San Diego Natural History Museum: Tips, Highlights & Local Kids' Guide

Location: Balboa Park · Admission: $24.95 adult · Open: Daily 10 to 5 · Free: First Tuesday for residents

The San Diego Natural History Museum, otherwise fondly known as The NAT, is one of the best museums for kids in Balboa Park. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been or the number of kids I’ve taken there over the years.

The mid-sized museum studies and catalogs the evolution and diversity of Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula. Parts of their enormous specimen collection are scattered throughout the Museum to highlight cool discoveries and inspire visitors to respect nature.

Local kids like my daughter know their way around each of the five floors, and they visit with the same enthusiasm each time. As they get older, I see them understand more about how the exhibits are relevant to where they live.

See also: What Happens Behind the Scenes at The Nat (and Why it Matters to You)

Things to Know Before Visiting the San Diego Natural History Museum

Before you go, here are some of the things you should know.

Tickets & Hours

The San Diego Natural History Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with no weekly closing day. On summer Fridays it stays open until 11 p.m. for Nat at Night. It closes only on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Ticket and admission prices are as follows:

• Adults: $24.95, or $22.95 through our ticket page
• Seniors, students and military: $3 off the adult price, ask at the desk
• Youth (3–17): $16.95, or $14.95 through us
• Children 2 and under: Free

For local San Diego residents, museum admission is free on the first Tuesday of each month. Check the calendar.

If you plan to visit more than once, the museum also offers very reasonably-priced memberships that include free admission and also accepts sightseeing passes, including the Balboa Park Explorer Pass and Go City San Diego pass.

Food & Drink

The San Diego Natural History Museum has The Craft Taco in the main atrium, just inside the north entrance by the giant fig tree. It replaced the Flying Squirrel Cafe, and you do not need a museum ticket to eat there.

Gift Shop

A few years ago, I put together a segment for NBC San Diego about holiday shopping in Balboa Park because the museum gift shops, like this one, are so neat. The store is now Gold Leaf, a sister to the South Park boutique, in a 1,700-square-foot space next to the Atrium just inside the north entrance.

In addition to stuffed animals, the store sells science kits, cool gadgets, and more edutainment. It’s a fantastic place for neat birthday and holiday gifts.

Some clothing, art, and household items (not the toys) are available to shop online.

Parking & Transportation

There is a lot on the Museum’s east side and another near the Balboa Park Carousel on Village Place at Park Boulevard. Balboa Park parking is no longer free. The City of San Diego introduced paid parking across the park on 5 January 2026, so check the current rates and which lots are cheapest before you drive in. The Nat is also a few steps from a bus stop on Park Boulevard, which sidesteps the problem entirely.

The Museum is also easy to reach by bus or the Old Town Trolley, which avoids the parking question altogether. Once you are there, the Nature Trail at The Nat wraps the building with pocket gardens and interpretive trails planted with native and low-water species, and it sits outside the galleries, so walking it costs nothing.

How Long to Spend Inside the Nat

While it’s reasonable to pop in for an hour, I’d suggest a minimum of 2-3 hours with a movie and a snack break if your itinerary permits.

Not-To-Miss Highlights Around the Nat (As Chosen by Local Kids)

Here’s a little from a very long list of cool stuff to look for inside The Nat. The good news is that it’s possible to see the entire Museum in one visit. Everything in this section is permanent, or what the Museum labels always on view, so it will be there whenever you go. The rotating shows are covered further down, and those are the ones worth checking before you make the trip.

Al (Or Alice)

The Allosaurus cast skeleton in the lobby is lovingly referred to as “Al” or Alice” by its fans. (We’ve always called it “Al” though I’m not really sure why. For the sake of this article, I’ll stick with it.)

Al arrived at The Nat in 1987 as a result of a fundraising campaign where donors could “Buy a Bone” on the skeleton.

Each of Al’s 338 bones is numbered so that donors can actually find their bone. The original fossil this cast is modeled off of is from Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in Emery County, Utah.

Ready to learn some fun Allosaurus facts? They lived during the late Jurassic Period, about 130-150 million years ago, which is actually 70 million years before T. Rex! These predators did not live in San Diego, but Al is definitely a highlight that the kids always stop to look at.

Foucault Pendulum

Enter through the Museum doors opposite the fountain and Fleet Science Center. One of the first things you’ll see is the Foucault Pendulum.

