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Mammoth Site

The Mammoth Site, the world’s largest mammoth research facility, is situated on the southern outskirts of Hot Springs, South Dakota. This museum is constructed around the site of active excavation of mammoth fossils. Its main aim is to collect, preserve, and interpret the mammoth fossils and promote the understanding of the Natural History of the Black Hills, particularly the late Pleistocene period. The Mammoth Site has been designated as a 501(C) 3 non-profit organization.

The Mammoth Site was discovered in the year 1974, when the remains of a wooly mammoth were unearthed while excavating for a housing development. Since then, the fossilized skeletons of nearly 53 mammoths have been found at this site, along with the remains of a camel, a llama, a wolf, a giant short-faced bear, a prairie dog, fish, and many invertebrates. The main attractions at the site include the huge boulder of Jurassic Unkpapa Sandstone near the museum entrance and the cemented gravel of the Pleistocene age.

Several guided tours of this active paleontological dig site are offered to the visitors. The Mammoth Site offers a unique opportunity to the visitors to view the Ice Age fossils put on display in the Ice Age Exhibit Hall, and walk where the Ice Age critters, American lions, bears, and mammoths walked. The site also features a working paleontology laboratory, which organizes a stimulated excavation for junior paleontologists each summer. Besides, children are also given an opportunity to learn the excavation technique of identifying the fossils of different animals. The visitors can also have close-up views of the tusks, ribs, femurs, skulls, and even the complete skeletons of these pre-historic animals.

The Mammoth Site offers the worldwide scientific community an outstanding collection of 26, 000 years’ old environmental data, Ice Age vertebrates and invertebrates, mammoth remains, and geological data. The methods of research, exhibits, and interpretation used at the Site are studied for implementation around the globe. The Mammoth Site is a great learning experience and certainly worth visiting.

• Address: 1800 Highway 18 Bypass, Hot Springs, SD 57747
  
• Telephone: (605) 745-6017
• Hours: May - Aug: 8 AM - 8 PM daily
  Aug - Sept: 8 AM - 6 PM daily
  Sept - Oct: 9 AM - 5 PM daily
  Nov - Feb: Mon - Sat, 9 AM - 3:30 PM; Sun, 11 AM - 3:30 PM
  Mar - May: 8 AM - 5 PM daily
  
• Website: www.mammothsite.com

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