Cape Cod Museum Of Natural History

YOU MUST JOIN THE BUTTERFLY 🦋 garden 🪴 Staffs in there was very nice and friendly. I love the atmosphere of it, everything was nice and lovely. We’re from Boston so the museum is small for us but everything was a good new experience for us My daughter loved it so much especially the butterflies 🦋 😅 Overall is nice experience

Cute, small museum! Kept the kids busy for a couple of hours. They enjoyed the different craft stations , especially those in the kingfisher play area (timed 30 min play slots).

This place way undersells itself!! We stopped in today and the kids could have stayed for hours. We easily were there for almost two hours and only left because it was really hot and lunch time. So many things to see and do. Mine especially enjoyed the aquarium and the mud kitchen. Definitely a great place to make a trip to on the Cape if you have kids!

Went on a weekend and found out the more interactive things for little kids are closed due to staff shortage. Which is super unfortunate because I know my kids would've LOVED that mud kitchen area. This is the only reason why I docked the rating. The museum itself is cute and very informative.

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History is a fantastic spot for families! 🦀 It’s educational, interactive, and perfect for kids who love nature and sea life. The highlight for us was seeing the extremely rare half blue, half pink lobster—make sure to ask the staff so you don’t miss it. A fun and memorable experience for all ages!

Hidden gem. Probably the coolest, most educational mini-aquarium I've been to. Small displays that let kids get close up to all kinds of different fish and sea creatures. No touching in the tide pool tank which was a slight disappointment, but the sheer variety of animals was a mitigating factor. Great collection of rare lobster morphs as well! The native American section was thoughtful and informative. I particularly liked the soil cross section showing the different regions that are present locally. Fun rainy day cape activity, highly recommended for thoughtful 4+ year old children.

We had a blast here and could have stayed all day! It’s great for children of all ages and that includes the adult kids. Believe me, it’ll bring out the kid in you! Lots of learning opportunities, activities and creatures to observe. The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable and a joy to chat with. We particularly found the active bee hive fascinating! I love that they are able to go outside and then come come back for all of us to observe.

For the size, it's got a lot going on. Check their schedule in advance to sign up for activities - this is NOT a major metropolitan natural History museum and therefore some program offerings are only once a day or even once per week. That being said, some short trails, some hikes, mud play for kids, an aquarium, a butterfly garden, and a discovery center await those who visit. My photos come only from the aquarium and mostly just the unique one-in-multi-million lobsters they keep. BUT can those lobsters get larger aquariums?!?! 🦞🌊 They look cramped!

Nice little museum that packs a lot in a small space. The mini aquarium in the basement had a nice assortment of fish and even a small tidal tool exhibit that we enjoyed. There were two small activity rooms featuring coloring, blocks, and little games. I'd say there's enough inside for 30-45 min of entertainment. It is a bit tight inside though so not a great place if it is busy. Outside is great. There are number of wooded trails to explore and picnic tables for lunch. The butterfly garden is nice but it's an extra $5. Entry for adults is $15 and $10 for kids over 3. I'd definitely go on a nice day outside to get your moneys worth.

I come here every year with my adult family and friends but it would be great for kids. The aquarium is always different and the employees are engaging. The beach walk is wonderful and it's great for bird/creature watching. We enjoyed 20 minutes with the butterflies and will definitely be back again next year.

Weekend getaway with the hubby in February and decided to visit. This is a small and informative museum that displays the history and evolution of the land and also has a mini aquarium of the sea animals that live in the areas.

