The Hidden Museum In This Little Wyoming Town Is Home To Some Unexpected Treasures

Community colleges don't typically have the notoriety that universities do, but there's one institution of higher learning in the little town of Rock Springs, Wyoming that deserves more press than it gets. The Western Wyoming Community College is where you'll find the Natural History Museum. It's a treasure-trove of artifacts that are as surprising as they are valuable. With exhibits spread out across the campus, you'll get a tour of the grounds while you take in the engrossing displays.

The Natural History Museum is on the picturesque Western Wyoming Community College campus at 2500 College Drive in Rock Springs.

The exhibits are an eclectic mix of artifacts you would expect to find in Wyoming, such as items from the state's history...

...along with a few that are fascinating but might seem out of place.

The museum's collection includes a handful of concrete replicas of maoi, more commonly known as Easter Island statues. You can see several scattered around the walking track and back lawn of the campus.

One section is a museum within a museum - the Weidner Wildlife Museum. There you can view 125 mounted exhibits of wildlife from all over the world.

Other interesting displays include slabs of rock showing cross-sections of pegmatite, sea sediment, and pudding stone, to name a few.

You can view nearly complete remains of prehistoric man...

...as well as fossils...

...some surprisingly detailed and huge!

What's more, there are several life-sized dinosaur exhibits spread throughout the campus in open areas, all the better to be seen.

There's even a full-sized T-Rex in the cafeteria - imagine having lunch with him every day!

Have you been to the Natural History Museum in Rock Springs?

What Wyoming museum surprised you with its unexpected treasures?