Peterson Air & Space Museum

Peterson Air & Space Museum

Peterson Air & Space Museum
4.5
Military MuseumsHistoric SitesScience Museums
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed
About
The Museum preserves and portrays the rich aviation and space history of Colorado Springs and Peterson Air Force Base. From our barnstormer beginnings in the Roaring Twenties, through the daring exploits of our World War II pilots and into the modern space era, our exhibits are sure to capture your attention. The museum is open to the public even though the museum is on an active Air Force installation. All that is required is for non-military ID card holders and groups to call us or submit a request on our web site a minimum of one day in advance of your visit (before noon MDT) to arrange for a pass and detailed instructions (https://petemuseum.org/visitor-information/). A State or federal issued Photo ID is required for all Non-DoD visitors over 18. Drivers will need to have proof of insurance and registration for their vehicles. Non-US Visitors: allow an additional day.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.

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

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles164 reviews
Excellent
115
Very good
32
Average
9
Poor
3
Terrible
5

DontStopExploring
Winnipeg, Canada2,332 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
It was worth going through the process of getting a civilian invitation to see this museum. They have an impressive collection of Cold War and later jets on display outside. Of special interest is the missile silo training room they have. Everyone who visits must be accompanied by a tour guide and is knowledgeable and helps remind people not to damage displays. I’ve seen many museums where over time the displays get damaged by young children or uncaring visitors. I don’t see that happening here and I’m glad.

I tip my hat to my guide, Richard, and loved the story of how NORAD got into the business of tracking Santa every Christmas.
Written August 11, 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.

Michael B
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
First off, visting for me is very simple as I work on base. So take that into consideration, as I am not considering the hours of operation in this review, or any challenges getting a pass.

There's three main things to see:

One, the office/museum building, which is focused on some WWII history, and specifically surveillance missions.

Two, the outdoor plane park. The planes have helpful information plaques.

Three, the hanger. It contains a bunch of cool displays:

There's a minuteman training display, very interesting

There's a display showing the layout of the Cheyenne Mountain complex, which is in Cheyenne Mountain, famous due the movie Wargames.

There's another aircraft, with interesting history.

And a number of displays specific to surveilance

Colorado Springs is very associated with the mission of scanning sky and space. We have multiple space force installations here, so this museum's focus on surveillance is appros.

Visitors can probably eat at the food court, but there's other nearby places to eat ( mostly nothing is too far away in Colorado Springs.)

There are docents, different docents will give you different information, quite interesting.
Written July 16, 2023
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.

Rahaal
Tampa, FL309 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021
Any historian or fan of aircraft and other US Air Force memorabilia will enjoy both the variety of the displays, as well as the from many of the volunteers who staff this museum and have first hand experience of of using it during the Cold War and the decades after. Beyond a few very rare aircraft, the displays of the Distant Early Warning system are especially interesting. Also interesting is the art deco style of many of the buildings that make up the museum, a few of which predate the establishment of Peterson as a military base.
Written September 20, 2021
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 R
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2022
Museum is only open until 3:00PM, Monday thru Friday. I was in Colorado Springs for 4 days and 3 of the 4 days the museum was closed for private events. Seems like this museum is mostly a perk for the brass hats rather than an educational opportunity for the taxpayers who fund it. Very disappointing!!!
Written September 30, 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.

Designster
5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Don't miss a trip to Peterson Air and Space Museum. Military or DOD ID gets you in, but because it is on Peterson AFB, planning and registration either on line or phone call is required ahead of your visit. So many displays to see inside the City Hangar and just walking around the plane park. Families with young children love it too.
Written January 23, 2021
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.

Theodore Kim
7 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022
Went to visit the museum, which was closed due to snow storm. But the display outside was still worth the visit. Great number of famous aircraft in AF history! Well worth the time.
Written March 8, 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.

nowincolorado
Colorado Springs, CO2,898 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
We enjoyed our visit to the Peterson AFB air & space museum. There is a small museum with neat displays plus outside there are large, real airplanes and rockets from around the world! The museum is free, they are closed on Sun & Mon. We enjoyed our visit!!!
Written April 17, 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.

NavigatorOK
Muskogee, OK29 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
You must apply 24 hours in advance to enter. You must provide driver's license, car registration, car insurance, and wait for permission to enter. The website says NOTHING ABOUT THIS!! This was per the west entry gait visitor's center. We left because we did not have 24 hours to wait.
Written July 18, 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.
We are very sorry that you were not able to visit the museum. We do welcome non-DoD visitors, and Peterson Air Force Base, recognizing the significance of our Museum to non-military personnel, has made arrangements to ensure Non-DoD personnel can visit, with one work-day's advance notification. As a direct result of your comments, we have added an improved note on our Home Page, directly under the museum operating hours, that reads: "PLEASE NOTE: If you DO NOT possess a DoD ID Card, please check here for procedures to process a Visitor Pass."
Written August 25, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Bruce A
Vancouver, wa8 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2013 • Solo
I wasted a half day when I drove to the Air Force Base to visit this museum only to find that I needed to apply for a visitors's pass 24 hours before a visit. I fully understand and appreciate Base security, but the museum's website home page listed the only the visiting hours.

On a separate page there was the information on how to get the visitors's pass. I recommended to the staff that they need to put that information on the home page right under the visiting days and hours. They said they "would consider it".

The Docent was very good, full of information. The Super Constellation AWACS was unique and the tour included a visit inside the restored aircraft. Other interesting displays included an ICBM launch training module.
Written November 16, 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.
We are very sorry that you were not able to visit the museum. We do welcome non-DoD visitors, and Peterson Air Force Base, recognizing the significance of our Museum to non-military personnel, has made arrangements to ensure Non-DoD personnel can visit, with one work-day's advance notification. SInce you visited, we have made significant improvements to our web page, and as a direct result of your comments, we have added an improved note on our Home Page, directly under the museum operating hours, that reads: "PLEASE NOTE: If you DO NOT possess a DoD ID Card, please check here for procedures to process a Visitor Pass." Please come back and visit.
Written August 25, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

909frankl909
Fort Collins, CO170 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2016 • Couples
We have been to MANY air and space museums. This one stands apart. The experience is like no other. In particular, the museum has the last EC-121 Warning Star flown. This is a Constellation outfitted with two enormous radomes. It served as an airborne early warning system for the continental US and this one served as air traffic control for planes flying missions and refueling in Vietnam during the war and served to monitor air traffic during Cuban missile crisis. The docent serving as a tour guide is Dave Austin. He served on this very aircraft for over 14 years. He knows every inch of this plane and describes in spellbinding detail what it was like to have worked and served and called this ship home for 14 hour missions over Vietnam, off the coast of the US and over Cuba.

There are others here like Dave. This was not so much like visiting an aviation museum as it was stepping back in time. It was an immersive experience. You felt like you were with Dave and his buddies, sitting right beside him guiding fighters and tracking aircraft.

In addition to the aircraft, there is an ICBM missile defense installation. Again, led by an individual who actually served in such an installation, the exhibit and the narrative immerse each visitor in what it was like to have the responsibility to launch nuclear missiles in defense of the US from 300 feet underground.

If you love aircraft DO NOT MISS THIS MUSEUM.
Written February 1, 2016
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.

Showing results 1-10 of 161
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Peterson Air & Space Museum, Colorado Springs

All Colorado Springs HotelsColorado Springs Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Colorado SpringsHotels near Peterson Air & Space Museum
All things to do in Colorado Springs
Zoos & Aquariums in Colorado Springs
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars