BELLE FOURCHE—Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum kicked off their 2026 season with a spectacular multi-day grand reopening. From April 1 through April 4, the museum invited the public to come explore the displays, enjoy the exhibits, and experience all the excitement it has to offer.
If you have visited the Museum before, you are welcome to come see what has changed this year. If you have not visited yet, you are in for a treat! “We have a few new things, the museum is a work in progress. We just got this up and running last year—if you were here a year and a half ago, you would have seen my wife and I hanging off the ceiling, painting the ceiling black,” explained Walter Stein, owner. “This was a tractor repair shop for many years, and then it sat dormant for a couple years, and then we took it over. We had to build pretty much everything from scratch, so all out of pocket—no federal grants or anything like that—so it’s a work in progress.”
As time goes by and new fossils are discovered, new exhibits get added to the Museum. “The nice thing is, every summer, we go out and find dinosaur skeletons and we bring them back here to prep, and eventually we’ll have some of our own stuff up. This summer, I am working on a triceratops skeleton called Miss Rene—it’s about 40 percent complete. You’ll be able to see some of the bones in here,” said Stein.
The Dinosaur Museum boasts that it is home to one of the largest private collections in the United States. Stein is often on site to answer questions and reveal new finds. He is passionate about his work, and that excitement easily spreads to those he shares his knowledge with. The Grand Reopening offered guided tours of the exhibits and lab every hour, each day. Stein said, “We’re hoping that every year we have something new to show people!”
The newly painted facade greeted visitors along with two Jurassic Park Jeeps by Fast Lane Autos. The fancy Jeeps were available for pictures and to explore.
Admission was discounted for the event and a 10 percent discount was offered for all gift shop purchases. At the end of the first day, a Grand Prize of a free Dino dig was given away.
Throughout the four-day event, an online Spring Cleaning Auction was held each day, offering all kinds of unique finds, and fossils were up for bid.
The Grand Reopening drew in people from Belle Fourche and the surrounding areas.
“We had a really good turnout,” said Stein. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. There are days where we’re out in the middle of nowhere, in the country, so it’s a little slow sometimes. But April 1 Grand Reopening was great! There was quite a few people here—a whole bunch of folks, locals, and even some people from Deadwood came in and Sturgis and Spearfish. We’re getting a really good turnout!”
Mother Nature put a damper on some of the festivities on Friday, snow and cold creeped into the area, and the Museum closed for the day. Because of the weather, a planned garage sale was postponed and will be held at a later date.
Keeping true to Dinosaurs of Hell Creek Museum’s mission, that is dedicated to making valuable contributions to the science of paleontology, to educate the public about our amazing natural fossil resources and to help promote a greater public understanding and enjoyment of the fossils unearthed from the Hell Creek Formation, a day of educational lectures was scheduled.
On Saturday, April 4, Harrison Duran gave a talk on Triceratops, following him at 2 p.m., Loui Otero spoke on Mosasaurus, and then at 3 p.m., Walter Stein discussed the War between Commercial and Academic Paleontology.
The Museum is also working on a Mosasaur and they hope to have it up and by this time next year. “Mosasaur is basically a giant marine lizard—if you could cross a Komodo dragon with a killer whale, you get something like a Mosasaur,” shared Stein. “This one we call Shannon’s Mosasaur, and she is about 80 percent complete—original bone. She is missing the end of the tail, looks like sharks may have chewed up the tail, but this is all original bones…we’re hoping to finish this one completely here in the next month, and then by the fall, we’re going to have it mounted.”
If you didn’t make it to the Grand Reopening celebration, the Museum has more events scheduled throughout the year. Some of the highlights are the following: One Year Anniversary on May 23, Second Annual Dinosaur Kids Camp on June 26-27, America’s 250 Anniversary Event and Celebration July 2 through July 5, 2026 Rock’in Rock, Mineral & Fossil Show August 15 and 16. Many more events are scheduled from April all the way through the end of the season, check out the Dinosaurs of Hell Creek website to find out about all of them.
Also watch for the Dinosaurs of Hell Creek traveling show. “We have a traveling exhibit that’s going around to different places. It started out at the Northern Hills Cinema for the Jurassic Park, and then went to Deadwood,” explained Stein. “So it’s up in Deadwood right now at the Welcome Center. Then it’s gonna go to the Spearfish Library for a month—then we don’t have a home for it, so I’m looking for people who want to have it!”
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