Cabazon Dinosaurs

I love roadside attractions. This is worth a quick stop…

Pitstop worthy, however the price of admission is too high. 5 – 7 dollars to see the paint faded dinasours and to go in a small circle. Gift shop items are over priced aswell. Do yourself a favor and buy your kid a dinasours the dollar store or if your like me and noticed most gift shop items were originally from oriental
. purchase a dozen little dinasours for a fraction of the price. Overall, nice experience but will not be returning again.

This place is dumb. I will never stop here again. No point to it the dinosaurs u see outside is probably the best part and it’s free. There really is no point to pay for it just save your money and just look over the gate probably your best bet. I understand it’s appealing to the eye from desert to dinosaur but I just couldn’t be there. I had sandles on as well and it’s all walking through the gravel. Ugh over that place.

Ever since watching the movies «We’re Back» and «Jurassic Park», I’ve always had a bizarre fascination with the mysterious Triassic creatures. Visiting Claude Bell’s Cabazon Dinosaurs had been on my bucket list for years. Located off the I-​10 in the middle of the desert, you can find the perfect pit stop to stretch your legs, snap some pics, and be on your merry way! I think the location truly adds to the experience as you’re able to see dinosaurs in nature, far away from a metropolis commercial city. No doubt this is a great place to bring kids for an easy 10 – 30 minute stop.
There’s not too many surprises here. What you see is what you get. For no cost visitors are able to climb into the 150 foot Brontosaurus, which leads you to the dinosaur shop. If you pay the fee to go inside the creationist museum, you can also go inside the Tyrannosaurus Rex and see many other ancient animals.
If you’re interested in bizarre oddities and kitsch, than this is a one of a kind place you won’t want to miss.
Cost: $ 10 adults, $ 9 kids, $ 7 military w/​id & seniors, 2 and under are free.

This is an awesome pitstop to make if you’re making the drive from LA to Palm Springs or Joshua Tree. Even you don’t end up paying the ticket to go inside, you’ll get the chance to take photos of the 2 majestic dinosaurs outside!
If you do go inside (which I recommend if you have the time) you’ll walk around a small area of 50 dinosaur statues of all sizes. It’s not educational at all but it’s awesome in all its kitschiness. I went with a group of 4 and we all loved it. Plus you get to climb inside the T-rex’s mouth.

I’ve been wanting to see these dinosaurs for a long time and I finally got the opportunity when we were coming back from Palm Springs. You can’t miss the dinosaurs. There is a huge t-​rex and brontosaurus in the middle of nowhere! And it’s actually completely free to look at them, take pictures with and do whatever you want with them. The Brontosaurus is actually a gift shop so you can go inside for free to and indulge in some dinosaur toys if you want. They’re expensive though so we passed on it.
Now, if you want to go inside the T-​Rex, you have to pay an admission fee to the museum and that is why my rating is affected. It is way overpriced for what is essentially a poorly decorated area with a bunch of unrealistic dinosaurs. I mean if you have kids, they will probably love it but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for people without children. We ended up paying for it just so we can peer out through the T-Rex’s mouth which is actually very cool but nowhere worth the $ 10 admission fee (each) we paid. Still, I appreciate that something like this actually exists because dinosaurs will always be very cool to me and this is by far the biggest installations of dinosaurs I’ve seen. Worth a visit if you are headed to/​coming back from Palm Springs but definitely not worth an individual trip. ³⁄₅

We loved it! Stopped by yesterday from our drive back home. Kids loved it. Heck! I loved it! I really don’t understand why some said it sucked. But hey t rex and the other dinis wont always tickle your pickle. But hey my kids loved it. I defitnetly recommend stoping by. Like the cheapskate say free photo op if you stop and see the dinosaurs. The dino ride was hilariiys for my kids. Cute gift shop.

