By Gracus Bloom, City-Paper.com
June is one of the best months to visit Colorado. The snow retreats into the mountains, the skies turn impossibly blue, and travelers emerge from hibernation looking for adventure. While many visitors head straight for hiking trails and ski towns, Colorado’s museums offer a different kind of excitement—one filled with dinosaurs, locomotives, cowboys, mining history, and enough oddball exhibits to keep even the most distracted tourist entertained.
Whether you’re planning a family vacation or searching for a cheap travel deal to the Rockies, these museums deserve a spot on your itinerary.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
One of Colorado’s most popular attractions, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science opened in 1900 and has spent more than a century helping visitors understand the natural world.
The museum’s famous dinosaur halls remain a major draw. Towering fossils greet guests while interactive exhibits let children pretend they’re paleontologists discovering prehistoric giants beneath Colorado soil. During June, the museum frequently hosts special summer science demonstrations, planetarium programs, and family-oriented events that make learning surprisingly fun.
Visitors can also explore space exhibits, wildlife displays, gems, minerals, and enough hands-on activities to exhaust even the most energetic youngster.
Speaking of gems, the museum’s mineral collection contains specimens that would make collectors of expensive jewelry stare in awe.
Located in Golden, the Colorado Railroad Museum is a paradise for train enthusiasts and anyone who secretly wanted to blow a locomotive whistle.
Founded in 1959, the museum preserves the state’s rich railroad heritage through an impressive collection of historic locomotives, passenger cars, and freight equipment. June often brings special train rides, restoration demonstrations, and outdoor family activities.
Walking through the rail yard feels like stepping into the Old West. Massive steam engines stand quietly in the sunshine while volunteers explain how railroads transformed Colorado from a rugged frontier into a thriving state.
For mechanically minded visitors, the restoration workshops can be fascinating. Watching skilled workers restore century-old equipment requires patience and precision similar to the craftsmanship found in modern machinist job openings throughout the country.
Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave
Perched atop Lookout Mountain near Golden, this museum tells the story of legendary showman and frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody.
The museum first opened in 1921 and features artifacts from Cody’s Wild West performances, firearms collections, photographs, and memorabilia documenting one of America’s most colorful historical figures.
The mountain views alone justify the trip. Visitors can gaze across the Denver metropolitan area while learning about the myths and realities of frontier life. June’s pleasant weather makes the location particularly enjoyable, and occasional educational programs help bring history to life.
Many visitors leave wondering how Buffalo Bill managed to build one of the world’s most successful entertainment brands long before social media existed.
National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum
Leadville sits high in the Rocky Mountains, and its mining museum captures the adventurous spirit that built much of Colorado.
Established in 1987, the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates the miners, engineers, and entrepreneurs who helped shape America’s industrial development. Exhibits include mining machinery, underground mine recreations, geological displays, and stories of boomtown life.
Visitors can descend into simulated mine environments that recreate the sights and sounds experienced by miners generations ago. It’s educational, fascinating, and occasionally a little spooky.
The museum’s exhibits remind guests that every piece of modern technology depends upon minerals extracted from the earth by hardworking people whose stories are often forgotten.
Museum of the Mountain West
Located near Montrose, this museum is less a traditional museum and more an entire historic town preserved for future generations.
Founded by local historian Dave Wood, the site features dozens of relocated historic buildings, including saloons, schools, blacksmith shops, and businesses from Colorado’s frontier era.
Guided tours often include humorous stories about the characters who once inhabited these communities. Visitors encounter antique tools, horse-drawn vehicles, and everyday objects that reveal how dramatically life has changed over the last century.
If museums can have personalities, this one has a wonderfully eccentric sense of humor.
A June Adventure Worth Taking
Colorado’s museums prove that learning doesn’t have to be boring. One day you can stand beneath a dinosaur skeleton. The next, you can climb aboard a historic locomotive or explore the recreated tunnels of a mining operation.
These attractions provide a welcome break from mountain traffic and crowded tourist destinations while offering plenty of opportunities for memorable photographs and unique experiences.
And if your rental car returns covered in dust from all that exploring, finding a good detailer afterward may be the final stop on your Colorado adventure.
This June, skip the ordinary and discover the museums that make Colorado one of America’s most entertaining destinations.
