Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The museum is an independent, nonprofit institution with approximately 350 full-time and part-time staff, more than 1,800 volunteers, and a 25-member board of trustees. It is accredited by the American Alliance of Museumsnand is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science envisions an empowered community that loves, understands, and protects our natural world.The Denver Museum of Nature and Science respectfully acknowledges that the land we are on today is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Ute Nations. We also acknowledge the 48 contemporary tribal nations historically tied to the lands that comprise what is now called Colorado but who now live in the American Southwest, the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain Region.
The story of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science begins in 1868, when Edwin Carter moved into a tiny cabin in Breckenridge, Colorado, to pursue his passion: the scientific study of the birds and mammals of the Rocky Mountains. Almost single handedly, Carter assembled one of the most complete collections of Colorado fauna then in existence. The museum contains a number of hidden secrets that visitors may search for. On the Denver Museum website, there are four different downloadable scavenger hunts available, ranging from State Parks to “Museum Treasures”. Kent Pendleton, one of the museum’s diorama painters, painted eight elves in his work, hidden throughout the museum. Guests are encouraged to search for the elves with one of the printable scavenger hunts. In the IMAX lobby entrance there are several painted pictures hidden on the walls relating to Star Wars.