It is not hard to imagine the dinosaurs walking along the edges of the buttes overlooking Ghost Ranch. From the corner of your eye it sometimes feels like you’ve caught a glimpse of the shadow of the long neck and tail of these creatures. Especially after visiting the museum, it’s more tempting to stop and study the rocks along the edges of the trails. A visit to the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology brings it all alive.
Imagine the excitement of a child holding the jawbone of a dinosaur in their hands, placed there by our resident paleontologist. That’s been known to happen at the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology at Ghost Ranch.
In 1985 a huge, 8-ton block of plaster-encased dinosaur bones was hoisted by crane onto the back of a flatbed truck and moved to the main campus of Ghost Ranch. The museum was built around it. Our resident paleontologist Alex Downs is currently at work on a large block taken from the quarry on Ghost Ranch where Coelophysis was discovered in 1947. Visit the museum and watch fossil discovery right before your eyes.
The museum is named for amateur paleontologist Ruth Hall, wife of first resident Ghost Ranch Director Jim Hall. Today the Museum of Paleontology houses not only the huge block of bones but also numerous exhibits, photographs and life-sized replicas of dinosaurs found on the Ranch. Well worth a visit. Even if you’re not a child.
