New Dinosaur Museum in Canon City, CO

[E.D.G.E. (PainterRex)]

             A new dinosaur museum is being constructed in Canon City, Colorado. This will replace the dead dinosaur depot museum and is located near the Royal Gorge Bridge. It will measure 16,200 square feet and attractions include, mounted skeletals (including a brontosaur skeleton from Triebold Paleontology, located in Woodland Park, CO), animatronic reconstructions outside along a hiking trail, and a ropes course which I assume is like a mountain climbing/obstacle course/zip-line kind of thing. I personally am signing up to try to work there this summer, and it looks like it is going to be a real cool addition to the state's underepresented prehistoric fauna appreciation.

Website: http://dinoxp.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RGDinoXP/

About Us

           The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience is owned and operated by the father and son team of David and Zach Reynolds, multi-generational Cañon City residents and longtime local area business owners with a direct family connection to some of the Lower Arkansas Valley's most important paleontological discoveries of the Twentieth Century.

          Peter Allen, Zach's maternal grandfather, was a math and science teacher at Cañon City High School who regularly accompanied his friend, colleague and noted paleontologist Freddy Kessler on digs in the greater Garden Park Fossil Area during the 1950s and 1960s.

          Zach inherited his grandfather's fascination of science and dinosaurs, and earned a degree in geology at Western State Colorado University before pursuing a career in photojournalism. He returned to Cañon City in 2006 to join David at Reynolds Construction Company, the successful, multi-generational business that David's father founded in 1972. Reynolds Construction will complete its final job—the architecturally stunning Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience building—in May of 2016, allowing David and Zach to create the area's most exciting museum and interactive learning center.

           Zach is joining his parents, David and Marion Reynolds in this endeavor, and is being supported by his wife, Carman, and their three children, Emily (15), Megan (13) and Owen (10).

Concept Art

CGI Concept Art

Breaking ground

Building's skeleton

In the snow

In the sun

More insides

Ceiling construction

More construction

Mission Statement

              The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience provides an affordable, dynamic and high-value educational opportunity for kids of all ages and enables families to learn and recreate together on stunning property with views of the famed Royal Gorge Bridge and Colorado's stunning Sangre de Cristo mountain range. Our state-of-the-art, 16,200-square-foot building houses a world-class collection of interactive displays, full-scale dinosaur fossil casts, and real dinosaur fossils, our staff is ready to provide guided tours, and our outdoor skinned animatronic dinosaur exhibits and our multi-story ropes course ensure a fine balance between science, learning and good old-fashioned family fun. Our goal is to ensure that our visitors leave knowing a lot more about Colorado's paleontological history, while also carrying indelible memories of a great time spent learning, discovering and having fun with their friends and families.

              The clearest projection for the completion date is May of this year. I will definitely be there if not on opening day, then a few days after, and I will take many pictures and post them on here for anyone who cares! I cannot wait! I live very close by!

[Viking Spawn]

Opening in May?  Judging by the photos, I'd say later than that!   Sounds like its going to be a fascinating place!  Thank for the info and keep us posted about this! 

[LophoLeeVT]

  ohhhhh this looks nice!!!

[E.D.G.E. (PainterRex)]

Opening in May?  Judging by the photos, I'd say later than that!   Sounds like its going to be a fascinating place!  Thank for the info and keep us posted about this! 

most of those photos are from december, but then again, I know nothing of how a building is built

[Georassic]

An hour from home for me. Looking forward to it. So is my 5-year-old. 

[Viking Spawn]

Opening in May?  Judging by the photos, I'd say later than that!   Sounds like its going to be a fascinating place!  Thank for the info and keep us posted about this! 

most of those photos are from december, but then again, I know nothing of how a building is built

Ahh.  That makes it more believable now.