Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monuement Reviews

The drive is pretty but we had a hard time finding the fossil beds. I'm still not sure we were in the right spot.

Not much to see. Dry land and farms. Fossils are on the museum.

A firm believer and supporter of our National Park System, this one was not one of our favorite. The visitor center is small with small displays. Anyone participating in the National Parks Passport program, be advised they are no longer the cancellation location for Minidoka Park. Minidoka has their own visitor center now.

A very nice, but small museum. Gives the history of the fossil beds that have been found in the area, and a full skeleton of the Hagerman Horse.

The visitors center had a nice video explaining the area in the Pliocene Epoch. It was interesting to learn how different it was. Fossils were at the visitors center, however, you will not see any on sight. The area is beautiful and comes with the added benefit of seeing where wagons came through on the Oregon Trail. Lots of history and natural science. Well worth the drive!

This is a interesting and educational site, it will be superb when the new facility is completed. On my next visit to Idaho I will stop in again. This is a great place to learn about things that were alive before we were!!

The visitors center is definitely the place to go for info on the fossils found in Hagerman. We went to the museum and the "fossil bed overlook" and were disappointed until we came here. The staff is extremely knowledgable and can tell you all about the different fossils on display.

Full of history and the people the are very knowledgeable family had fun

Very helpful lady at the front desk, nice atmosphere. Fossils in great condition with informative details about them. Small but great.

Glad to have stopped. Great displays. Learned about other sites in the area. Why haven't we been here sooner?!! Will visit again. Video was informative.

Good national park visitors center but you have to drive to see the fossil beds.

Excellent Fossil display. Extremely knowledgeable staff. Got our Natl Passport Book stamped Just off the highway.

You can't anywhere near where you can see the fossils

Small visitor center which gives you the gush of air conditioned air which you would be looking for on a summer day

We found this by accident! What a cool place. We camped near here, actually near the fossil dogs, and did not know it. Went to the visitor center the next day, and just loved it! The one to horse is so cool.

The ranger was a wonderful host! We enjoyed the things that we learned. There were fun, hands-on exhibits. The AR sandbox was a very fun way to learn about erosion! This is a great National Monument!

Not what we expected. Thought we'd be seeing fossils still embedded, but it's just a small building in town. Ranger was very nice.

Quiet in the evening. Life vests to borrow for kayaking, or canoeing.
Great views.

For the people rating this park with 3 or lease stars....It is protected for a reason. The first decendents of modern day horses came from here and it is a valuable archeological sight where numerous species have been discovered. Yes it is no Grand Canyon or Zion but it has a history and beauty of it's own. The Oregon trail also cuts through it making it more interesting. Makes for a good day trip.

Loved the "fossil bed" at the end of the trail. Excited to check out the visitor center in town as it was closing once we located it.

Don't go expecting to see fossils in the ground. It's just where the fossils were discovered. It is a good information about geology and history.

It was really cool. It's a small place full of multiple fossils.

Nice scenic drive along the river. Nice hot springs and small town charm

Go to the visitor's center downtown rather than going out to the fossil beds; they are not exposed. You learn a lot more about the area from the staff at the visitor's center.

Smaller of the national monuments, actual fossils not visible in park.

I appreciate the National Parks system and want to visit as many parks, sites and monuments as I can. The information center is wonderful with great material and helpful staff. What I missed is that the fossil beds are more of a geographic area. I was hoping for trails that took you to see fossil beds in the ground. There is a spot out on road where you can look out over a beautiful expanse, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Something that did brighten the time out on the preserve was getting to walk on a couple of historic trails, one being the Oregon Trail.

If you're passing through be sure to stop at the information center to get your National Parks Passport book stamped. But only if you have time to try to explore the wider area, I wouldn't recommend driving out to the area.

I thought it was really cool to see the Oregon trail wagon wheel tracks. I'm really glad we visited this location. There is a walking trail that takes you along the Oregon trail.

I didn't visit the museum in town. Was hoping there was going to be something more for information or visitor area.

Underwhelming is the perfect word here. If you're in the area and driving by, the visitor center makes for an okay visit, but the two overlooks out of town are simply a waste of time. It's hard to believe this is actually classified as a national monument.

The visitor center would get 5 stars because it had a nice variety of bones & exhibits, but, the fossil monument area was a major disappointment. I thought we were going to get up close to view a dig area with exposed bones but the map took up to an overlook to gaze down into a canyon. This was not worth the drive. The Dinosaur Monument in Jensen, Utah was much better.

Not as cool as I thought it would be. Thought there would be more information or things to look at.

Great displays of horse fossils and short video of the formations.

A nice little Visitors' Center, but no one in our group was impressed with anything we saw. Perhaps if the audiovisual gave a visual about the evolution of the horse or other animals from the fossils, it would be more meaningful and something we could relate to. A reproduction of a fossil from 2 million years ago did not have much impact.

