The Museum of Western Colorado

Yellowstone in Winter

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

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Our winter adventure begins in West Yellowstone where we will be met by snowcoaches that will transport us to the Snow Lodge. In the afternoon we will have a chance to cross country ski on any of the groomed trails near Old Faithful Geyser. The next day we will take an all day guided snowcoach tour of Yellowstone Canyon loop and return us back to West Yellowstone where we will enjoy dinner and an IMAX movie about Yellowstone. From there we travel to Jackson Hole and the National Elk Refuge where we will board horse-drawn sleighs into the largest wintering elk refuges in the United States.
Led by Mike Perry and Zebulon Miracle
Register by January 10 • $700 Museum member/$750 Non-member
includes transportation, lodging, admissions
Not included: food, personal items, tips for Yellowstone guides

We're sorry, this trip is full. Please call (970) 242-0971, ext. 212, to be wait-listed.

February Oral History Program

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Our presenter this month will be James Wetzel, author of Murder and Mystery on the Grand Mesa. He will be signing and selling his book.

Thursday, February 16 at Noon
Whitman Educational Center
4th and Ute

Read more about the Oral History Program here.

February After Hours Tour

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Behind-the-Scenes Tours allow tour participants to enter collections storage area areas that are seldom open to the public. Hundreds of artifacts not currently on display may be viewed, as well as laboratories and work areas. In addition, the exhibition halls will be open for a true museum after dark experience.

All tours start at 5:30 pm and last 90 minutes.

Dinosaur Journey Museum
550 Jurassic Ct.
Fruita

For more information, go here.

The New Dinosaur National Monument

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Dinosaur National Monument's quarry building and visitor center was closed in 2006 due to structural concerns. It is now redesigned and reopened, and we will head there for a day trip visit to see 1,500 dinosaur bones from the Late Jurassic-age Morrison Formation. Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus - they are all there, and the visitor center is all new. Come see the new exhibit and quarry wall in your first chance to do so in 5 years!
Led by John Foster
Register by March 7 • $55 Museum member/$60 Non-member
includes transportation and admission

McDonald Creek Rock Art Hike I

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Spring is the best time to visit the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area and one of the hidden jewels for hiking is the McDonald Creek trail. Tucked far back and just north of the Colorado River is a lovely four mile trail with beautiful vegetation and interesting geology. Best of all, it also contains some of the best Ute and Fremont rock art on the Western Slope.
Led by Zebulon Miracle
Register by March 20 • $45 Museum member/$50 Non-member
includes transportation to trailhead

Museum of Western Colorado Annual Meeting

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0600

March 28 • 4 pm

Whitman Educational Center
4th and Ute
Downtown Grand Junction

All are welcome! There will be an election of new Board members at this meeting.

Cuba! - Spring

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Focused on people-to-people education, nature and cultural exchanges, Cubans are eager and anxious to meet their American cousins. Highlights include: Old Havana, authentic Cuban cuisine, Latin music, art and dance, an excursion to Vinales Valley, the house of literary titan Ernest Hemingway, Regla - the heart of the rich African influenced regions, a crocodile breeding reserve, the city of Cienfuegos and its French influenced neoclassical buildings, Trinidad de Cuba, a boat trip across the Treasure Lagoon to see the reconstruction of a Taino Indian village and climb the peaks of Topes de Collantes aboard Soviet Army trucks.
Led by Mike Perry
Register by February 1 • $3,695
includes round-trip airfare from Denver to Cuba, all food, lodging, admission fees, guide and chauffeur service mentioned in itinerary
Not included: meals not mentioned in the itinerary, tips, departure tax from Cuba, travel insurance
See more about this trip here!

McDonald Creek Rock Art Hike II

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Spring is the best time to visit the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area and one of the hidden jewels for hiking is the McDonald Creek trail. Tucked far back and just north of the Colorado River is a lovely four mile trail with beautiful vegetation and interesting geology. Best of all, it also contains some of the best Ute and Fremont rock art on the Western Slope.
Led by Zebulon Miracle
Register by March 28 • $45 Museum member/$50 Non-member
includes transportation to trailhead

Hopi and Zuni Culture

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0600

The Hopi and Zuni of Arizona and New Mexico remain some of the most traditional and unchanged Native American cultures in the Four Corners region. On this trip we will visit Monument Valley with a tour by a Navajo guide, spend a day in both the Hopi and Zuni villages, tour El Morro National Monument to see prehistoric and Spanish rock art and see "Sky City" - the famous village of Acoma.
Led by Zebulon Miracle
Register by March 26 • $500 Museum member/$550 Non-member
includes transportation, lodging, admissions

Prehistoric Journey: The Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0600

This visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science will include a chance to roam the museum's paleontology exhibit Prehistoric Journey. But the highlight will be a tour of the paleontology lab where staff and volunteers are preparing the high altitude Ice Age fossil material from the Snowmastodon site, a pond shoreline deposit that sat on the edge of a glacier and entombed many mastodons, mammoths, bison and salamanders about 50,000 years ago.
Led by John Foster
Register by April 5 • $265 Museum member/$275 Non-member
includes transportation, lodging, entrance fee and tour

Moab Rock Art

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Moab is well known for its national parks, wild raft trips and beautiful scenery. But did you know that the area is also full of rock art left behind by the Fremont, Utes and even older Archaic cultures? We will make several stops to see some of the best examples of rock art in the area and return up the breathtaking Highway 128.
Led by Zebulon Miracle
Register by April 18
$55 Museum member/
$60 Non-member
includes transportation

Vietnam and Cambodia

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0600

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Historically there are many place names Americans will recognize: Hanoi, Saigon, Hue City, Da Nang, Halong Bay, Mekong Delta and Phnom Penh. Vietnam and Cambodia have a history as rich as nowhere else on earth. What were once places to be avoided are now thriving, beautiful places not to be missed. It has been said by recent travelers there, "Why didn't I go there sooner?" "It is a paradise and the people are equally as friendly and welcoming as anywhere we've been." By popular request now we are going there! Come join us on this - our first trip across the Pacific - and experience what thousands are claiming, this is a paradise.
Led by Mike Perry
Register by March 15 • Pricing will be available soon.

Opera Colorado: Denver

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Spend a weekend in Denver and see the best of the city's arts. We will arrive in the Mile High City with enough time for a downtown walking tour before catching a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore. A tour of the Denver Art Museum on Sunday will cap off the trip.

Led by Zebulon Miracle
Register by April 13 • $275 Museum member/$300 Non-member
includes transportation, lodging and tickets

Rattlesnake Canyon Arches

Sat, 05 May 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Did you know that one of the largest collections of arches in the United States is located just a few miles from Grand Junction? And, no, we are not talking about the Moab area. Within the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area is a tremendous collection of arches. The eight mile hike from the bottom will give you the best view and, best of all, the trail far less crowded than anything in Moab!
Led by Mike Perry and Zebulon Miracle
Register by May 2
$45 Museum member/
$50 Non-member
includes transportation to trailhead

Tour of Kannah Creek: History, Natural History and Archaeology

Sat, 12 May 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Come tour the Kannah Creek area where discoveries were made by the Western Investigations Team over the last six years. Learn about the unique history of Kannah Creek from visits by early explorers, Ute encampments and the settlement era. We will have lunch at Dr. Dujay's ranch located in Kannah Creek and he will discuss the unique flora and fauna of the area. There is some moderate hiking involved.
Led by David Bailey and Dr. Rick Dujay
Register by May 9
$55 Museum member/
$65 Non-member
includes transportation and lunch