Visiting Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota with Kids

Mammoth Site, South Dakota is one of the top things to do in Hot Springs, SD and the Black Hills! You’ll especially want to look into the Jr. Paleontology Program to really get kids involved in the Mammoth Site history and excavation techniques.

It was one of our favorite Black Hills vacation activities!

Our boys are really into dinosaurs, so I thought they would enjoy digging for mammoth fossils and seeing a real live dig site. Our 5-year-old, Teddy, was so excited about this portion of our trip that he constantly brought it up to his kindergarten teacher. And he is typically pretty quiet, so you know he was pumped!

I was surprised, though, when our 8-year-old daughter said it was one of her favorite activities of the trip. She originally said she was fine with going but wasn’t that excited about it. Now, though, she’s borrowing paleontology books from the library and adding paleontologist to the list of careers she’s considering!

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota with kids, along with some Mammoth Site, South Dakota pictures so you can see what you’re getting into!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

What is the Mammoth Site?

Mammoth Site is a live paleontological site in Hot Springs, South Dakota with the largest concentration of mammoths in the world!

In addition to being an active dig site, the Mammoth Site is also a museum with both guided and self-guided tours, a research and education facility, laboratory, and kid-friendly destination with hands-on exhibits.

The Mammoth Site stands on the spot of a now dry sinkhole whose warm water attracted not just mammoths but also short-faced bears, wolves, and more. The slippery shale that lined the sides of the sinkhole made it difficult for the animals to climb out, trapping them at the bottom of the pond.

Mammoth Site History

In 1974 while clearing land for a housing development, a bulldozer operator discovered some giant bones. After getting the opinion of a professor from Chadron State College, Dr. Larry Agenbroad, they discovered that the bones were indeed mammoth bones.

The land owner made the decision to stop the housing project, and the site became an excavation site where teams of researchers could study the paleontological finds. By 1975 the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD was born, and the site has been used for excavation, study, and research ever since!

Mammoth Site, SD with Kids Review

As I mentioned above, Mammoth Site is an active dig site, museum, and place for hands-on exploration. When I found out about it, I knew my kids would love it so I added it to our trip schedule.

It’s located in the city of Hot Springs, which is located just south of Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park.

If you can plan well enough in advance, you could easily combine Mammoth Site with a visit to Wind Cave National Park in the same day.

You’ll start by viewing the 10-minute educational film, then you’ll make your way over to the active dig site for a self-guided tour. You can do this as slowly or as quickly as you want! There are several workers walking around, so you can ask questions if they come up!

In the sinkhole you’ll see remains of Colombian Mammoths, a few Wooly Mammoths, and other ice age creatures like short-faced bears.

Next you can head next door into a room with several museum exhibits including a reconstructed mammoth bone hut and the remains of two baby mammoths - one set of frozen remains from Siberia, and one baby mammoth preserved in mud.

You’ll walk out through the gift shop, where the kids can play in the Kids’ Cave and use brushes to uncover bone replicas in boxes of dirt.

One you’re done there you can either leave the Mammoth Site or wait for your program to begin!

Know Before You Go

Hours:
May 15 – August 15 Open Daily
8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
The Mammoth Site is Closed New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, & Christmas.

General Admission:
(Children 3 & Under) - Free
(Ages 4-12) $9.00
(Active & Retired Military) $9.00
(Ages 13 to 59) $12.00
(Ages 60 and Over) $10.00

The Mammoth Site is indoors, so don’t worry about weather. You can give yourself a guided tour by listening to the audio on a free app you can download (but you’ll need headphones), or by following the brochures they hand out to each visitor.

Is the Mammoth Site worth visiting?

Yes. Not only is it educational, which parents love, but it has plenty of hands-on activities for kids that leave them wanted to know more about mammoths and paleontology.

There is absolutely no better way for kids to learn about the world around them and figure out what they are interested in than to see history with their own eyes and get involved.

Walking through the active dig site and learning about how the mammoths and other animals fell into the sink hole left an impression on the kids (and me!). Getting to participate in the Jr. Paleontology Program got them excited about excavation techniques and identifying bones.

There’s no way I could have generated that kind of enthusiasm for those topics by simply borrowing books from the library or showing the kids YouTube videos.

That is why I am so adamant about incorporating learning opportunities into our travels!

How much time do you need at the Mammoth Site?

You’ll need 1-3 hours at Mammoth Site. The educational film and self-guided tour take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, but there are also exhibits, hands-on learning opportunities, and experts to talk to. If you add on educational programs, you will definitely need closer to 2 or 3 hours for the experience.

