Love this place. It is not as large as some of the natural history museums in other cities but that is part of its charm. It is dedicated mainly to fossils and Native American culture in the Pacific Northwest. It is very modern with well thought out displays where you can really get up close with the exhibits. There are half a dozen or more working labs behind glass walls where you can watch actual work going on such as cleaning and sorting fossils. I spent about an hour there and was able to take in all of the areas to see. There is a small cafe at the entrance and plenty of places for kids to interact with displays.

A truly breathtaking remodel has created an inspiring museum for young and old alike. As you wander the giant, light filled spaces greet every visitor with treats of knowledge seemingly wherever you look. Through intentional architectural decisions and with seemingly endless collections of fossils, gorgeous examples of native heritage objects and textiles, biological and life sciences collections, extensive historical archives, vast geological mineral and reference sample libraries, and so much more can be curated into education marvels of innumerable combinations by the knowledgeable and highly trained staff of the Burke. Both present and future generations of learners, educators, and curators have been given a grand canvas, the New Burke Museum, on which knowledge will be disseminated to all who enter it's doors. One cannot enter this museum and leave without having gained some new piece or pieces of knowledge. It is a truly wonderful house of learning for generations to enjoy.

Such a cool museum. Its fun to see what kind of research they are doing in the labs as you are walking the exhibits. It would be a fun place to take your kids but my wife and I had a good time too. The Native American exhibits are very interesting and as you walk in they have a nice little cefe to eat. Both on the first floor. The second floor is a new exhibit called one cubic foot. Very interesting. The third floor is the coolest part. The dinosaur exhibit was very interesting. It's a very interactive. Informative and well laid out museum on the University of Washington campus. Highly recommended!

A beautiful space that is intentional. We visited the museum on the first Thursday of the month, when it is free. It’s a relatively small museum. I really liked the design and the cultural exhibits. The awareness of impact and thought behind it is refreshing and enlightening. The coolest part is being able to see all the behind the scenes through the glass. Kids around us seemed to be enjoying the museum. Wish there were interpreters at the exhibits to help understand them better and learn. I would return for a private party if that ever happens. It’s nice for an evening out before or after dinner. It’s a museum set up best for guided learning.

Sunday parking is free! Family friendly museum with lots of engaging activities for everyone especially kids. My son's favorite parts were the interactive areas that allowed kids to take in the knowledge they were gaining around them. Highly recommend for first museum experiences. The dinosaur bones are awesome! Great experience for our family.

So cool! We went on the free admission first Thursday. Awesome collection that’s centered around the PNW. Great for kids, but a group of adults also had a great time.

It was an amazing experience to visit this museum on weekend. If you are a UW student, please bring your UW student for free admissions. It is worth the money to visit the museum because it gives you a broad knowledge of human and animal history during certain times. I am looking forward to visiting this museum again

Free parking on Sunday. Expensive for a family. Nice new building. It’s interesting to see the working areas. Would have liked to see more in the orca and salmon, and not just related to the tribes. The neutral language signage and straight forward exhibits are excellent. They refer to colonization as if the movement of people is a new thing. They pick and chose who are allowed to migrate. The Pacific Islanders are the only people to use visual clues to navigate bodies of water. Seattleites will enjoy this museum.

The Burke Museum was good, but for a city the size of Seattle, I have to say I was hoping for more. Washington has a lot of history. From prehistoric times to the modern day. The exhibits were cool, some of the best I've seen. But I really wish there was more. Washington has a very rich and diverse history with much to offer the kid who loves dinosaurs, those who want to learn about the native peoples or the many environments that exist around the state. This museum just scratches the surface of these things in my opinion.

The Burke Museum is amazing. We went on a family trip here… with teens… and we all had a great time. 3 levels with lots of artifacts to look at - make sure you read the display placards, they are full of interesting stories and make the experience richer! There are glass window science labs you can peek into and see scientists doing actual work… Dinosaurs and Paleontologists are on the top floor! 🦖 Plenty of (paid) parking in the lot next to the museum. We went on a weekday and it wasn’t too crowded - we also bought our tickets online. I’d give yourself a few hours to look at everything. We spent 3 hours. PS. The first floor has a coffee shop/cafe called “Off The Rez” which has good food & coffee. Grab lunch there!

My family enjoyed this museum a lot. We spent about 2.5 hours here. I loved being able to see the labs and explain to the kids how items come to the museum, are stored, processed and displayed. They found it very interesting. Be sure to check the website. Many qualify for free admission. I loved the combination human history as well as natural history and science.

I took my kid twice here. He loved seeing the fossils and archaeologists working in their labs. The museum is not too large but has plenty to look at and learn. There is lots of parking available ($4/hr on weekdays). 3rd Thursdays of month there is free admission.

