Visit the San Diego Natural History Museum, the oldest museum in San Diego and a flagship institution in Balboa Park featuring four floors of exhibition space, a giant-screen theatre, and San Diego’s only Foucault pendulum.

With permanent exhibitions, rotating films, a robust calendar of events and activities (including late nights on the third Friday of each month during Spring 2024), and the opportunity to see scientists at work, the Museum will expose you to fascinating stories about the natural world, fostering a lifelong love of learning and engaging you in a worldwide scientific dialogue.

Come celebrate our 150th anniversary with us!

Current exhibits include:
Art of Science (running through May 27, 2024)
In collaboration with the UC San Diego library, see the winners of the Art of Science competition, showcasing the work of UC San Diego students and researchers.

Expedition Baja
The Baja California Peninsula: our neighbour in nature. Explore towing mountains, desert flats, and isolated islands, and follow along with researchers working to conserve the peninsula's wild beauty.

Living Lab
Meet more than 20 of your not-so-cuddly neighbors, from stinging scorpions to elusive nocturnal lizards.

The Backyard
Learn and explore the natural world through play. The Nat's youngest visitors (ages 0-5) can play under a shade tree, search for hidden secrets along a wooden fence, or read their favourite book in a cosy potting shed.

Unshelved: Cool Stuff from Storage
This exhibition gives visitors a rare look into the Museum's storage areas. Different specimens offer the opportunity to revel in the natural world in all its beauty and peculiarity.

Extraordinary Ideas from Ordinary People: A History of Citizen Science
This exhibition explores the past, present and future of citizen science through rare books, art, photographs, and historical documents.

Coast to Cactus in Southern California
This exhibition will take you on an immersive walk through the major regions of southern California's coast, inland valleys, mountains, and deserts and celebrate the abundant variety of life found here.

Fossil Mysteries
From dinosaurs to megalodons to mastodons, travel through 75 million years and dig into the rich fossil history of southern California and Baja California.

Giant-Screen Theatre
The Subaru Giant Screen Experience is one-of-a-kind. Settle into the 300-seat, stadium-style theatre and enjoy films on the massive screen.

Showing Daily: Shark Kingdom, FUNGI: The Web of Life, and Ocean Oasis