Johnson Geo Centre

This place left me completely amazed. Walking inside, surrounded by the mountain itself, felt almost otherworldly like stepping into the earth’s memory. The exhibits weren’t just informative, they pulled me in so deeply that I lost track of time and spent more than three hours exploring. What moved me most was being able to touch the rocks and realize I was holding energy and history that’s billions of years old. It’s not just a museum or information centre, it’s an experience that makes you feel small in the best possible way.

The Johnson Geo Centre is truly a gem in St. John's — a beautifully designed facility nestled right into the rock of Signal Hill. It's an incredible space that we’re lucky to have in our city, offering a unique experience that blends geology, natural history, and science in a visually striking and engaging way. The staff are exceptionally friendly, helpful, and clearly passionate about what they do, which makes the visit even more enjoyable. One of the major highlights is the discounted admission for students and completely free access for Memorial University students. That kind of accessibility is something more attractions in the city should offer. The main geological exhibits are very well done. The rock and mineral displays are especially informative and visually appealing — great for all ages and backgrounds. The center does a great job educating visitors on the geological history of Newfoundland and Labrador in a hands-on and approachable way. That said, there are a few important criticisms worth addressing. First and most concerning is the smell throughout the facility. It’s hard to ignore the strong odor of mildew and body odor lingering in the air, especially around the carpeted areas and in the theatre. After spending about an hour inside, it became genuinely nauseating. It’s clear the carpets and general air quality need serious attention — it takes away from the otherwise great experience. The oil and gas exhibit, while interesting and informative in some aspects, is very one-sided. It strongly emphasizes how important oil is to our lives — which is undeniably true — but completely omits any mention of the serious environmental damage associated with oil drilling and consumption. Given that this section is sponsored by ExxonMobil, it honestly reads like corporate propaganda. There must be a part of the exhibit that acknowledges the environmental consequences and discusses possible solutions or greener alternatives. Presenting only the positives is misleading and irresponsible in an educational setting. Another major letdown was the new temporary exhibit on mythical creatures. While the concept and information are fantastic, it's incredibly disappointing to see that they’ve used cheap, AI-generated imagery for the visual content. In a city with such a rich artistic community, this feels like a slap in the face to local artists who could have created stunning and original work for the exhibit. Instead, visitors are greeted with generic, soulless, AI-generated slop — it’s disheartening and frankly embarrassing. Overall, the Johnson Geo Centre has so much potential and already offers a lot — from its impressive geology exhibits to its passionate staff. But it’s being held back by poor maintenance, questionable content choices, and a disappointing lack of support for real local talent. With some cleaning, critical updates to its messaging, and a commitment to showcasing authentic creative work, the Geo Centre could truly shine.

If you love rocks, this is the place to go. If not, you’re better off skipping as there isn’t much else to do. I thought it would be bigger subterranean but it isn’t as big as you’d think. There are plenty of displays and some hands on activities for the kids, but you can go through everything in less than 30 minutes. We probably spent more time in the gift shop than underground. Also, this was the only touristy place I encountered in St. John’s that did not accept American Express.

A real nice geology based museum. It documents the history of the earth through a geological basis. Very interesting and informative. After one visits the interior, remember to visit the outside grounds for more information and geological understanding. Overall, a unique visit and good experience.

Lots of stuff to see, learn, and read about while here. The paid show was called Antarctica when I went and it was about an hour long which I enjoyed. The oil and gas exhibits were closed when I went but I still enjoyed learning about all of the different rock types and information about space. I'd recommend watching the quick 10~ minute free show before walking through it as it serves as a nice intro. Ended up spending about 2 and a half hours here (that includes watching the paid show).

Geology Rocks! The nerdiest place for the nerdiest nerds that ever did nerd. If you know any geologist you will understand as you spend 80% of your time saying" it's just a rock dude." But these rocks were pretty cool. There is an opening video hosted by Gordon Pinsent and various displays about the natural history, earthquakes, volcanoes, and fossils. Also, the roots of signal Hill can be seen in the walls of the excavated display hall. Did not appreciate the Oil and Gas propaganda but there was a special exhibit on mythical creatures that was interesting to go through.

