Permanent Exhibition - Life And Times Of Washington State

Life and Times of Washington State is a hands-on adventure that begins 545 million years ago. Richly exotic, yet strangely familiar, this exhibit is a passport through the evolution of our state's geology and biology.

Starting when most of Washington was covered by an ancient sea, you'll walk through Dino Times and see giant skeletons of dinosaurs, including a stegosaurus, an elasmosaur, and a 140-million-year-old allosaurus.

Among the many other specimens on display are beautiful 35 to 40-million-year-old fossil crabs, a cast of a 10,000-year-old mastodon, and a 20,000-year-old saber-toothed cat. There's even a 12,000-year-old giant ground sloth that was found during construction at Sea-Tac Airport!

Along the way toward Present Times, you'll also walk through a rumbling volcano, climb inside a replica cave formed when an ancient rhino was trapped by a lava flow in eastern Washington, and see the oldest baleen whale fossil ever found (28 million years old).

Location : Burke Museum Of Natural History And Culture.

Hours
Open daily, 10 am – 5 pm.
On the first Thursday of each month, the museum stays open until 8 pm—and admission is free.

Closed: New Year's Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.
Early closing: Museum closes at 3 pm on December 24 and December 31.
Weather closure: During inclement weather, call the museum after 10 am (206-543-7907) to confirm it's open.

Admission
General Admission:
$8 general, $6.50 seniors, $5 students and youth (5 & up w/ID)
FREE to Burke Members, children 4 and under, and
UW staff/faculty/students

Free Admission—First Thursdays
Admission is free to the public on the first Thursday of each month.
Group tours may not be scheduled on these days.