If you’re looking for an actual educational dinosaur museum do not bother going here. If, however, you’re looking for some amusement on the way from LA to Palm Springs, or on the way back then you should check this out.
The dinosaurs are comically sized and there are probably only 15 – 20 different kinds of dinosaurs then duplicate models of them peppered throughout the museum. Also be on the lookout for the subtle Christian elements throughout: one loan cross at the entrance, lions, and lambs amongst the dinosaurs, and a knight on a white horse.
This place is strange to say the least, but a fun pitstop on a long drive. I stopped in on a Monday with a friend as we made our way home from Palm Springs, we were anticipating it being quite the joke, and it did not disappoint. The «facts» about dinosaurs were almost all movie trivia. And the facial expressions of the dinosaurs were almost all cartoon-​ish. So it was almost all a farce.
My only complaint: not enough Jesus.

Cool place — worth the stop for pictures, the museum is a bit blah, but the overall impression was good. And dont forget — it will be windy out there!

The Cabazon Dinosaurs are a ridiculous roadside attraction. Ask out of state people if they’ve ever heard of them and they will give you a blank stare. Ask them if they know Pee Wee Herman and it might ring a bell.
We stopped by the dinosaurs on our way to Joshua Tree and it was pretty amusing. Seriously, everyone is happy here and it is a true family friendly activity. Everyone wants to take pictures of the dinosaurs, with the dinosaurs, and insist on taking pictures of you with the dinosaurs. Aside from the dinosaur structures there is a small museum, playground for kids, and a gift shop. The museum and playground costs money. If you have small children with you this place will probably rob your wallet but most likely they will have a blast. You can also take a lunch break here as there are a few picnic tables available.
As an adult, snap your pic, post on social media, and take a two minute gander in the gift shop. There is really nothing more to the dinosaurs. In fact, they are kind of dilapidated.

Dinosaurs in the desert? YES.
Completely random? Totally.
Should you take the exit? DUH.

I’ve passed these iconic dinosaurs countless times and never stopped to check them out. I finally decided to change that!
My expectations were pretty low going in. Let’s be real — how exciting and cool can some fake dinosaurs in the middle of the desert really be? The answer: semi exciting! Exactly as expected!
For those of you that are cheap, you’re freely able to stop and snap your Instagram pics in front of the t-​Rex without entering. For the high rollers, pay a couple bucks and you can GO INSIDE THE T-​REX! You’re not really living until you can say you went inside a dinosaur. Inside isn’t glamorous. You might look from the outside and think, «gee, how in the hell do you get all the way up in there?!» Inside, you’ll find out it’s not a very picturesque trek, but at least you’ll have your answer!
Kids can dig for dinosaur eggs and pan for shiny rocks (I know they have names, but the kids don’t so who cares). There’s also a garden of dinosaurs with descriptions. But smart tourists go in knowing they’re just paying to walk up into the T-​Rex and leave happy knowing they achieved their goal. Which is exactly why I give this 4 stars.

Awesome little spot out in the middle of no where lol. We discovered it on our way to Phoenix from San Jose, will definitely make this a rest stop for future trips :)

This place is great. We spent a couple hours just relaxing and taking pics with friends. I’ve always wanted to come here and i finally saw the dinosaurs with my own eyeballs.
all the idiots saying its a «tourist trap» are stupid. No one made you pay for the museum. No one made you stop and look at it. Yes its a road side attraction. Dont expect the Smithsonian Museum. We took plenty of pics with the dinosaurs and that was all FREE. Only reason these idiot Unilocalers are rating it 1 star is because they fell for the «tourist trap» and decided to pay and be «tourtists». Those type of people are also the kind that expect 5 star service at fast food restaurants.
To wrap this up, if you’re driving down the freeway make sure to stop and enjoy these dinos. Its fun and makes for great photos.
Ozzy out!