I remember visiting the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History as a child and remembered it being a pretty cool place. Now as a parent with a young child and as adult this place is awesome! Situated along 6A in Brewster towards Dennis CCMNH is a gem of a find. Admission is free for kids under 3, to learn more about the natural history of Cape Cod, $8 for kids 3-12, $15 for ages 13-64, and $12 for 65+. You get so much for your admission (although there is a slight upcharge of $5 to be able to enter the butterfly enclosure) and it is only a few dollars more to purchase a membership. You can explore the physical museum and learn about the natural history of Cape Cod and the local Native Americans, see the live honey bee hive, read and see exhibits that display native birds and species to Cape Cod, bring the kiddos to the interactive kids section (which does include live reptiles), and head downstairs where there is an impressive aquatic collection of local sea creatures, which includes turtles, fish, horseshoe crabs, seahorses, jelly fish, and more. The museum itself is well maintained and clean. Beyond the museum is the preservation of protected land. There are multiple walking trails (that yes we have easily used our jogger stroller on, but of course do not walk outside of the trail out of respect for wildlife preservation) to explore. The trails are well labeled and many display the names of native fauna. If the tide is low you can even take the walk down to Wing Island through marshland. Wing Island is beautiful and offers two walking trail points to the beach. The views are pristine and a perfect representation of the Brewster flats and classic Cape Cod beaches. You do not need to be a active athlete to enjoy the trails and apart from the stairs down to the beach everything else is relatively flat. CCMNH also offers guided tours of the area with insights regarding Cape Cod nature and history should you be interested. Although we have not taken advantage of all the programming that CCMNH has to offer there is a calendar during the busier tourist season that is full of different conservation, family, and camp events. You can easily spend half a day here if you explored the full museum and nature trails. This is a place where there is something for everyone and the payment in admission is a worthy investment in the preservation of what makes Cape Cod so remarkable. We look forward to our next visit!

The Cape Cod Museum was a delightful stop in our exploration of Cape Cod. The art was inspired by the landscape and light of Cape Cod. The variety of art provided an intriguing experience.

Nice place to walk and experience land on Cape Cod was like , undeveloped. Watch the tides or you might miss something.

Wonderful, low key museum. Great for kids. The aquarium and the butterfly area were especially good. The only negative was some overly officious , elderly docents in the butterfly area who talked way too much and didn't listen. Their main interest was enforcing the rules and telling everything they knew about a subject like the were running a tape. In comparison, the young guy overseeing the tidal pool was great. Very knowledgeable, smiled, and listened. The seniors could learn from him.

Fantastic museum for families! There are two different areas for small children to play with various well-thought out toys and activities for them to enjoy. So many animals to see inside and so much to learn!

A great little museum and very educational for all age groups. Very friendly and informative staff who clearly enjoy their work.We arrived a little late in the day (it was a chance encounter as we were driving past), so we didn't have a lot of time to spend, but it was definitely worthwhile! We loved the butterfly apiary, picking our way carefully along the path without treading on any resting butterflies - and the aquarium section downstairs. Their 'tidal pool' hands-on tank is great for kids (and we enjoyed it too!). Also worth noting was the observation room with the webcam on the osprey nest. Always great to see these wonderful raptors. Gift shop pretty neat too.

We loved it! Honestly, I went in thinking it was too small of a museum for the price but I was pleasantly surprised by the museum. First off it shows how Cape Cod was formed and how it has evolved over the last 20,000 years and gotten smaller. Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod used to be one big place but changes took place over thousands of years. Incredible! My favorite exhibit was the Ospreys with the Mother Osprey and her 3 baby Ospreys, they have a video camera where you can see what is going on inside the nest! The nest is HUGE! They also have a guided nature walk that goes by the Osprey nest and through the woods out to the seashore! Excellent nature walk! I really loved the museum!

This is a nice sized museum stretching 2 floors. They give free admission to active military which is a pleasant surprise. The butterfly garden and aquarium experiences are also included in admission as well as a library. My favorite exhibit included the active bee hive which has a small passage to the outside of the museum so the bees can collect pollen and return to the hive. They also had really interesting exhibits showing nature inspired ingenuity and products. They even sold some of these product in the gift shop. Our kids fly through these places and we still spend a decent amount of time here (about 2 hours).

