Great place , visited on family day Kids 8+ will enjoy

This is going to be a negative review, so I will start off on a positive note. I liked the trilobites. I was also impressed by the variety of crystals and the mine shaft. It was nice that there was no entrance fee. However...that does not mean your visit is free. They charge for parking. That being said; I started the day stressed out and decided to spend a nice relaxing day at a museum I had not visited before. Unfortunately I ended my visit to the museum far more stressed out and disappointed than I was when I started. So, lets list the problems.... 1) This is not an actual museum. If you randomly google museums, see this, briefly scan the website and think you are going to a museum (as per the traditional sense of the word). You are not. This is not a normal museum. It is a series of hallways inside a random university building that contain displays interspersed between a University coffee shop and class rooms. It took me 20 minutes to look at everything I could find. 2) Parking: Some parking lots charge $15. Some $5. Some will apparently get you towed. I only know this from talking to someone with the 'parking' department on the telephone, because there are otherwise ZERO signs telling you which lots charge what, which are for faculty and which are for anyone. There are also NO signs whatsoever identifying the lots. The website tells you to park in lots HV or C. Unless you have a map of the campus with you, you can't tell which lots are HV and which are C as there are no signs identifying them. 3) Building signage: The signs on the buildings are so small they might as well not be there. Not kidding. I was given directions to the 'museum' using landmarks and building shape ("the library is the big cube. Its near that") as there are no visible signs until you're right at the front door. 3a) Speaking of signs; you cannot be faulted for thinking the Earth Sciences Museum would be in the Earth Sciences building. It is not. For some reason it is instead located in the Environmental Information Technology building. 4) Displays The signage at the museum itself is also terrible on some displays. I have 20/20 vision and even I could not see well enough to read the descriptions of some displays that are in tiny font and located in weird places, such as on the floor, or below waist level. I have included photos below as examples of the poor and absent signage. If they were to improve signage on the campus, improve the displays and make it very clear on their website that this isn't a traditional museum so you do not go there expecting something completely different...I will provide more stars.

Free museum is pretty good took my 3 year old to see some dinos :)

Good short trip with kids to learn about dinosaur period, crystal formation, mining, etc. Free admission and campus offers picnic tables ideal for a good time where we can take lunch and enjoy. Parking is $5 or if you are lucky you can park at coin parking too!

Cool museum & very interesting for kids

Really cool for free museum, enjoyed seeing some different things I'd never coming across. Wish more universities did this sort of thing to involve the community, great work.

Such a nice place for both adults and children, and at no cost to enter. Parking is available in lots on the university campus, so it's paid. The University of Waterloo LRT station is located very close to this building, so it's easily accessible by public transportation. We hadn't visited since before Covid, and our experience was just as good as we remembered it being in the past.

very unique lecture hall. the museum part is really cool to look at when walking through the building or waiting for class/exam. the other exhibits are also worth looking at very interesting. the lecture hall tables could benefit from having more space

Great museum and study spot on UW campus. There is a mix of practical and comfy seating, interesting exhibits, and natural lighting. Running water on the lower level creates a calming work environment.

This has to be the best free natural history museum I have been to. Their collection of minerals, fossils and even local mining history is fantastic - worthy of university of waterloo. I don't get the other reviewers complaining about parking and signage. This is not a tourist attraction for masses. It's a department building at a university that also has exhibits for their subject. If you are interested in science, and like to learn, this is a great way to spend 1-2 hrs

We visited today with my 11 and 9 year old kids, and I'd definitely recommend you check it out! I agree with previous reviewers who say this place should be better advertised, as I had no idea it existed. There were lots of cool rocks, dinosaurs, fossils, etc. I loved that it was free and in an active part of the campus. Once we figured out parking ($5) it was a short, nice walk. I feel like it was a once-off visit so I don't imagine we will be back, but I would recommend that others check it out.

It is free for all. Its located inside the Waterloo University. Good experience for kids. There are good amount of Stones/ crystals on exhibition. You can also see some fossils.

enjoyed our visit there with the kids. They should definitely advertise that they have this there I lived in Kitchener Waterloo all my life and never knew that this museum even existed. I searched up museums close by and this came up it was definitely worth the trip to check it out kids had a heyday. Very clean and organized

Fantastic. Every parent should take their children, or even just them selves. It is a great resource for the community that is free. It's exactly the kind of thing a university should be doing.