A fun, quick photo-​op on the way to Palm Springs or the casinos! Very kid friendly, as well as perfect for the movie buff in your group. I think there’s a whole exhibit you can do here, but I just did a quick hit and run to put on my social media pages…

We all have our bucket lists. Some entries are stranger than others, and some make sense only to the bucketer in question.
This is and was one of my entries.
For years, I’ve wanted to see this place and have my large, bearded friend chase me around with a dinosaur bone while I screamed «ANDY!!!», terrifying children and tourists alike. Yes indeed, «Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure» had filled me with some lofty life goals.
My friend wasn’t available, so I took the missus.
The dinosaurs are great, and just as majestic in real life, as they are the ultimate in roadside kitsch. The neighboring Wheel Inn, where «Large Marge had sent ya» was closed forever, and I mourned its loss, but still retained an abandoned beauty. All of this looked awesome. It WAS awesome.
And yet, not all of it is awesome.
Creationists have taken over the site, and while you can still see the two prehistoric beauties and take photos to your heart’s content, there’s still a lot of documentation about how the world is only 6,000 years old, carbon dating is BS, and we hung out with these «terrible lizards» a la «The Flintstones».
Look, I worked at a natural history museum for a few years. I’ve spent a lifetime reading on dinosaurs (and going on a small dig once), and «The Flintstones» was not a documentary (yet the RV park/​Bedrock City near the Grand Canyon is awesome). As sociologist Daniel Moynihan once noted: «Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts». As much as I wanted to go into the T-Rex’s mouth, I just couldn’t do it, especially since the owners want to convert the place from a «tourist destination» to a «place of worship» that will apparently need two hotels in the immediate area to house all the people. What is the direction and set of goals that they are trying to accomplish?
That aside, the dinosaurs are wonderful, and it really was something that I wanted to see in person, and take ridiculous pictures of. Yes, you can still get close to them. That made me happy. I wish that the Wheel Inn would have still been open, and I’ll regret never getting to experience that, but again, it made for some wonderful pictures, and hey, I was there.
Perhaps one day I’ll return, wearing a thin, grey suit and bright red bow tie for my own «big adventure» worth of photo opportunities. As a roadside destination, you can still go in and just enjoy the main dinosaurs for what they are as a part of «weird» Americana, and still get to enjoy those with a sense of youthful wonder.

Before paying $ 8.95 per person to enter the «museum» and Dino park, you should first ask yourself whether the giant t-​Rex & Brontosaurus are enough for your camera roll. If not, there are quite a few dinosaurs inside the park which is a quick walk through but fun for pix.
There were a couple of 5 – 7 year olds that were walking around complaining to their parents about how boring it is. And I agree, it’s not fun, exciting or very educational as you only get to see the dinosaurs and their names. I think this could be improved if they had fun facts about each one. As part of the tour, you can climb up t-​Rex which has very narrow steps at the top and you can take photos from inside his mouth looking out into the parking lot. Kinda cool, kinda scary.
Inside the souvenir shop is also their robotic Dino museum which is also not very interesting but they do have one that moos. The souvenirs are also very dated and still not very interesting. Also pricey for what they are. This attraction CAN be fun though if you’re with the right person that has a sense of humor. I was lucky!
Again…it’s cool for photos. It’ll probably take you (an adult) 20 – 30 mins to walk through and take pix of everything.

Cute little place in the middle of nowhere a great place to stop and use the restrooms grab a hamburger from Jack-​in-​the-​Box and see dinosaurs for small children.

What can be said about the Cabazon Dinosaurs? PEE WEE HERMAN. However, when we toured the dinos, all I can say is cheesy. Granted, I was happy to check in here because Huell Howser really loved visiting here and I did it for him. As I mentioned in a review for the robotic museum, this is a great stop to go potty and grab a bite to eat at the Burger King if you are traveling with small children. I will say that it does get chilly so bring a jacket and definitely wear good shoes cause there is dust everywhere (it’s the desert). If you do want to go into the T-​Rex it can get tight on the way up so just be careful. All in all, it was worth to stop by to see the big dinos, but that’s pretty much it.

