Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
Visitors to Agate Fossil Beds have a unique opportunity to explore both the natural and cultural wonders of the park through interpretive exhibits and hiking trails.
In 1998, the National Park Service completed a long-term project of interpretive exhibit design for the Visitor Center and Museum. In the main room of the park's museum, visitors can look at reproductions of Miocene mammal skeletons, an original slab of bones taken from the fossil hills, and a number of interactive exhibits describing early field excavations, animal behavior, and bone anaylsis.
The James Cook Gallery of Lakota culture is also on display in the Visitor Center and Museum. This gallery is an awesome tribute to Cook's friendship with old friends such as Red Cloud and American Horse. Visitors are often taken with the beauty of the bead and quill work or reflect upon the stories of life and culture through artifacts inside the gallery.
For birders, the park's two hiking trails are great for observing over 140 species birds who migrate through or call Agate home. Both trails, the Fossil Hills and the Daemonelix provide an excellent opportunity to see the wildlife, wildflowers and the geology of the Niobrara Valley.
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