I went to the museum this morning with my daughter and 4 young grandchildren, all under 6 years old. When we got there it was completely overcrowded which I thought was unsafe. The museum is not organized for visitors to view in one direction. The staircases are extremely narrow and people were blocked in both directions. Then there was a tornado warning (not their fault) but there were clearly no emergency procedures in place. They told everyone to go to the basement which was completely unsafe. It was utter chaos and easily could have escalated into a stampede and definitely a fire hazard. The children were all crying and screaming. My daughter and I decided it was safer to leave than go to the basement. It was a completely traumatic experience for all of us. They need to get their act together and put safety and emergency procedures in place.

I called to schedule a butterfly feeding and made a reservation. On the phone they told me it would be $30 and charged my card. When I got their they said we needed to pay admission on top of what I paid. This was false advertising because I was not made aware of this by the person I spoke with on the phone. The woman at the front desk was extremely rude. I was also told that my reservation was not made for even a feeding but just a visit. Do not trust who you speak to on the phone, they are not competent.

Beautiful trail and destination. Be careful - the large parking lot at the trail head is just for museum visitors, so even if there are 40 empty spaces you will get yelled at and told to move to the town lot a half mule walk away.

I was really surprised (in a good way!!) by this museum. Admittedly I get bored in many museums but on an overcast morning we found ourselves there with our son. Everyone was SO nice and friendly .. and were also so knowledgeable. The set up of the museum keeps things flowing and interesting for all ages. A fun little scavenger hunt kept us focused on something as we navigated through the upstairs and downstairs. The outdoor activities and hike were an added bonus! You could spend an hour or a day here and the staff would be more than happy to help plan your visit!

What an amazing location with a fantastic walk to see birds, marshes and ocean behind. Love it.

Very nice way to spend an afternoon. Educational, easy going, great variety of food habits. 7 year old was very engaged for about 90 minutes. Weather was just nice to be able to sit outside for lunch.

Nothing mind blowing but it kept my 4.5 yr old occupied for about 2 hours. Nice activities inside, butterfly encounter outside. Staff were all really nice. Nothing that I would go out of my way for but if you're passing by it's worth a stop.

We visited the museum on a recent trip to Cape Cod and LOVED it! We were staying in Provincetown, but drove down to Brewster for the museum. The trip was about an hour with light traffic for us, but definitely worth it. We took our 22 month old and he had a really good time, but it was also interesting for my husband and me. The museum is on the smaller side, so it's not overwhelming for children, and they have several kid-centered activity areas. There's a display on the natural and geological history of Cape Cod itself, and a very large and beautiful room featuring displays about local wildlife, particularly birds. There's a huge bank of windows that look out over the salt marsh with a bird feeding station set up right outside. The museum provides plenty of comfortable chairs and binoculars, but one of the coolest features was the live feed camera they had posted over an osprey nest in the marsh. They had one television with the live feed, and a second one looping the video of the eggs hatching. Other displays included a honey bee hive and the entire downstairs was all aquariums. There was a lot to see and learn about, but in a way that was as much fun for kids as for adults. The museum was clean, well organized and very, very well maintained. The staff there was super friendly and quite knowledgeable, and very good with the kids. There's also a very nice gift shop there - plenty of affordable souvenirs for all ages, and an extensive collection of books on nature and birding. The grounds are very well maintained and pleasant to walk around, and there were several staff-led walks into the marsh and around the grounds. We chose not to participate as they were more geared towards school age kids. Parking is free.

Despite multiple visits to the Cape, I had never gone here..what a mistake. All ages will enjoy this friendly and interesting museum. I especially liked the aquarium, which is small, but filled with neat things like jelly fish and diamond backed turtles. Bird lovers will enjoy the room where there's a big window looking at the big bird feeder outside, which was teeming with all sorts of birds. There's a television monitor with a live camera shot of a nest of ospreys that are in the salt marsh behind the museum. We got to don beekeepers outfits and checkout their beehives across the street..a really cool experience! This is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are escorted nature walks into the salt marsh behind the museum at certain times. We did the trail ourselves which was very pretty. You end up at Cape Cod Bay. Prepare to get your feet and ankles wet at high tide. The staff were very knowledgeable and friendly and admission is only $8 bucks. Don't wait for a rainy day to visit this cool place.