We added on the Jr. Paleontology program which itself took about an hour. We arrived an hour before to do the self-guided tour and explore around the museum, so in total our visit took just over 2 hours.

Paleontology for Kids

If your kids have any interest in paleontology, the Ice Age, or mammoths, this would naturally be a great place to visit.

Even if your kids don’t already have an interest in these topics, but enjoy nature, animals, or history, I think they will truly find something they love at Mammoth Site.

Junior Paleontologist Program Tips & Review

We signed our kids up for the Jr. Paleontologist Program, which is an hour-long activity where kids are taught excavation techniques, then get to use real tools to dig in dirt beds with replica fossils buried in them.

Know Before You Go

Sign up several days or even weeks in advance to make sure you get a spot on the day and time you want to visit. Spots fill up quickly, so err on the side of booking further in advance.
Cost is $11.06 + tax per child
The Jr. Paleontologist Program is for kids ages 4-12
The classes run from June 1st through August 15th. Sessions are 10am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm daily.
To sign up on the Mammoth Site website, go to the tab on the top that says STEAM EDUCATION, then choose Summer Classes in the drop down menu. Click the yellow box on the right side of the screen that says Book Now, and choose your date, time, and which class you want. (There’s a similar class for older kids)

What to Bring & Wear

Wear clothes you don’t mind your kids getting dirty, as they will be sitting in and digging in the dirt. What they don’t tell you on the website is that you as a parent should also wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. That dirt is everywhere from the benches to the floors. And you’ll probably have some rub off on your from your kids.

Bring a camera! Photos and videos are allowed and encouraged. (Watch my YouTube video about Mammoth Site with Kids here!)

What Was the Program Like?

When we checked in as we entered the museum, the worker told us to listen carefully around the time our class was scheduled, as they would announce that our group was meeting at the large mammoth skeleton in the lobby.

They called our group together a few minutes before our starting time to make sure everyone was there and checked in. Each child got a name tag so our volunteer could address them by name.

We walked over to a separate building where the raised bone beds for the kids were located. First we took a seat on the benches - kids and adults - and listened to a few words from our group leader. He talked about why they leave the bones in site, how to properly search for, dig up, and uncover bones, and how to identify them.

He didn’t talk for long, because he knew the kids were eager to start digging!

They got to select their own group, and each group (of 3-4 kids) was assigned a quadrant. There were 5 bones to uncover in each quadrant, and each child got a bucket for dirt and excavation tools and brushes to use.

They had tons of time to dig and uncover bones. Our group leader was happy to walk around helping identify fossils, giving hints about where bones might be if kids were struggling, offering tips, and emptying buckets of dirt.

Parents got to mill about watching the kids, even helping them uncover bones from the side of the bone bed.

Did the Kids Have Fun?

It was such a unique and educational experience, and the kids were so thrilled afterward. They each received a booklet and an award for completing the program. Each one of them said it was one of their favorite activities and that they really wanted to come back sometime.

City of Hot Springs, SD Things to Do

While we were waiting for our scheduled time to visit the museum, we had about an hour to kill in Hot Springs, South Dakota. We walked through a lovely little park with a waterfall, then had a picnic lunch in a covered area to get a break from the sun.

We had seen a colorful bison mural, too, so we made sure to stop and get some pictures by it.

There’s lots of shopping to do in Hot Springs, so be sure to pop into a few shops along River Street.

Hit the Pioneer Museum for some more history.

If you’ve got a lot of time to spend, check out Evan’s Plunge for some kid-friendly swimming and water slides in a natural hot spring.

You could also explore and hike in nearby Wind Cave National Park or Angostura State Recreation Area.

More Black Hills, SD Posts and Tips

>> TIP: If you’re planning to fit Wind Cave National Park in the same day as Mammoth Site, there’s something you need to know that I didn’t see on the NPS website or on any blogs: You have to get in line at the Visitor Center at Wind Cave NP before it opens. The Visitor Center opens at 8, and we arrived at 7:15 a.m. I probably had about 75 people in front of me in line.

You can only reserve tickets for a cave tour on the same day. By the time I got to the front of the line, the earliest we could get a tour was 10:00 a.m. I didn’t want to kill 2 hours just standing around, so we filled our morning with other activities and picked the 3:00 p.m. tour.

I would recommend the same if you want to do Mammoth Site in the morning and a cave tour in the afternoon. Choose an early class at Mammoth Site for the Jr. Paleontology Program, and an afternoon cave tour.

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