Amazing place to learn about the many concepts of science 🧪

Free entry (not many people mention this) - no need to buy any tickets. Nice cosy, ambient museum in the heart of University of Waterloo. Has cushioned chairs to sit, washrooms, water station to drink, cafe on the first floor (has tables and chairs)etc. Fossils, rocks, a mine, minerals etc can be found here some of which donated by many across the globe (see photos). If you have kids, bring them with you as it’s educational. I was filled with wonder looking at all those fossils. I don’t know why I missed this museum the past 3 years.

It's small but very interesting. Also, there is no entry fee. Make sure to park somewhere outside, there is no parking except on campus parking

I'll give this a 3 because they are good enough to offer this as a free admission. Given it is connected to the University, I would expect some of the display information would be more up to date. We found several examples of exhibit information that is factually wrong...and has been for a long while. Still, I do appreciate the gesture in opening up to the public and it was still a great visit. I just hope they can convince, perhaps, some students to help with updating the info.

Awesome collection of lifesize polar bears, moose and many more animals. It has an ultimate collection of all crystals and stones. The maple leaf etched in a stone was unique. The kids enjoyed the treasure hunt. It was indeed a must visit for all ages.

It's a lovely place for rock nerds to come in and observe stones and geological anomalies and the wonders of naturally occurring mineral deposits. Quiet and peaceful. I would improve the labelling a little and make it more uniform and organized. Some sections were closed including dino pit so kept one star in reserve for the next visit. Also, did I mention it's free? The closest parking lot is a little down the road and about 450m walk to the museum at $5 a day.

We stopped by to see this museum during our stay in Waterloo. The university campus was quite nice and parking is only $5. I found the exhibit a bit lacking as many of the display cases had burnt out lights, scratched acrylic or weird setups. In many situations it was difficult to see the items on display clearly and crisply. You can tell a lot of love and care was put into the exhibit, and it does spread across 3 floors. Ultimately it is rather forgettable if you've seen a rock and gem display before. The dinosaur exhibit is relatively smaller and to my knowledge most are replicas. Not a bad way to spend some time but if the costs were any higher or it was busy I wouldn't recommend visiting. For reference I am comparing this against the Royal Tyrell / The Glenbow museum in Alberta.

Nice place to visit, full of master pieces.

This amazing museum was so exciting for our dinosaur and earth obsessed 4 year old. The fossils, photos and artwork, and mining exhibit were so fun for him. It's an hour at most type of experience, not a full day commitment and is free. Recommend for a short indoor outing!

Well my daughter and I found a rock and was told to drop in to the muesum and get it looked at. The university grounds is beautiful, and my daughter loved it. When we entered the building my daughter seen a lady leaving an office and was excited about the rock and approached her to see if she was able to help. It happened to be the curater of the Muesum. She was beyond helpful and went way beyond what we expected and showed us around. As well helped find our lost keys. The Muesum is clean and beautifully laid out, and the mine setup in the basement was very interesting. We had a great day and so I took my father in law with me today to see. He also enjoyed it and again had a wonderful day. Looking forward to seeing the results on the rock. But most definitely will be going back to visit again.

Eye candy for those interested in Geo and Dinosaurs. Go back in time as you rediscover The infamous T-rex and Velociraptor on display. See a fine specimen of a petrified tree trunk. Fossils. Geo and more!

I took kids to the museum after seeing some dinosaur skeleton in the picture, and they loved the place! It also has 3D puzzle game and sand game for kids. Parking is an issue though.

We had a great time visiting this exhibit/museum which is located inside one of the campus buildings. The kids loved the interactive activities and there were quite a few dinosaur displays to view. Many rock and geode displays as well which were pretty cool. It is free to view but it is paid parking on campus.

The museum, although small, is a great place to visit. Always free, you can go in any time to see some of the minerals, or during official times to see all of the displays. The museum director is also super amazing and will help any teachers pick out a great tour package. Be sure to check out the rock garden as well, very beautiful.

I visited the museum during family day last Monday. My kids loved this place since they had a Dino Exhibits at that day and my kids excited on everything about dinosaurs. They have a cafetaria upstairs. However, like other food services on campus, it's closed during statutory holiday. The museum is free admission, just come and explore their collection.

An "on-campus" exhibition, many good specimens displayed

Nice and interesting museum, lots of minerals, fòssils, rocks...

Very good museum to see dinosaur fossils and bones and has dino eggs to see has great information to learn and the activities here are fun been here once back in 2014 very enjoyable for children I would like to visit here again this year if I could

Had a great time taking the kids here and it was free!

Decent Museum-This museum is small but it have some good collection, few dinosaurus skeleton and some fossils as well. Good for visiting one time.