This is a fantastic gem of a museum in lovely Brewster. I attended a group visit. The staff revealed great dedication and were consummate professionals. The museum has many exhibits and is well curated. The nature walk is lovely The views at the beach, magical. There is something for every age group at this amazing museum.

Top Notch! For a educational nature experience on the cape you must visit the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. This Museum is a must if you have children vacationing with you on the cape and it well worth the visit on one of those rainy days when your trying to find something to do. The exhibits take you through the fragile ecosystem we take for granted here on Cape Cod and explains the history of nature on Cape Cod. The wildlife viewing room is beautiful and they have staff there to help you to identify the bird life. Children will love the aquarium and touch pool on the bottom levels. The Museum of Natural History is a must visit when your in Brewster. AA+

This museum is a treasure. There is so much to learn and see, even with covid restrictions. Timed entry helps prevent overcrowding. Masks mandatory. Thank you.

The museums exhibits, galleries, aquarium and even the gift shop have so much to offer for all age groups. However for us our absolute favorite is going on the Trails to the open ocean. You walk along the wood planks through the marsh and see beautiful vistas of grasses, singing birds to the sandy pathways with fragrant cedar trees with benches along the way to sit and enjoy coastal nature at it's best! Then once you reach the shoreline it stretches far and wide on both sides as far as you can see. They do have naturalist guided family field walks that are free with admission. Check out their website - plan your day it's well worth it!

Came to the Scallops presentation today! Superb and informative! Enjoyed my visit!!!

Great place! Helpful, knowledgeable staff and plenty of exhibits. Definitely a solid rainy or cloudy day option for your Cape vacation. Don't forget to check their website for special exhibits and events to get your timing right.

Good museum for kids. It wasn't crowded so we had the opportunity to read the exhibit text. Downstairs in especially great for the kids. Check it out. Download the shark sighting app for fun.

Visited from out of town on a spur of the moment decision during a rainy day and was glad we made the stop. It was perfect for our small children. We really enjoyed the bee exhibit and watching the employee feed fish.

This place made our 5 year old nephew's day, but thank goodness he was oblivious to the brusque nature of the staff. The staff clearly lacks experience with children and was gruff towards a starry eyed innocent animal-loving kindergartener. I understand you are a small organization and you made my nephew happy, so I'll be generous and give you two stars rather than one. You need to update the whale that the children walk through- it's seen much better days. Be kinder to children and maybe people will come back. We won't.

Would not go again. Small museum with not much to see. The worst part is the staff, most of whom are volunteers They don't want to be there and just want to go home. The museum closes at 4 pm, which is fine. They make an announcement at 3:30 pm that the museum is closing in a half hour at 4 pm, which again is fine. However, they locked the doors at 3:45 pm and wouldn't let patrons, who had already been there with tickets, back into the building. That is not okay, especially when you say that the museum is closing at 4 pm. They turmed patrons away from the museum gift shop and bathrooms well before closing. Would not recommend! Go to the Heritage Museums and Gardens instead.