Great experience at this museum. Loved how interactive it was. Though I wish there was more dinosaurs and birds since I am a connoisseur of both. These frogs were pretty cool though but my mom would disagree.

Outstanding museum. Especially for little ones. Currently there is a dinosaur exhibit with hands on activities for kids. Very cool and under 4 is free. They also have a military discount.

Amazing experience at the Burke museum. So many artifacts showcasing the history of the city and Washington as a whole. Make sure you read all the displays as they have tons of interesting stories and information. You can also see scientists working on different artifacts through the glass rooms all across the museum which was cool to see Top floor was by far the most fun with a detailed history of how recent human activities shaped the modern Greater Seattle Area and on the opposite corner were the dinosaur fossils which are always fun to see! There is a relatively big paid public parking lot right next to the museum. There was plenty of parking when I visited on a weekday. I believe there is free parking on Sundays and also free museum entry on the first Thursday of every month.

One of the coolest museums in Seattle!!! A fun and great learning opportunity for all ages! The staff is always very nice and informative! The museum is well kept, clean and neat! There is soo much to learn and so much to see! You can even see behind the scenes in some areas of this museum, which is really cool to experience and watch! There is a small play area for kids to climb and crawl through a tunnel, as well as crafts to do! Tons of hands on things to do! They offer free days which is awesome (check their website for specific days) and the Parking lot is right in front of the museum which makes things less of a hassle and way easier!

Interesting Museum. Reserved in advance for free first Thursday of the month. Loved especially level 2 which has a lot of unique experiences, although a little bloody. And loved playing the mancala. Was a pretty great game.

A museum with a large variety of exhibits to see, ranging from fossils and ancient history to the modern human age and culture. Also comes with several kids corner where kids can learn and enjoy lessons on ancient & modern history. There are also labs located in each section where you can see actual staff working on excavating and studying materials related to the era in the section. Overall, it is definitely a lot of learning packed into one place and highly worth it for the curious mind.

Disappointed. The old one was so much better and unique, this one is made of glass and stone. Many installations were not finished. And parking is still bad, unsolved issue as before.

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture has a wide collection of artifacts, dinosaur exhibit,best fossil collection and indigenous culture. They have 3 floors : 1st floor has gift shops along with indigenous culture facts. Totems facts was interesting. Lockers and jacket place available. Lifts, restrooms available at each floor and Restaurant at 1st floor. They have kids area at 2nd and 3rd floor. 3rd floor was my favorite with lots of interesting facts on fossils of dinosaur and other spices which disappeared.

Agree with others, very underwhelming for a musuem from a major university in a large city. The price of admission was too high for the quality and quantity of exhibits presented. Understanding that the price helps to fund the continued research, but can't that be offset by the university's endowment or revenue from their athletic programs? Did not see a mineral and geology exhibit that was in the old building. The building layout with the long passageway in the middle makes it feel cramp. The old building had a better flow plan. Parking was adequate given the high traffic location. Take advantage of the free first Thursday to lessen the dissatisfaction you will feel if paying the regular admission cost.

Our favorite place in Seattle. My children love dinosaurs and Burke Museum was the perfect place to learn more about it. The best part was to see the stegosaurus skeleton. It is my kids favorite dinosaur. We also learned a lot and enjoyed watching the paleontologists working through the windows. Definitely we will come back! The trip was worth it!

A family friendly museum with lots to learn, 3 floors overall, and it covers vast natural historical topics, from distant to tangible, from life forms to cultures. Many workshops in the museum that show behind-the-scene efforts made possible for such a great museum.

I remember visiting on an elementary school field trip and being fascinated by the narwhal horn. The attendant joked that it was from a unicorn. I remember coming back as a university student and seeing the narwhal horn again, thinking that's cool. I came back as an adult and could not locate the narwhal tusk -but found so much more. What I enjoy most about the Burke is that they have a new special exhibit every couple of months. I also enjoy the wide variety of specimens in the large display windows -I almost always see something new each time I visit. Entry is free for NARM members.

This is a relatively new museum located in the University District. My first impression was that the museum building is amazing! When you get inside you have high expectations and the first 2 floors left me a little disappointed. There are several rooms for viewing the exhibition, but all laboratories are closed to the public. Climbing up to the 3rd floor, you will see the skeleton of a giant ground sloth, a mammoth, a giant skull of a triceratops and a tyrannosaurus rex. There are also 2 children's stations on each floor, which helped keep the kids occupied.

