Exhibits at the San Bernardino County Museum

Permanent Exhibits

Main Level

Hall of History

Walk a path through Sacred Earth to see baskets, pottery, tools. Share vibrant cultures of our distant past, our present, and our future. All roads lead through San Bernardino. See a Mexican carreta, a covered wagon that crossed the Mojave Desert from Salt Lake City, horse-drawn buggies, and historic automobiles that featured in the discovery and development of Inland Southern California.

Hall of Earth Sciences

A life-size mastodon and her calf will introduce you to an amazing array of fossils that represent millions of years of life in our area. Learn about plate tectonics and understand why The Big One is such a timely topic in southern California.Upstairs, “Sculpted in Time: Our Mountains, Faults, Lakes, and Caves” will introduce you to the geology of San Bernardino County.

Fisk Gallery

Changing exhibits line the walls inside our geodesic dome, which is also used for lectures, meetings, and special activities. Please go to our events calendar for details.

Administration offices and the Museum Store are also located on the main level of the museum, as are the Welcome Desk, restrooms and drinking fountain.

Upper Level

Hall of Biodiversity

Sample the amazing diversity of life in our region: birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. See an outstanding collection of mounted birds from inland Southern California, both residents and migrants. Meet some of the mammals that live in our mountains, valleys, and deserts, and learn how climate and geography combine to create habitats that support a diverse fauna and flora.

Sculpted by Time: Our Mountains, Faults, Lakes, and Caves

On the upper level of the Hall of Earth Sciences, walk through the geology of our county. Explore a cave, look at the rocks that make up our mountains, meet a giant ground sloth, and sniff a packrat midden.

Minerals Rock! Unearthing the Human Element

Discover how minerals play an important role in our live from prehistoric times to the future. Marvel at a colorful variety of minerals from the museum collections, inspect crystals through a microscope, and become a junior scientist.

Schuiling Gallery

Sometimes it's a special exhibit, sometimes it's a program . . . but there's usually something going on in the upper level of our geodesic dome.

Outside the Museum

The Museum is surrounded by citrus groves, and orange blossoms perfume the air. See a Southern Pacific locomotive and a Santa Fe caboose. A series of outdoor exhibits present the history of mining in the county, with authentic equipment including mine cars, generators, and a head frame. Lumber wagons, a water wheel that generated the first electricity in the city,and more large-size surprises are displayed on the Museum grounds. Find-a-Fossil and step into the only dinosaur footprints ever found in southern California. Do some birdwatching and check your finds at our kiosk. Don't miss the ethnobotany garden outside the Exploration Station, the Sonoran Desert cactus garden at the Museum entrance, with the Mojave Desert garden alongside, and the native plants garden behind the Hall of Earth Sciences. Tables and lawn areas are available for picnics.