Few museums cover the whole story of Earth under one roof like Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Across four floors in Oakland, visitors travel from dinosaur halls to an ancient Egyptian tomb, from Arctic wildlife dioramas painted a century ago to a working paleontology lab.
Highlights crowd every floor: the Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt with its funerary boat and mummies; Polar World and the great halls of North American wildlife; Benedum Hall of Geology telling the story of the rocks beneath Pennsylvania; and the Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians, honoring Native cultures of the Americas. The museum’s dioramas — especially the beloved Arab Courier Attacked by Lions from 1867 — are masterpieces of the art form.
The museum shares 4400 Forbes Avenue with Carnegie Museum of Art (one admission, both museums). Plan for hours, wear good shoes, and start with the dinosaurs.