I came here for a biology assignment and fell in love with the museum. I'll be investing in a membership and visiting regularly. There is so much to see and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. Update. I had time to visit the first floor that houses the indigenous displays. It was so beautiful. They had a few artists in house creating as well. I didn't take pictures of the artists because I was too shy to ask and I don't like taking pictures of people without permission. As always, the Burke Museum is my favorite.

Small to medium sized museum with active research labs cleaning fossils. The amount of on display material is pretty minimal compared to other museums around the country. There was an interesting exhibit on the Seattle sound geological history.

The exhibits are pretty neat. They’re all a bit small though. My favorite part of the museum is the paleontology floor (third). The prehistoric animal skeletons are neat.

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture U-District Seattle, WA Opened 10/2019... Key location located on the West end of the UW Campus ...ideal place to house a museum. The new Burke Museum of Natural History was built within earshot of the pre-existing building (demolished in 4/2019) off of Memorial Way. The state of the art facility cost $106 million to construct and opened just before the pandemic closures. The focal point of the Burke is to feature and highlight Northwest Native Art and Culture. The Burke Museum is a learning experience for children and there families. And is universally appealing. Administered by the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences. Admission to the Museum is FREE for UW faculty and students. Adult priced admission $22 (2023)... $14 with a Student ID. The Museum is on 4 levels and includes a Paleontology exhibit... on the top floor. As well as an interesting section dedicated to Archaeology... The Biology of wildlife is also featured highlighted by the bird and mammal collection. The Museum has FREE admission 🎟️ on the first Thursday of every month... And is closed on Mondays. Museum tickets can be purchased online (timed entry) or at the ticket booth (on site)... Museum hours 10 AM - 5 PM... The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is a welcomed addition to the community and to the UW Campus. I was overall impressed by the exhibits and there visual displays... Do come visit.

Updated (Feb 2020): Now open with better curated exhibits, and facilities for museum-goers' comfort. Free entrance on the first Thursday of each month (and very busy). Small museum at the UW Seattle campus that contains the only dinosaur exhibit in the state. Small exhibits on culture and natural history of Washington. Fully enjoyed in under two hours and great for kids who love dinosaurs. Notes: Museum closes in January and won't open until Fall of 2019 Parking is limited so taking the bus is recommended Entrance free for UW faculty, students and staff and kids 4 and under.

Great Museum actually it is a family friendly museum with lots to learn even kids will enjoy it and they can play and create some crafts. It’s very vast and covers fossils, cultures, nature, history and etc. Many workshops in the museum that show their efforts made possible for such a amazing museum. you need to pay for entry, however there various discounts, student, veteran, seniors and etc.

Very small, poorly organized exhibits, WAY overpriced at $22 for adults.

Amazing place! Love it!

Awesome museum. So much to see. Kids loved it. Don’t forget to visit the cafe!

So much more room than than the previous building.

Really novel building and collection, and I absolutely love the fact that you can literally see the curators and conservators at work. This Burke is really nothing like the old one—it’s finally a destination museum and something UW can be proud of, and something its unique collection of cultural, animal, and dinosaur artifacts deserves. And its cafe—Off the Rez—is surprisingly good and unique as well.

I LOVE it here. So much. I've been coming for over a decade but I hadn't been since the remodel and it is just amazing. They have so many taxidermied animals which is pretty amazing to look at. The fossils are incredible, and I learned that only one dinosaur bone has ever been dug up in Washington state. They have a little play area for kids, only one family at a time. They have activities like drawing and coloring little masks with toothpicks. They have a T-Rex head! That was amazing. They also have a new saber tooth tiger which I had never seen before. It was kind of a bummer that the gemology section wasn't there anymore. I loved looking at that. They have two massive arrays of animals, and it shows which ones are related, it explains evolution. They also have a whole wall with an incredible amount of taxidermy to animals, including the head of a walrus and a rhinoceros. Of course all of these textured animals died of natural causes, they would never kill one just to stuff. I absolutely love it here, in case you didn't know. My kids absolutely loved it, although we were there for 4 hours so they did get a little tired. Be sure to check out the cafe, the food is amazing! They also have fry bread with different toppings so that is just awesome. The coffee is also delicious.

Cool place to see history and science! The museum is not very big, so, plan to be there for 1.5 hr to see everything. Parking on Sunday is free!

I have never been to this place, and the only reason I came here was for an event. But before the event we were allowed to tour the museum. It was amazing! I cannot wait to bring my kids back here to look at all of the fossils and history of people in the planet especially in this region. What a cool venue but I never knew about. If you haven’t been you should go!

My first visit to the new location. I definitely miss the size of the previous museum but still enjoyed myself.

Best T. Rex skull ever!

Great place to enjoy and great collection of art and designs architecture. .