We stopped in this weekend on a short trip to the Cape. My 9 year old loved this place. It's not huge but it's got everything you need for a cool family outing. I liked the library with the interactive projects set up on the tables. My son loved the aquarium downstairs. For a small donation it's a great place to stop especially on a rainy day. Not too crowded. If you're looking for something to do with your kids - go! My only complaint is in regard to the gift shop. The cashier was a mess. She was extremely frustrated with myself and another family member, you know...for BUYING THINGS. I bought three things while there - some cool sugar scrub/shower wash/lotion that they sell by the B. Witching Bath Company. The cashier had a near coronary as two out of the three bottles I brought to the counter did not have price tags on the bottom. After announcing how exasperating this was for her I walked the two feet away from the counter to find bottles that had price tags on the bottom ("Good luck with that" was her response). It took nearly 10 minutes for her to cash me out. Another meltdown ensued when a family member let me use her museum discount card. At the end of the transaction she said "Now I suppose you want a bag." I told her I was fine with carrying my purchases out in my hands in order not to push her any further over the edge. Here's a tip, don't work in customer service if you don't like it, like people, or want to be doing something else. SHEESH!

This is a very small museum, suitable for younger children. We got through the museum itself in about 20 minutes (hard to keep the attention of a 2 1/2 year old). We also took the hike in back of the museum. The tide was in so we did get our feet very wet walking across the marsh but it was a nice way to see some of the Cape.

Went with my wife, and thought it would be a cool place to check out. Definitely a fun place for families with kids with the exhibits more geared for children, but it wasn't for us.

Great little museum but certainly doesn't take longer than an hour to cover. The price of $10 is fine to contribute to upkeep their resources but the wristband to come back later seemed a bit excessive.

The CCMNH was a great way to spend a cloudy morning on our vacation. The whole museum is really geared towards kids, which their website doesn't to justice to. There are aquariums on the lower level and a massive room overlooking the marsh/bird sanctuary where kids can do puzzles, small art projects, play with microscopes and binoculars. There are also trails through the marshes that lead you to the bay, which we did not take advantage of our visit but I hear they are beautiful. Parking is very limited so arrive early!

Great little museum. Lots of fun stuff to see, like turtles and a big blue lobster. Very informative about the natural history of the Cape. On a nice day, there are also lots of picturesque trails around the museum. We went on a rainy day, and it was sort of a perfect Cape Cod rainy day activity, but next time I want to go while the weather is nice so we can enjoy the scenic trails.

Walk the Brewster flats at low tide. Great for hiking.

Two volunteers lead a family-friendly walk through the three ecosystems. They were kind, flexible, and very supportive of our very young crew of kids. We had a great experience with them!

Great place for family and kids, has picnic tales for great picnic lunch. Great volunteers giving guided walks.

It's something to do when you need to kill time or it's not the greatest beach day or whatever. This place has exhibits about how the geography of Cape Cod has changed over the years and the various types of wildlife that are common in Cape Cod. There is also a trail from the museum to the sand dunes / beach area. The negative thing is it is somewhat expensive ($15 for adults) for a place that is relatively small.

An enjoyable small museum with a surprisingly large amount of offerings. Loads of displays, an aquarium, field walks, osprey nests, and learning opportunities. Volunteer run so some talks, walks, and service can be hit or miss. Overall a good spot for nature education. When parking lot fills, additional space is available across the street.

A variety of different things. It's worth the $10 to see a little bit of everything. Really it's too small to get bored! There's a small exhibit on birds, small exhibit on local Native Americans, etc. They have an Aquarium with local ocean life - they have a really cool "tidal pool" tank set up so that you can look down at all of the critters... it will take you a long time to spot everything in there! Beehive, bird feeders, and wildflower gardens outside. They have a nature trail (the whole thing is a 1.3 mile loop, but there's alternate paths you can take to cut off part of it to make it shorter) that takes you through several habitats including forest, marsh, and beach. An Osprey nest in the marsh is an impressive sight. What we found ideal was the nature trail going straight to the beach - we got there at low tide and were able to walk the shore looking for shells and look for crabs and fish in tidal pools, spending as much time as we wanted on the beach for no extra cost.

Cute little museum! Been there twice. Cheap entry around $10-15 I think. Neat to learn and expand your Cape nature knowledge and probably a great place to bring kids. I wouldn't know since I don't have any, but you know... It's a museum people. Check-it-out, educate yourselves.