WMU Dinosaur Park: Free and Family Friendly Fun in Kalamazoo

The campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo is home to thousands of students, many classroom buildings and residence halls, athletic fields and stadiums, and lots of beautiful green space. Since 2019, it has also been home to a Dinosaur Park that continues to grow in size. Kids of all ages will enjoy checking out the dinosaur statues here and learning more about each one. We recently had a chance to visit the WMU Dinosaur Park and today we will share some photos from our visit and let you know how you can check out this awesome attraction for yourself.

The WMU Dinosaur Park is located behind the Lee Honors College Building and next to Rood Hall, which is home to the Schmaltz Geology Museum. We visited on a weekend so the museum wasn’t open, but its regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Inside you will find the most extensive collection of rocks and minerals in southwest Michigan.

A sign near the hall tells about the park and how it is ever evolving. It mentions that the featured dinos are from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods and that plant life in the park is supposed to match the Mesozoic Era. There are signs in front of each dinosaur that give their name, size, eating habits, when they lived, speed, and known predators.

We noticed the recent addition of two Dilophosaurus statues posed against an Allosaurus. These appeared to still be a work in progress but should make for some awesome photo ops in the coming years.

In addition to those three dinosaurs, you can also see a Stegosaurus, a Triceratops, two Utahraptors, a Spinosaurus, a Parasaurolophus, and a 17 foot tall Brontosaurus. It was cool to see this unique and free park on a college campus, and there were several families with young kids enjoying it when we visited. Here’s a few more photos:

Most parking on the Western Michigan University campus is by permit only, so be sure to follow all signs when you visit. The best parking option is behind Sangren Hall or at the Bernhard Center. The map below shows where you can find this park in relation to other campus landmarks.