Cook Museum of Natural Science
"It’s our mission to engage, excite, and educate visitors of all ages about the natural created world around them."
Welcome to the Cook Museum of Natural Science, the modern natural science museum holding exhibits on zoology, geology, paleontology, and nature. This museum is located just 30 miles from Huntsville in downtown Decatur, Alabama.
Inside your group will find hands-on, immersive learning experiences that allow guests to explore, interact with, and learn about nature. The main areas of the museum include the natural science area, which explores forests, caves, the arctic, oceans, rivers, insects, space, and more, the marine aquariums (fish, coral, jellyfish), and the live animals.
Here are a few specific highlights of things you will see and do inside:
- Immersive cave experience
- Live animals, including baby alligators, turtles, snakes, insects, jellyfish, fresh and saltwater fish, and more
- 15,000-gallon saltwater aquarium
- Forests exhibit gallery with a tree you can climb up through the inside of and a rope bridge you can cross to a squirrel’s nest high up in a tree
The museum has several Classrooms available for school groups, including the Salamander Classroom for early childhood learning, Maker Space for upper elementary and middle schools, and the Adventure Lab for middle and high schoolers. There are lunch catering options as well as dine-in options onsite at the eatery Nature's Table, which serves up fresh delicious foods such as smoothies, protein bowls, and sandwiches.