California roadside attraction!
Since we were heading to the outlet, coming from Palm Springs, mind as well check out these dinosaurs. Great place to stretch your legs and walk the doggy.
There’s a little amusement park but we didn’t check it out. Not worth the admission fee.
There are tables underneath the brachiosaurus, shady and breezy.
Great for everyone!

Hmm, I was really excited about this. I planned the stop along our drive out to Joshua Tree and then on the way I reread these reviews and realized it’s really not much of anything.
And it isn’t. I wanted to climb in Rex’s mouth until I got there. I’m sure it’s cool for kids but this LITERALLY a truck stop. I didn’t feel like spending $ 8.50 to go through the museum or whatever it was. Go to a legit dinosaur museum for that! .I guess it’s cool for kids. I have no idea.
But I got some cool cheesy pics! That’s what you go for, right? I don’t think you’ll be missing anything if you view it from the road and keep on truckin’!

You can’t miss the famous Cabazon Dinosaurs as you drive by on the 10. My husband and I were already on a mini road trip of oddities, so we figured this would be a fun little stop on the way back to Riverside. I was excited because I remembered them from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. My husband was excited because the T-​Rex featured in Fallout.
The dinosaurs themselves are a great piece of Americana kitsch. If I were rating this solely on the Dinosaurs, they’d get a 5 star rating. There is a small museum on the grounds you can tour for $ 8. Dinny features a gift shop inside his belly. You can also pay a fee to walk up into T-​Rex to look out through his teeth. We quickly realized upon reading the propaganda around the grounds that the dinosaurs were now owned by Creationists. Sad, really. Even though we didn’t pay to see the museum, we were still able to take some fun photos around the dinosaurs. It’s worth a stop for the photo op, but I wouldn’t make it a destination on its own. The Wheel Inn restaurant nearby is now closed, so the only option for food at this exit is a Burger King.

What a bummer.
If you’re visiting the Cabazon Dinosaurs and thinking you’ll be thrown back into the wonderful world of, «Pee Wee’s Big Adventure» stop, because that sh*t won’t happen here.
This has basically been turned into a roadside tourist trap that sells bootleg dinosaur toys and «fossilized» prehistoric snails. They also sell tickets to the go inside the T-Rex’s mouth, like in the Pee Wee movie, but you have to walk-​through a creationist museum to get there.
I didn’t partake in the museum or the T-​Rex mouth tour, but I did get some keen pictures and a adult reality check in movie sets versus reality.
Skippable!

Although I didn’t pay extra to go inside Mr. Rex, just taking pics outside with the giant dinos and going up inside the gift shop was pretty fun! This is a nice little stop for road warriors to and from Palm Springs or Joshua Tree. Would definitely go back and love how Huell Howser endorsed it.

«Tourist Trap»
This is one of those places you see it and debate whether it’s worth checking out. I should’ve went with my gut…
I would agree with a lot of the other reviews. Take your picture with the 2 dinosaurs outside and be on your way.
I was passing through with my 2 little boys and we decided to stop. We took our pictures with the Dino’s out front. From there we went up to the gift shop and bought tickets which are overpriced for what you see. Once we entered into the paid area, it was mainly a disappointment. My boys whipped through it in about 3minutes. We then went to the dig area outside, we did not see anything to help us dig. My boys asked the young man working there and he said it’s not that deep. So… we are supposed to dig like dogs???
The rest was downhill from here. The Dino’s you see on the path are mainly pretty worn down.
My advice, take your photo ops with the 2 Dino’s outside and save your money for something else.

Stopped here while driving to Joshua Tree NP. Just finding where to enter and park was difficult. You can pay to enter the museum or just check out the dinosaurs outside for free. They seemed kinda of run down. We literally parked, got out, looked around for 5 minutes, took a few pictures, and left. Not really worth my time.

