Museum of Life and Science

Over sixty years ago a group of dedicated volunteers began Durham, North Carolina’s first trail-side nature center. Known as the “Children’s Museum,” the center flourished, and soon a collection began with dinosaur fossils and minerals. The fever of space exploration and astronauts who trained in Chapel Hill motivated the search for an aerospace exhibit. A kind soul rented a truck to haul the now-famous landmark Mercury Redstone rocket from Alabama to its new home on Murray Avenue in Durham to grace the exterior of a burgeoning indoor/outdoor museum. The Museum of Life and Science is one of North Carolina’s top attractions. Situated on 84-acres, our interactive science park includes a science center, a butterfly conservatory which is one of the largest in the world and beautifully-landscaped outdoor exhibits which are safe havens for rescued black bears, lemurs, and endangered red wolves. The Museum's Dinosaur Trail takes visitors on a journey through the Late Cretaceous period. Other attractions include a Farmyard, Ellerbe Creek Railway, Contraptions– a hands-on exhibit for older children and adults, a sailboat pond, The Lab in Investigate Health!, Play to Learn – an exhibit for children under six, more than 60 species of live animals and so much more.