Glad we stopped by before Signal hill Cabot tower opened on a foggy morning. Educational, well laid out interactive exhibits on geology and oil production. I learned a lot about the unique natural resources of NL area. Nice little theatre film. Great for all ages.

Fantastic museum about geology and geography and ecosystems. Lots of interesting information and interactive exhibits! The show is 100% worth it and I honestly didn’t expect it to be much by it but I was throughly impressive! It’s not just a video on a screen! The geology exhibits are also carefully and beautifully constructed. There is free parking and nature trails located around the premisses. Signal Hill is close by (a bit of a hike).

Excellent museum. This is a great stop on your way down the hill from Signal Hill. When we went they had a Titanic exhibit which was extremely well done. Really takes you from start to finish the whole history. Extremely thorough and detailed. And also, they have an oil & gas exhibit which I really enjoyed as well. Very informative. I thought it was a very good way to spend an hour or two.

I actually thought this museum was great. I found the displays interesting. There were fossil displays, replicas of human skulls from Neanderthals comparing to modern day humans & short movies about how the earth was formed etc. I didn't pay much attention to the oil related displays so maybe that's why I enjoyed it. Nice to see actor Gordon Pinset doing one of the informative movies.

Nice place for a function. Staff is super friendly. Lots of things to learn and see.

Maybe my expectations were set to height by Geo Centre hype men, maybe my friends didn't realize just how little interest I have in science before bringing me here. No matter what happened, the Geo Centre is just not my jam. While I feel the subject matter has potential and the location just off Signal Hill can't be beat, I was bored to tears here by very dry exhibits. I can't remember if there weren't enough opportunities to interact with the exhibits or if they were just buried in paragraphs of small text about this rock or that plate, but I just couldn't get into it. Word to the review that points out the serious oil and gas slant. I didn't think much of it at the time, but yeah...much more corporate resource than 'yay earth and nature and stuff!'

The Johnson Geo Centre is a museum about rocks, Exxon-Mobil oil drilling and The Titanic. The Titanic display has a massive volume of reading on the Titanic and little else. While there are some old photos included in the 40+ large posters, it is mainly a lot of print. Exxon-Mobil has displays on how they drill oil, as well as how safe, socially responsible, etc. they are. There is a large display on rocks of many different types, as well as a film on rocks. You can get a guide to tell you more about the rocks if you like. For 12$, I found it a bit expensive and quite dull.

While the geological history of Newfoundland is a fascinating topic, and the setting of Signal Hill is stunning, the quality of presentation and the science take a backseat to staying on what appears to be a politically-motivated message of cheerleading resource exploitation. The heavy handed approach to exhibit curation, the writing/narration of introductory videos and the inclusion of an "Exxon-Mobil Oil & Gas Gallery" makes this agenda a little too obvious to ignore. This made what could have been a well-designed and informative discovery of geological history and science into something that felt forced and crafted by a bureaucratic committee of stakeholders. More attention to experience design and letting the science tell the story would improve the Geo Centre a lot.

This was an absolute snore, and would likely stunt anyone's interest in geology. Most full grown adults have enough knowledge about the Titanic and fossils to breeze through much of this museum. The information about the Space Program was dated and needs a rehaul, while the Exxon-Mobil oil exhibit was laughable propaganda for the industry, and failed to disclose the severe damage that that the oil industry can do to the ecology. Don't let the size of the museum, fool you either. There is a ton of wasted space.

Geo Center is what the name satest, it is about the rocks that are found on Newfoundland. You can choose to sit in on videos about Newfoundland, walk around vacrious georaphical exhibits. Great palce to learn about Newfoundlands history.

Not bad you ll find decently priced jewelry at the gift store. The 3d movies are excellent we watched the flight of the butterflies absolutely wonderful very educational

Unique location embedded in the mountain. Fabulous samples of indigenous types of rocks. Informative displays of the geological history and transformation of the island. And the oil related displays provide education about the formation of oil and gas reserves, as well as what it takes to discover and tap those reserves. Never hurts to learn the science no matter what your politics. Great exhibit about the Titanic with many facts you probably never heard. 3D movie about the monarch butterfly alone is worth the price of admission. Someone who cares about science could easily spend the better part of the day here. Not to mention the proximity to the top of signal hill and its great vistas. Very highly recommended.