This is a great tourist trap!
Emphasis is to be placed on «trap.»
*Can we have italicizing abilities pleaaaase?
So, I’ve always wanted to see the giant dinosaurs because I grew up watching Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (I watched it later on, but it was a favorite).
I finally got the opportunity to pull off the road and see them.
These poor dinosaurs aren’t in the best condition, but they’re there!
You should just stay there, take your photos, and move along.
The rest is a creationism museum, that does NOT belong.
Don’t waste your money on them, see the FREE dinosaurs.

The museum is open from 10am to 5pm daily and… according to the website… Admission to World’s Biggest Dinosaurs Museum is $ 8.95 Adults, $ 7.95 Children, $ 6.00 Military with ID and Senior Citizens. FREE admission for children under 2. Permanently disabled children and adults using wheelchairs and walkers and one attendant admitted FREE.
I drove by here and stumbled upon it while looking for a place to eat and stop, which happened to be at Burger King, located next door.
So, this review isn’t about the inside of the museum, but is of the awesome FREE photo opportunities you can have here where you can see the Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex and take neat pictures.
I’m curious to try to visit this place inside and go in if I’m in the area when they’re open. I happened to drive by when they were closed, but managed to take some nice photos outside of the dinosaurs.

The first dinosaur here was the Apatosaurus, it was built by Claude Bell who was a sculpture for Knott’s Berry Farm. Claude owned a café here and built the dinosaur to bring in customers. He started construction in 1964 and completed it 11 years later. He named it Dinny! Mr. Rex was built in 1981.
Claude died in 1988 and the family sold the property in the mid 1990’s
If I were to rate this place on the two original dinosaurs alone I would give it a solid 5 but as a whole experience it is lucky to rate a 2.
These two magnificent examples of American Roadside Attraction art have become front-​men to promote the new owners agenda.
The new owners are Young Earth Creationists, they denounce science and evolution while stating that the fossil record is wrong and that man and dinosaur walked the earth at the same time! Now if they want to believe that I guess it’s their own business, if they had flyers you could pick up in the front office stating their beliefs I would be okay with that because it would be up to me to pick it up and read it but the grounds are littered with large red and yellow signs stating their beliefs, they are unavoidable. There is even a large sign inside poor old Mr. Rex.
I am both amused and saddened that anyone could believe something that can be debunked with just a little common sense but what really bothers me is that children will be exposed to this nonsense. Please don’t bring children here, if you do please let them know that man and dinosaurs are separated by 65 million years.
You may be curious as to what treasures await you behind the wooden fence and be tempted to pay the entry fee so let me tell you what wonders lay ahead. Creationist propaganda and out of scale prefabricated fiberglass dinosaurs, that is all you will find in this whacked out wonderland.
If you must see the dinosaurs you can see the two original ones from outside without paying the entrance fee, so go look, take photos, then go, no need to help fund this place and help them disseminate erroneous information.

We drove several times to Palm Springs area and somehow we missed the dinos at Cabazon. It’s hard to believe since they are a bit further up from Hadley’s and Morongo.
This time we did stop by since they’re cool and they fit so well with the desert as a background. Unique sight! Great place to stop by for a picnic (they have tables around and some restaurants), let the kids play around, take a break from the round. Free.
They also have a museum (paid admission) but it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the price they charge, silly affair. They also have a gift store inside one of the dinosaurs, but some creationists took over the shop and sell their propaganda merchandise as well.
Make it a stop, it’s right off 10. You can even see the dinosaurs from the freeway. It could still be an adventure, even without Pee Wee around.

I don’t quite know how to rate this place because it is evident how old it is. But the nostalgia factor is worth the stop.
The T-​Rex is well fed and the most American looking T-​Rex there ever was. The big brontosaurus is just a gift shop inside.
We actually DID pay the $ to go IN to the exhibit. And all the dinos in there are equally old. You may even find some lions and crocodiles in there as well!
It’s not that it is so bad that it is good, it’s just old and that kind of makes it fun.
AT LEAST stop and take a photo in front of the chubby T-​Rex. He’s pretty adorable.