But pay close attention. It might look like the pendulum is swinging in a circle. However, it’s you (and the Earth) that’s moving around the pendulum.

This device was designed by Jean Leon Foucault in 1851 to demonstrate Earth’s rotation. Many people think it’s a clock. It’s not, but it does complete a 24-hour cycle and knocks over wooden pegs as it progresses.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to pull mesmerized kids away from the pendulum because we had to get going. They love it.

“Meg” the Megalodon

I’ve always found Meg super sweet looking. It’s like she’s trying to tell us something really amazing.

Like Al, you can’t miss Meg — she is enormous and suspended from the ceiling.

Carcharodon megalodon date back to the Miocene Epoch, somewhere between 25 and 5 million years ago, and scientists think that they could have been up to 50 feet long and weighed up to 50 tons.

And how is this for cool? Scientists from The Nat have collected Carcharodon megalodon teeth from this from Miocene sandstones in Oceanside and near Ensenada.

Coast to Cactus

Of the interactive exhibitions, I would say kids spend the most time in Coast to Cactus. Here, various displays showcase the diversity of San Diego’s plant and animal inhabitants.

Did you know that our deserts, beaches, mountains, and chaparral make our area one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots worldwide?

Native or Not?

They totally know the answers, but this doesn’t stop them from guessing which animals on each flip board along the pretty blue fence are native to San Diego.

This interactive area is part of Coast to Cactus. We spend so much time here that I felt it deserved its own mention.

Sea Cows

It’s not an issue now that the kids can read signage, but another sentence I’ve often spoken inside The Nat is, “Get off the sea cow!”

The sea cow model in Fossil Mysteries is super cute and often just a little too tempting. I have no pictures of it, probably because I’m used to being on sea cow alert. The kids always stop here to touch or hug it (and, thankfully, not climb on it).

Hydrodamalis cuestae is a type of sea cow that evolved in the late Miocene period, about 5 million years ago. Their remains have been found in California, Baja California, and Japan, including in a construction site at the Otay Ranch planned community in Chula Vista.

Scavenger Hunts

Two different areas inside Fossil Mysteries, the large permanent exhibit covering the 75-million-year fossil-rich prehistory of southern California and Baja California, have scavenger hunts.

Pick up one of the sheets and try to find everything on it. This fun activity causes kids to really look closely at everything in a particular section. They retain a different tidbit of knowledge every single time they do this.

Hands-on Dinosaur Hatching

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that derive tons of joy. During the toddler years, my daughter’s favorite thing do to at the San Diego Natural History Museum was to spin a wheel that cracks open a dinosaur egg in Fossil Mysteries. 

She and her friends may be teens now, but they crank the wheel and squeal when the baby dinosaur appears every time.

Visitors take a walk through our region’s prehistoric past in this always-on-view exhibit.

Draw-Your-Own Skulls

Close to 200 skulls from The Nat’s collections are on display upstairs. While the skulls are cool, visitors are also encouraged to draw their best skull on this enormous chalkboard.

Amazement in the Basement

This is the Museum’s newest permanent gallery. Fossils, frogs, beetles, and bones out of the research collection, with a window into the new Paleontology Center, which means you are looking at the working side of the building rather than a finished display. That is the part I found most striking when I went behind the scenes, and this gallery is the closest a general visitor gets to it.

Living Lab

More than 20 live local animals, from stinging scorpions to nocturnal lizards you would never come across yourself. It is permanent, and it is the only gallery here where the specimens are alive.

Expedition Baja and Hidden Gems

Two more permanent galleries that get overlooked. Expedition Baja follows researchers across the peninsula’s mountains, desert flats and islands, and Hidden Gems puts more than 100 objects from the mineralogy collection in one small room.

The chalkboard is erased daily so that new visitors can have a go, in case you were wondering. I’ve been toward the end of the day when it’s totally filled with art. Very cool. All ages love it.

Special Exhibits at the San Diego Natural History Museum

Downstairs is where the temporary exhibits run, and they rotate often enough that it is worth checking what is on before you go. We have seen King Tut and Ultimate Dinosaurs (pictured below) over the years. Currently showing is Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea, which rebuilds beach trash into enormous sculptures, including Dexter the Dungeness crab and Eli the eel. Temporary shows close, so confirm it is still up rather than planning a visit around it.

