Located on the Upper West Side of New York City. Although Central Park separates the museum from its fellows on Museum Mile, the American Museum of Natural History is counted amongst the City’s premiere museums!
This is another of NYC’s museum’s that offer pay what you wish admission for New York State residents, so make sure to take advantage of that if you live nearby! The Gottesman Research Library and Learning Center is a particularly stunning place to get some work done.
It’s important to note, however, that special exhibits like the Encounters in the Milky Way, Butterfly Vivarium, and, crucially, the Invisible Worlds Immersive Experience are not only an additional fee, but you also have to pay the going rate of the museum admission.
In fairness, the additional exhibit admission and the general admission for NY residents will only run you about $30, but if I can explore the rest of the museum for free, I’m not going to shell out $30 just for one exhibit!
Now I’ve been to this Museum many a time, but not for a long while, so when I paused to ask a museum guide for directions I was delighted to receive what was functionally a fully guided tour based on his personal preferences.
Without further ado, the official museum guide is as follows:
You’ll start in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. This is the main entrance to the museum and also where Teddy Roosevelt comes to life as Robin Williams when the sun goes down.
From here, head into the Biodiversity Hall and then into Ocean Life. The Ocean Life room is the home to the Natural History Museum’s most iconic sculpture- their 94-foot long blue whale. It’s difficult to grasp the size of this thing until you’re trying to fit it in frame, but trust me- it’s huge!
Once you’ve looped through Ocean Life, head into North American Forests for a peak at a slice of a giant sequoia tree trunk. That tree experienced 1,300 years of history before being felled!
After the forests, cross over to Human Origins. This area isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it’s always interesting seeing how we’ve come to be where we are today. Make sure to see the cast of “Lucy”, one of the most compete human ancestor skeletons ever recovered. In English, she’s named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, but in her homeland of Ethiopia, she’s known as “Dink’inesh,” which translates to “you are marvelous.”
I was more interested in the following Meteorites and Gems and Minerals rooms, especially after such exciting space event’s lately! The Meteorites were really cool to see, but I could stay in the Gems and Minerals room for ages. I think I spent the most time in here- who doesn’t like shiny things?
After this room, head to the Exploration Atrium, the Museum’s western-facing entrance. This five-story high space was in the works for nearly a decade and opened to the public in 2023- it’s one of the newest pieces in the building!
I’m told that the flowing natural shapes are inspired by caves, but I almost got the feeling that I was inside an anthill- probably because it’s right next to the museum’ Insectarium!
Speaking of, and I know not everyone is into bugs, but make sure to check out the Leaf Cutter Ants enclosure as they dutifully cut their leaves and march them on a pre-designed pathway that takes them all throughout the room.
Once you finish with the First Floor, you’ll head right up to the Fourth Floor (stick with me here), to see the Dinosaurs! Listen, you’re at a Natural History Museum, you see the dinosaurs, I don’t make the rules.
My personal favorite is the Titanosaur, which is so large it doesn’t even fit in its room- its massive head stretches out into the hallway to greet passing visitors.
Once you’ve finished with the dinosaurs, feel free to double back down to the second and third floors- but in my opinion, you’ve already seen all the good stuff.
Now how does the Museum of Natural History compare to its contemporaries such as Chicago’s Field Museum and London’s Natural History Museum? In my opinion it’s the weakest of the three.
If you’re into Natural History, it’ll certainly do the trick, but compared to other similar museums, it’s fallen behind in the times. I’m vocally a huge fan of interactive museums and the American Museum of Natural History simply does not have enough material to keep me entertained for a whole visit.
They are making noticeable strides to modernize with their newer special exhibits, but those are notably only available for an additional fee.
It’s a good way to spend a day, but if I only had time for one museum I’d pick one of its siblings across the park.
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