of the Art of Science competition, showcasing the work of UC San Diego students and researchers.
Expedition Baja
The Baja California Peninsula: our neighbor in nature. Explore towing mountains, desert flats, and isolated islands, and follow along with researchers working to conserve the peninsula's wild beauty.
Living Lab
Meet more than 20 of your not-so-cuddly neighbors, from stinging scorpions to elusive nocturnal lizards.
Caught on Camera (coming Nov 18, 2022)
Wildlife is all around, even when we don't see it. So, what exactly are animals up to when we're not looking? Find out in this new photography exhibition featuring animal candids taken with the help of camera trap technology.
Hidden Gems
Get to know The Nat's sparkly side with more than 100 of the best, brightest, and most spectacular selections from our gems and mineral collection. These hidden gems will be on every floor of the Museum.
The Backyard
Learn and explore the natural world through play. This new space invites our youngest visitors (ages 0-5) to play under a shade tree, search for hidden secrets along a wooden fence, or read their favorite book in a cozy potting shed.
Unshelved: Cool Stuff from Storage
This new exhibition gives visitors a rare "backstage" glimpse of the museum's storage areas. Specimens arranged on shelves and in cases 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 new, permanent exhibition explores the past, present and future of citizen science through rare books, art, photographs, and historical documents.
Coast to Cactus in Southern California
This innovative, permanent exhibition tells the story of this amazing place called home. Take 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.
Fossil Mysteries
From dinosaurs to mastodons, travel through 75 million years and dig into the rich fossil history of southern California and Baja California.
Allosaurus
Meet Al, a member of our skeleton crew. Allosaurus fragilis, a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic Period, is a relative of T. rex, which lived later. Al's bones are casts made from original fossil bones collected in Utah.
Megalodon
This replica of an extinct megalodon shark was modeled from and inspired by teeth collected from Miocene sandstones in Oceanside, California and near Ensenada, Baja California by Museum paleontology staff. It hangs in the Atrium as part of Fossil Mysteries and is one of the best selfie spots in the museum.
Skulls
Take a look at 200 of the weirdest, wildest, and most fascinating animal skulls from our research collection.
Demonstration Lab
See scientists at work and learn some of the ways they prepare, preserve, and study specimens.
Science Spotlight: Baleen Whale Evolution
Baleen whales are the largest living animals on the planet, and their ability to filter feed on small organisms in the ocean is an astounding adaptation. Scientists have new evidence for how and when the evolution from teeth to baleen occurred in the ancestors of today's filter-feeding whales.
Giant-Screen Theater
The Subaru Giant Screen Experience is one-of-a-kind. Settle into the 300-seat, stadium-style theater and enjoy films on the massive screen.