Giant-Screen Theater

It is worth checking the movie schedule before a visit to plan an itinerary around shows that pique your interest. Films play in the 300-seat Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Theater, which is stadium-style so sightlines hold wherever you sit.

The 300 seats are stadium-style for optimal viewing. Tickets to the movies are included with paid admission, Go San Diego and Balboa Park Explorer passes. If you take advantage of Residents Free Tuesday, they are $5 per person at the admission desk.

We love that the movies are short, generally 30 to 40 minutes, but packed with educational info. Check what’s playing.

Activities on Offer Outside of the Museum

You can explore the Museum’s collections in Balboa Park, but don’t forget about activities on offer outside of the museum. Some you can even take advantage of at home.

Whale Watching

During gray and blue whale watching seasons, the Museum’s Whaler volunteers join every cruise run by its partners, City Cruises San Diego and Legacy Whale Watch. A trained naturalist on board is why you learn more than you would on the average cruise.

Guided Hikes

Museum Canyoneers lead free guided hikes on various trails around San Diego County to familiarize people with our local landscapes.

The hikes run from September through June, and they are free, but capacity is limited and advance online registration is required. Registration opens to museum members five weeks before each hike and to everyone one month before, so popular ones go. You can check the calendar for dates and times.

Community Science Projects (At Home)

If you need help entertaining the kids when school is out or are interested in conservation, please remember to check the Community Science page for ways you can help The Nat catalog current events.

You can submit photos of Monarch butterflies, reptiles, or bumblebees in Southern California or Baja California and upload them to the iNaturalist portal. You can help log king tides or participate in other seasonal projects.

While fun and interesting, these photos are extremely helpful so that scientists can see how wildlife and plant life live in the region.

San Diego Natural History Museum FAQs

Is the San Diego Natural History Museum free?

Not on a normal day. San Diego County residents get in free on the first Tuesday of each month, which the museum calls Resident Free Tuesday. Films in the giant-screen theater are not included that day, though you can add one for $5 per person at the admission desk. The Nature Trail that wraps the building is outside the galleries and free to walk any day.

How much are tickets to theNAT?

Adults are $24.95 and youth 3 to 17 are $16.95, with children 2 and under free. We sell tickets below the desk price. Seniors, students and military get a discount, but you have to ask at the desk rather than see it online.

When is theNAT open late?

On summer Fridays it stays open until 11 p.m. for Nat at Night, and admission drops to half price between 5 and 11 p.m. Otherwise it runs daily from 10 to 5.

Where do you get the scavenger hunt at theNAT?

Two areas inside Fossil Mysteries have them, and you pick up the sheet in the exhibit rather than at the front desk. They are the single best thing here for keeping children looking closely, and my daughter came away with a different fact every time she did one.

How long do you need at theNAT?

Give it more than an hour. Two to three hours covers the film, the second floor and a snack break, and it is possible to see the whole museum in one visit, which is not true of every museum this size.

Is parking free at the San Diego Natural History Museum?

No, not since 5 January 2026, when the City of San Diego introduced paid parking across Balboa Park. There is a lot on the museum’s east side and another by the Balboa Park Carousel. The museum sits a few steps from a bus stop on Park Boulevard, which sidesteps the problem.

Why We Love the San Diego Natural History Museum

We love the museum for your next day out in San Diego, and it’s definitely one of my favorite activities in San Diego with kids. But I also encourage readers to use their resources for at-home edutainment and not forget about activities they offer outside the museum.

I’m in a unique spot where I’ve actually been behind the scenes at The Nat. I’ve seen a portion of their massive research collection of fossils, plants, and other specimens that help track changes in our environment. They also have rare books and historical documents, some of which are displayed throughout the museum.

It’s pretty amazing and gave me a much greater appreciation for their work.

They are so much more than just a museum. Scientists are hard at work in the field collecting data on expeditions and consulting on biological surveys and conservation challenges — to name a few.

Final Thoughts

The Nat is a small but mighty museum dedicated to documenting and preserving the natural history of Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula.

Address: 1788 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 · Phone: (619) 232-3821 · Website: sdnhm.org

See also: 13 San Diego Discounts: Experience the City for Less

What is your favorite thing to do at the San Diego Natural History Museum?