Banff Park Museum
Banff Park Museum
4
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Western Canada's oldest natural history museum, Banff Park Museum offers visitors a chance to browse some 5,000 vintage specimens - from stuffed bears to minerals and plants. A visit to this 'Museum of a Museum' is a great way to get an up-close look at Banff wildlife and see how natural history was interpreted a century ago. Plenty of interactive and kids' activities - including the Xplorers Club.
Duration: < 1 hour
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
450 reviews
Excellent
181
Very good
180
Average
78
Poor
9
Terrible
2
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Jyss
Saint Paul, MN633 contributions
Jan 2024 • Couples
Stopped here on a really cold day as a break to warm up. It's includes in the discovery pass if you have it otherwise it was fairly inexpensive. Lots of taxidermy and a fairly small space. It was interesting to see all the different birds and the very well preserved animals. They do not add to collection anymore in the same manner they collected a hundred years ago. Only took about 45 minutes to see everything.
Written January 16, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hermann t
Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany569 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
Buildings and some exhibits in this museum commemorate the good old days. Worth a visit, you get an overview of the entire wildlife of the Rockies here. Even if you see a lot in the wild, here you see and learn a lot more.
Automatically translated
Written July 2, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jim B
Grapeview, WA1,848 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
This is like stepping back in time. The building itself is historical and has beautiful detailing. The taxidermy animals are interesting to look at since you can see them up close. Definitely from another era. Later, the Parks shifted their emphasis to get people out and see the real animals alive in their habitat.
Written September 25, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rockbean
Jersey, UK41 contributions
Aug 2022 • Couples
Excellent example of an old
Museum. The guy at reception was extremely knowledgeable and very interesting. Wide range of animal exhibits and things from late 1800’s. Climate change exhibit was really informative .
Museum. The guy at reception was extremely knowledgeable and very interesting. Wide range of animal exhibits and things from late 1800’s. Climate change exhibit was really informative .
Written August 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gchezmoi
Singapore, Singapore139 contributions
It was raining heavily on the 18 June 05. It was the last day of my 5- day trip in the mountains. I would be going to the airport around 11:30am. With such a short morning left, I went to this museum. It is located just before the Bow River Bridge. The museum has 2 floors of stuffed animals display under skylight. Most of the animals are native, elk, wolves, bears, deers, moose, grizzlies, etc. There is also a room at the first floor with books on nature and animals. This is an alternative place to visit on a rainy cold day when hiking and sightseeing in the mountains is not convenient.
Written September 11, 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tamara D
Edmonton, Canada42 contributions
Oct 2013 • Solo
The Banff Park museum is closed in the winter due to federal budget cuts. This is the second year that they have been doing this. I didn't know. It was very disappointing.
Written November 4, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
K C C
Provo, UT62 contributions
Aug 2014 • Friends
This museum gives one a good idea of the variety of animals that inhabit the area. As intended, the building and displays are also interesting samples of what such museums were like at the early part of the century. We went partly to see the grizzly pelt which is on the second level. Unfortunately, no information is provided about that particular animal. When shot, it weighed 760 pounds and seems to have been the largest grizzly taken in Banff. But the real story is that this bear attacked 5 people over a ten day period all the while living in the square mile (approximately) of willows and woods bounded by the Trans Canada, the railway line, Compound Road, and Mount Norquay Road--that is, right on the edge of town. It's an amazing story. For more, read Sid Marty's The Black Grizzly of Whiskey Creek. I read the book while we were visiting Banff and it added a whole new dimension to the visit.
Written August 4, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Swift-Ohio
Hudson, OH324 contributions
Sep 2012 • Couples
This is as much an historical sight as a museum. It the old collection of mounts from very early in the history of Banff park. By modern standards it may be a little strange, but it is a wonderful collection, full of beautiful specimens, in a beautiful building, and is a great slice of history and natural history. I would highly recommend doing the tour with the staff (it is included in the admission). The staff is great and very knowledgeable.
Written September 15, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CoyoteBrokenFoot
Silver Spring, MD36 contributions
Sep 2012 • Friends
Just the building alone is worth seeing. I hope I don't have this confused with something else; but I think this was the one with an extensive collection of taxidermy, which I generally would find gruesome; but this time interesting.
Written September 10, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MCNICE9
Easton, MD221 contributions
Aug 2012 • Family
This is a 2-stotry museum. Discounted tickets with the Whyte Museum. Local animals are arranged by species. The ranger will explain the history and provide perspective to understand museum historical importance. Discovery room was very interesting even for adults. Who get to lift those huge horns often? The museum has also a nice collection of historical books.
Written September 8, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CaveandBasin
Banff, Canada
The entry fee is $3.90 for adults, $3.40 for seniors and free for youth 17 and under. It's also free to get in if you bring your Discovery Pass (aka annual Parks Canada pass).
Written May 22, 2018
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