EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
At Golden’s museums, you can discover dinosaur bones, ride the rails, and create solar energy all in a day’s trip. Golden Colorado is home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Mines Museum, The Colorado Railroad Museum, and the Golden History Museum & Park.
NREL
NREL’s Visitors Center has transitioned to an Education Center and now offers a variety of program topics and experiences for student and adult groups addressing renewable energy and energy efficiency innovations. Group programs are available at no charge. A launch-pad for energy innovations, NREL is home to world-renowned energy experts and research. The lab leads the way in analyzing energy integration, energy supplies, and economic impacts. Advanced scheduling is required for all groups.
DINOSAURS!
Golden’s history goes as far back as the dinosaurs. Visitors can view fossils and dinosaur bones at the nearby Dinosaur Ridge or along the Triceratops Trail. The Triceratops Trail is a self-guided multi-purpose trail in Golden taking visitors through 68 million years of Colorado pre-history, with footprints and impressions left by dinosaurs, birds, mammals, plants and insects.
Dinosaur Ridge, located a few miles south of Golden provides visitors to learn about Golden’s original inhabitants – dinosaurs. Visitors can enjoy the onsite gift shop, educational workshops and interpretive programs or see 100 million year old dinosaur tracks sit atop layers of sand and mudstone, the pads of the toes and patterns of migration seen in over 300 footprints and 37 trackways.