My spouse and I visited the Carnegie Museum of Natural
History (abbreviated at CMNH) on a Sunday afternoon in late August 2019. The
CMNH is open from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm on Wednesdays through Mondays (closed
on Tuesdays), with extended evening hours until 8:00 pm on Thursdays. Admission
to the CMNH also provides access to the adjacent Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA)
(see our separate review).
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is located in
Pittsburgh’s East End/Oakland neighborhood, within walking distance of the
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). On-site
parking is available, as well as a museum store and restaurants (Cafe Carnegie
[see our separate review] and the Fossil Fuels Café). Complimentary docent-led
tours are offered throughout the day. Restrooms and coat check/lockers (which
require one quarter to use) are also on-site.
Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie founded the CMNH in
1896. Its collection includes over 22 million specimens, although only 10,000
of them are on view at any one time. The CMNH is considered one of the top five
natural history museums in the country and the third largest collection of
mounted displayed dinosaurs (only DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History and NYC’s American Museum of Natural History have more). Be sure to
visit the displays on the American Indian, polar world, ancient Egypt, geology,
minerals and gems, and birds.
We enjoyed our day visiting the Carnegie Museum of Art and
the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. We first visited the CMOA in the
morning, ate lunch in the full-service Café Carnegie (which provided a great
respite during a day of touring), then spent an enjoyable afternoon in the
CMNH. Highly recommended!
