Rock Creek Nature Center and Planetarium

How lucky are we to have the only national park with a planetarium right in DC.
Yes, the place is small, but I enjoyed the simple, informative, interactive show the park ranger hosted in the planetarium. Like others have mentioned, it is not updated, seats are old, building is old, but I found myself appreciating that. The free planetarium show is geared towards kids, but I found myself learning quite a bit, and noticing that schools are teaching kids quite a bit about our universe. :)
The coolest part is the software that the park ranger used to put on the show in the planetarium. It uses real-​time imagery of what is going on in the solar system, and the host tells stories, clicks on various planets, and shows the evolution of what happens to the stars at night.
Surrounding the nature center are the horse stables, and two trails that you can take a hike on.

Ar we really in the middle of one of the largest cities in the U.S. This place is amazing (for being in the heart of a city). The «planetarium» isn’t really a planetarium I understand. it’s a projection system? Just go

They’ve recently remodelled the planetarium so that it’s a fully digital system. This is the same kind of immersive video that IMAX can do, but on a much smaller budget. The park also hosts the public outreach nights for the National Capital Astronomers, a club of amateur astronomers in the DC area.

3.5 stars.
I love the NPS. Love them. I think National Parks count among America’s greatest accomplishments and are one of our proudest legacies. I passionately support any organization working to preserve our country’s natural resources and wonders.
So it feels wrong slapping three stars on RCNC&P, but it seems more fitting to me than four. This place just needs a little revamp, that’s all. The museum has been around over 50 years, and it feels as if not a whole lot has been changed or updated in that time. But the exhibits are valuable and the rangers wonderful as usual.
I never even knew RCNC&P existed until Field Trip Fairy flicked her wand and sent me on my way with a load of school kids. Located in Rock Creek Park, the Nature Center and Planetarium houses a museum about local flora and fauna, as well as… well, take a wild guess. The museum portion is small and homey, with stuffed animals native to the area such as box turtle, fox, and beaver. There are also exhibits regarding the cultural, recreational, and natural significance of Rock Creek Park, a Discovery Room for little ones, and a library. They host nature walks and ranger programs, too.
The planetarium is as old as the museum itself, and it looks it. It is *so* old school, a tiny rotunda that can seat 75 people maximum (our group barely squeaked in) with gray vinyl benches circling the room and outer space posters lining the walls. There’s a new Spitz projector the rangers have nick-​named Seymour — «because it helps you SEE-​MORE!» our requisitely hokey ranger joked. Shows depict the path of sun across the sky during the day, moonrise, the night sky with and without light pollution (it’s spectacular when the light pollution is removed by computer and the planetarium literally dances with millions more [fake] stars than before), and trace the patterns in the constellations to help you picture Orion, Ursa Major, or Pleiades. The Rose Center this ain’t; but it’s a cute little show for kids and teens. And you have to give them props for being THE only planetarium in any National Park. Not to mention shows are free.
So, RCNC&P is a great place to bring kids to foster an appreciation of our immediate and greater natural world. Any NPS endeavor is worth the time and money in my book.

This nature center and planetarium gives me nostalgic memories of what planetariums were like when I was a kid.
The projector was built in 1968. It is old and reminds me of what these used to be like.
The Nature center has stuffed versions of every animal native to Rock Creek Park. It is not the type of display you see anymore.
It has furs you can touch, tanks filled with fish and frogs native to the park, and a bee station.
And it has the smallest gift shop that I have ever seen.
The place is obviously dated, but going inside is like going into a time machine back 30 years.
Parking is easy but the center itself is hard to find.
They are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
This is great for small kids.

great place to bring your toddler/​preschooler on cold or rainy days when you want something fun to do (especially on weekdays). Bunch of exhibits to checkout, a little play room to draw or do puppet shows, and a little interactive section to push buttons and stuff.

I took a day off today to hang out with Soccerballgirl. First on the agenda was her pre-​school trip to the Rock Creek Planetarium. I did not even know there was one here — I thought we were going to deepest darkest Rockville. This place is magnificent.
We had about thirty five 4 year-​olds in the group, about 15 parents (13 Moms and 2 Dads if anyone is monitoring gender role migration in the twenty first century) and the four pre-​school teachers.
I really think pre-​school teachers should be running the world. I can’t get my four-​year-​old to eat with a spoon, yet in class she is marching, in line, listening, holding hands. Imagine what pre-​school teachers could do if you gave them an army, or tanks, or several trillion dollars.
The Nature center itself is superb. Stuffed versions of all the birds and animals native to Rock Creek park — bald eagle, woodpecker, even a coyote in the house.
But it is the planetarium that is, ahem, the star of the show. George is the planetarium’s 38 year old projector — due to be replaced at the end of February with a digitial programmable model. George — and the park ranger — a former NASA astronomer — put on a hell of a show.
This is one of the things I love about this city — even in a place you think you know well like Rock Creek park you can find something wonderful. This small, old fashioned planetarium has a phenomenal staff and it is a lovely show — sure, it’s a little dated, and I can’t wait to see the updated on as of ²⁄₂₈ but the kids and parents were all in awe. We saw Casseiopeia, the Pleiades, Orion and his belt. We learned about Andromeda. The big dipper and the little dipper, the craters on Venus. I suddenly thought about all those times over the years that I have been sitting on a beach or in the country and been gazing at the stars — maybe I do that only once or twice a year. I need to do it more often, and I need to know more about what’s up there and the stories the Ancients concocted to keep themselves entertained around the fire.
Back out to the Nature Center to play with the animal skins — this place is perfect for the pre-​school set. They have a whole table filled with furs, deer legs, frog skeletons, deer tails, whole fox pelts. All there to be played with, and us adults were having a lot of fun with it too.