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Sternberg Museum, Hays, Kan.
This intriguing natural history museum is about halfway between Kansas City and Denver along I-70 in the western Kansas community of Hays.
Giant robotic prehistoric creatures make their homes beneath the museum's four-story dome, which opened in 1999. Walking among the roaring, growling and chirping creatures, you'll see a 40-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex, and three pteranodons with 23-foot wingspans soaring overhead. Dioramas depict other creatures from eons ago.
The museum houses an extensive fossil collection, where visitors come face-to-face with giant sea lizards, sharks and flying reptiles that lived and died in Kansas. You'll want to drop in at the Discovery Room for encounters with live snakes, turtles and lizards.
After your visit, the whole family will have plenty to talk about during the rest of your trip. You'll find the Sternberg Museum, which is part of Fort Hays State University, in the northeast part of Hays right off the interstate. Admission charged.