Unexpected and pretty cool in the area. Really spectacular views of the whole entire Valley

A small visitor center with a big job. Wonderful and passionate ranger willing to share information. Came excited about the Hagerman Horse fossils and found out so much more. 3 miles of the original Oregon trail well preserved. Also found out about the Minidoka war relocation camp where nearly 13,000 people where imprisoned. If you love history this national monument has more than enough to offer.

The location is a bit underwhelming, but the staff is amaaazing and super cool fossils! I still can't believe the Llama was originally from North America?? :o

We re big fans of the National Park system. We ve learned something at even the smallest parks and this one was no exception. That said, there really isn t that much there. The staff is very informative though. They have a cast of a mastodon head, a reproduction of a Hagerman horse skeleton, and numerous authentic fossils. The history of the actual site and Hagerman horse are interesting. You can see the site from an overlook, however, there is really nothing to see as there hasn t been a dig in decades. The route is on the Oregon and Emigrate Trails which are interesting for the history but not so much what you see. If you re in the area, it s worth going.

A very harsh land with a beauty all it's own. It is beautiful overlooking the snake river. Also once of the only unspoiled parts of the Oregon Trail that actually still has wagon ruts from the westward expansion of the 19th century.

Visitors Center in town good, but trip out to overlook and to see Oregon Trail remnants worthless except view of Snake River.

The Visitors Center in the center of Hagerman City is where you start your journey. This place is staffed with retirees who are so passionate about the Hagerman Fissile Beds that it is contagious. You can watch a 12 min video on the Hagerman Horse (zebra-like) in the air-conditioned theater, read tons of info on what life was like between 3.7 and 3.1 million yes ago.
From the Visitors Center, you can head out to the Hagerman Fishery, follow the tour in your own car to the Snake River Overlook and concluding with the Oregon Trail Overlook (and Emigrant Trail Hike...we didn't do the hike. It was too hot & we're too old:)
Pics are of Oregon Trail Overlook.

Nice little visitors museum. Dig site is off limits, but there is a paved road to take you to nearby. Snake river overlook and Oregon trail veiwing.

It was GREAT, learned a lot of the volunteers there. Very interesting and informable.

Beautiful views from the cliffs but if nothing is being excavated while you're there you can go to the information house and see what has happened in the past. Make sure you don't pick up any fossils. Take pictures and mark the spot with rocks. Then notify the information office so that they can alert the right people to identify and mark the bones and place they were found.

Not much to see. A few fossils are on display in the visitors center, other than that, the fossil beds are just a valley with no fossils in it anymore.

Great visit !! Make sure to get your Jr ranger badge!!

Great historical importance; includes a great section of the Oregon Trail too. Make sure to plan your trip around an active dig time, otherwise there is not much to see unfortunately. Unlike other NPS sites nearby, there are rattlesnakes here to reduce hiking. Great visitor center.

Classic car show was going on when we stopped in town for lunch. They had a great turn out. Great music, food and prizes.

This is a great place to go to learn about Idaho s State Fossil (the hagerman horse) and the surrounding area! I was a summer intern there for 2019. All of the fossils are housed in town at the visitor center, but you can still drive out to the monument and view the two overlooks. The monument is preserved for ongoing paleontological research, so there isn t much hiking or activity out there. The visitor center is small, but they have quite a variety of interesting fossil finds! The rangers are very knowledgeable and would love to tell you about the fossils if time allows it. Check out the Facebook page to see if there are any events happening there before you go.

Interesting place that is known for ancient horse fossils, and some of the ruts left from the Oregon Trail. The visitor center is in near by Hagerman. It has a small collection of fossils from the site.

The visitor's center is totally worth the drive and visit. My family really enjoyed talking to the ranger there, who was as excited as a 2 year old to share his knowledge on the area. And, if you listen and ask where the best places are to tour the area, he'll point out the hot spots. We didn't see any fossils, but we weren't expecting to. We did see the underground rivers, the deep deep canyons and some very beautiful parks. We truly enjoyed our visit, but to get the most out of it, you really need to go the visitor's center and pester the guides. Then, your trip will be awesome!

The Google page needs to be updated! Upon arrival, sign on door states that visitors must call ahead for a reservation! My fiancee and I drove from Twin Falls, and left without seeing the museum!

It was a wonderful experience. Lots of places to look at for information. Great trails to follow as well to see history.

Good views and a nice trail 3 mile trail(one way). Didn't make it to the visitor center, which is in town.

Great place, fascinating, small visitors center with older film to educate visitors.

I'm rating this high, not because of the fossils seen, rather for the scenery, which was amazing. Huge hills, cool rocks, and the history behind the area, i.e., Oregon Trail and Emigrant Trail.

Came to play at the pipeline and had a blast. Miles and miles of single track.

Took my grandsons the guide did a decent job but failed to take into account the kids. I had to explain what he was saying as he was using words above thier understanding. People were left behind on the tour as they needed to rest the stairs proved to be a little too much for them.

Museum is small, fossil bed are in bluffs near the river and no excavations happening so nothing to see.