Burke Museum Of Natural History & Culture

Located on the University of Washington Campus the museum depicts the natural wonders and culture of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to permanent exhibits such as Pacific voices, Life and times of Washington State the museum presents several interesting special exhibits. The museum is quite big and modern totem poles stand at its entrance. On the first Thursday of every month admission is free to the public. more

Dinosaurs alright, At least one exhibit, salmon stream ecology, lacked care, very dusty. Price was excessive for content, layout undefinable, descriptions of cultural exhibits almost non-informative. If you've nothing to do, want to stay dry and don't mind the cost, ok. Otherwise…? more

There are few places in the Seattle area where you can see dinosaur bones and have a prehistoric adventure. The Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus is just such a place. Membership is cheap though the exhibits do not rotate enough to make long term membership productive for the entire family. Their history of the region exhibit covers dinosaurs to more modern wildlife. The triceratops skull and saber tooth cat exhibit are memorable. For families with an ethnic blend of the Pacific rim, the downstairs cultural exhibits can be a good way to educate the kids about their heritage. more

This is really a kids museum and not really for grownups, but for kids, it is a great visit. They have a nice display of dinosaurs and the science and fun area is great. Not as amazing as say the San Jose Hi Tech museum, but not bad for a quick visit for a Seattle local. more

The Burke Museum at the UW is a small treasure of the Pacific Northwest that features changing exhibits to keep you wanting to come back. Kids like the small exhibit of dinosaurs, like I said it isn't the Smithsonian, but it is local and on the first Thursdays of each month admission is free. The rest of the month it does cost to get in and most days you do have to pay for parking. And parking is a challenge, but it is worth visiting if you are into museums. more

The Burke is a good place to take kids and is in a great, convenient location in the city. The displays aren’t great in number, and the museum isn’t extremely large, but it serves well for a fun afternoon. Dinosaur displays are good. The cultural displays are nice, a bit surface and definitely Eurocentric, but good nonetheless. Overall a fun experience. more

This is a great place for kids to learn about the past and different cultures. There are many exhibits that will keep kids busy. The most popular of which is the dinosaur exhibit. I'm not sure if its still there but the museum is still worth going with your kids even if the dinosaurs are not there anymore. more

The Burke Museum is a small museum with an interesting and diverse collection. The presentation is somewhat stale, but the anthropological and natural history objects on display are worthy of a few hours of browsing. I was impressed by how accessible the museum is for kids, and the dinosaur exhibit will interest kids of all ages. From time to time special temporary exhibits are staged at the Burke, and these are usually excellent. more

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture is on the University of Washington campus. The Burke is a fun and interesting museum, but it is not particularly large or expansive, so any trip there will be relatively short for a day at the museum. Although I cannot comment on the current temporary exhibits (these change every four to six months or so), the permanent exhibits are magnificent. The Life and Times of Washington State Exhibit is an amazingly comprehensive and intellectually stimulating at how this region came to look the way it does. Pacific Voices chronicles the many native peoples of the Pacific Northwest and does a good job of giving the visitor the Native perspective. Parking is plentiful on campus on the weekends and the U-District is easily accesible by public transit on all days, but it's probably best not to visit on football game days. more