Not worth the $22 for adult pass. Coming from NYC, this museum is a joke.

So many different taxidermy, fossils, and specimens. One of the best naturals history museums I’ve ever visited. A true gem.

We like museums and we loved the Burke. It's just the right size, well laid out, excellent exhibits, terrific artificacts, informative.

Great place! We love it!

I had no idea this museum was so rich with dinosaur bones. I enjoyed the rich and educational experience it was for me and my young child. Parking in the museum lot is expensive, but you can park in the neighborhood north of 45th if you don't mind a short walk.

Really neat exhibits. We got to see the disection of a badger, gross but interesting! The Native American exhibit was very well laid out and expansive. Many quality pieces to see. The paleontology exhibit was fantastic as well, very neat displays. Lots to see and take in!

Great remodeled space. Heavy on paleontology and biology.

Always a good time here. COVID made it more difficult but still a lot of fun!

Fantastic new museum! They have glass walls to working rooms where, if the timing is right, you can watch workers skin a specimen and clean the bones, or watch as they separate dirt from a fossils. T. Rex skull is super cool to see

Wonderful and modern museum; love the interactive spaces for children - of all ages ;-) and especially like the viewing labs to watch scientists and docents at work. The collections are well documented and placed in context. And just beautiful spaces to enjoy history and science.

This museum is a real beaut. Many deeply interesting exhibits, densely and logically organized. I loved watching the work rooms behind glass—people picking rock off of fossil for our edification and amusement. Cafe was yummy, wad finding was perfect. Exterior landscaping looks like it will be pretty nice by summer.

I won’t say that the museum is not interesting because it is BUT is quite outdated and the displays look old. The lighting is terrible and doesn’t give justice to the pieces. The museography is poor and the explanatory charts not quite interesting. It is great to see people cleaning the pieces and the conservators doing their job, no doubt..but a museum needs way more than that. This building will be gone by early 2019 and the new one, next to it will open. Hopefully it will improve the whole concept. In the 21st century museums need to be way more inviting.

Located in the University of Washington. Great museum. Cool thing is that the labs and the ongoing work is open to witness for the public. I really loved the paleontology section.

Definitely a great place to learn history of dinosaurs! Just feel it’s little bit small but good enough to be back again. My son been here before and he request to come back again.

Good place. A lot of exhibits if you have the time. Everything very neatly laid out and a lot information. I encourage everyone to go explore this museum. Free to all the first Thursday of each month. It was very fascinatingly. Coming soon fossils T-rex, in 2019.

Beautiful museum, one of the best curations I have seen. The working labs are fun, the history lesson is amazing on how much the world has evolved and the impact of climate change. Great restaurant too, must try the taco.

Super friendly and knowledgeable staff. Had an outstanding time!

I felt a little nostalgic entering the museum knowing that it’s going to be replaced with a brand new building next door in 2019. It’s a compact collection but a nice cross section between evolutionary and geological history as well as exhibitions on humans - who are we?! It’s also a great place to remind you of the intrigue, fascination and excitement of children as they run around with their parents

Reopened after a complete reconstruction, everything was spectacular. His exhibitions are very educational and interesting, I loved how we can observe the work in the laboratories day by day.

The New Burke Museum is absolutely worth a visit. Three stories of amazing displays.

Great museum with a lot of hidden gems. UW parking is $4 per hour. Free Thursday museum entrance with online reservations. There are 2 parking lot pay stations the other pay station is hidden behind a tree near the entrance. Very busy the day that we went but we still had a great time. 3 levels of things to explore. Dinosaur is on the top floor which was the most crowded.

World class working natural history museum as part of UW campus. Great hands on exhibits for little ones! Free the first Thursday of every month.

I loved how the museum incorporated displays with active research!

Wide open spaces and lots of ways for kids to learn more about nature and science

What a great place! We enjoyed the Museum. Lots of rich culture!

Small but very interactive museum with a lot to see and do.

Incredible natural history museum. Well curated, thoughtful designed and mindful in its execution.

So educational!!! We had a blast

Very nice Museum and family friendly. Great. Place to take kids .

My grand kids like the artifacts! They are fond of dinosaurs as well and always telling me to bring them to the museum. It is really educational and entertaining, the children never get tire of visiting over and over again!

Great history and nature extremely well presented. Can watch curators develop specimens.

A little pricey for what you get especially during covid.

The Burke Museum's new digs are fantastic. Excellent exhibitions of paleontology, archaeology, and anthroplogy collections as well as viewable areas of watching researchers cataloging their extensive and ever expanding collections.

If you want the lights for your own, then come in very late. There's free parking around it at that time as well. But during the day it gets busy. Did you expect anything less in the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture? Come on!