Best Paleontology (Science, Natural History) Museums in North America?

[Viking Spawn]

I'm planning on a trip out west this summer with my family...  Late July actually.  We are planning to explore the Badlands of South Dakota before traveling to the Yellowstone & Grand Teton area! 

I want to know is what you all think are the best paleontology (themed) museums out there!  I also have a bucket list for the eastern states too!  From everyone's knowledge and experiences, please tell me your favorites and why!  I need ideas for when I travel this year and next!

Thanks in advance! 

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

The MOR is the only major one I know of in that area. Not sure where you're coming from but I would say the best locally are the AMNH, YPM, USNM, and the CM, but they're not out west.

[Yutyrannus]

The Museum of Ancient Life and Utah Museum of Natural History are both quite good .

[stargatedalek]

If you ever find yourself on the east coast we have a great natural history museum here in Halifax (NS). Not much on paleontology but very extensive galleries of modern species and recent evolution, especially of modern dinosaurs and sharks, (although sadly it seems the sharks might be getting put away as the marine gallery is very crowded now).

The nearby Bedford Institute of Oceanography is another great stop. You will need to book tours ahead of time but they are priced by donation. Very extensive and detailed galleries, ranging from Titanic artifacts to genetic probability of mutations in lobsters, but (as one would expect) nothing paleontology related.

[Halichoeres]

The Mesa Southwest Museum is surprisingly decent, and the museum in Denver is great. I hear good things about the LA County Museum but haven't been myself. Those are the only ones I can think of that I've been to out west (unless you count Texas as west).

[FishFossil]

If you are heading through the Badlands towards Yellowstone, you may want to consider visiting the Black Hills Institute in Hill City. It's not a particularly large place, but they have some very interesting specimens on display.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Too late to be useful to the OP, but I thought I'd list the natural history museums I've enjoyed anyway!

The L.A. Natural History museum and the La Brea Tar Pits are both excellent, classic institutions. (I had the pleasure of taking a field trip to the tar pits, and toured behind the scenes to view their staggeringly large fossil collections.) They're not too far from each other, and can potentially be bundled together into a single day trip.
The San Diego natural history museum at Balboa Park seems surprisingly sparse on fossils for an institution of its size, though it might only feel this way because it's so spread out. It always has top-tier traveling exhibitions rolling through.
The Las Vegas natural history museum is small, and has a really nice Deinosuchus cast, and a few good fossil mammals, but it places too much focus on its lousy animatronics. Don't expect too much quality science here. There's some decent non-paleo stuff, and the "Hatching the Past" dinosaur baby traveling exhibit (featuring Luis V. Rey artwork) happened to be there when I visited, so it made it more worth the trip.
The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site in Utah is small, but makes up for this by really focusing in on its theme, consisting principally of the dinosaur tracks that the museum building is built over. A quite enjoyable little museum!
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque is one of the best museums I've been to so far! I'd say it's easily at least on par with the 2 L.A. museums.
The Perot Museum in Dallas, TX features has a good variety of fossils, though overall I feel like the museum is a little... sleeker than it needs to be, so they don't utilize their space as well as they could (like an Apple store). It's a quality institution, but I'd place it behind the 2 L.A. museums and New Mexico's.
Waco Mammoth National Monument is similar to the St. George dinosaur trackway site, in that it's a small institution built around a single principle find, in this case a whole herd of Columbian Mammoths apparently drowned in a river. The museum building is built over the original discovery site, where you can view fossils in situ.
The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is also pretty small, but they do a good job with what they have. The star attraction is a beautiful Basilosaurus mount hanging from the ceiling in the main hall. I managed to get invited to tour some of the fossil collections behind the scenes with one of the paleontologists there! That was cool. I sadly lost his business card, so I can't remember his name.

That's all I've been to so far. I'd love to take a road trip one of these days to see more!

[DakotaDinos]

I wish I had been on here a year ago! In western SD there are 2 must see museums; The Museum of Geology at The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City and The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research (the group that found Sue) in Hill City.

http://www.sdsmt.edu/Academics/Museum-of-Geology/Home/
http://www.bhigr.com/

For a more "campy" vibe there is Dinosaur Park in Rapid City.

https://www.visitrapidcity.com/things-to-do/attractions/dinosaur-park-gift-shop-visitors-center

And for a great Pleistocene era site there is The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs.

http://mammothsite.com/

[Loon]

The La NHM and the La Brea Tar Pits are great, as stated before. However, if your ever in Southern California, I would highly recommend The Raymond M. Alf Museum of paleontology. It has a great collection of fossils from a large span of the history of life on the top floor; the have a lovely cast and model of Tiktaalik, a ton of Brontotherium skulls, the baby parasaurolophus("Joe"), and a collection of human skulls throughout our evolutionary history. Also, the second floor is entirely dedicated to track ways; featuring some early reptile tracks, etc. It's only a $6 donation to get in and it's usually not too busy, I'd highly recommend it. However, there is a downside to the museum: 

[Neosodon]

The La NHM and the La Brea Tar Pits are great, as stated before. However, if your ever in Southern California, I would highly recommend The Raymond M. Alf Museum of paleontology. It has a great collection of fossils from a large span of the history of life on the top floor; the have a lovely cast and model of Tiktaalik, a ton of Brontotherium skulls, the baby parasaurolophus("Joe"), and a collection of human skulls throughout our evolutionary history. Also, the second floor is entirely dedicated to track ways; featuring some early reptile tracks, etc. It's only a $6 donation to get in and it's usually not too busy, I'd highly recommend it. However, there is a downside to the museum: 

JP Velociraptor, Really?

[Loon]

JP Velociraptor, Really?

I went for the first time a month or so ago, and as soon as I started walking through the cambrian section, I saw it and paused. Its a real shame too, as within the the same display case there is a cast of the archaeopteryx fossil with the preserved wings and everything, next to this bipedal komodo. It's gotta be a hold over from the 90's or something, they probably don't have anything else to put in there. It's also a shame because a few weeks ago, they hosted an event about bringing prehistoric animals to life in art using the most up-to-date information available. The paleoartist Brian Engh, was there, and his table wasn't too far away from the raptor, I could only imagine what pain it caused him. But, hey they do have a kaiyodo baby parasaurolophus with the fossil baby.