hudson-meng bison kill research & visitor center

Very interesting place that is quite a ways out of the way. You will have to drive on a dirt road to get there but there are signs. You can really only go during the late Spring, summer and early fall! There is an old west town on the way with a nice restaurant out there in the boonies too! Very interesting to see how the bison may have been killed and see how they are excavating the bones too !

We were the only ones there early in the afternoon. Our Ranger gave a very interesting tour to help us understand what the research in the area has found.

Stopped by at 9 a.m. when they opened. Received a nice tour from the ranger on duty. It was cool to imagine what the area was like 11,000 years ago and hunting the ancient Bison (much larger than today's Bison). The ranger told me about the area and how the Paleo-Indian tribes hunted. We then went inside and she told me all about the excavation of the bone bed. Toward the end, we went out and practiced throwing arrows at the Bison silhouette. Overall, it was a fun and interesting experience.

Our family really enjoyed entering into the mystery of the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed. The rangers in this remote research center helped make this a very educational visit. Our kids were speculating about what might have happened in this bison kill site. It was very interesting.

Fascinating site. Very interesting to see the development of archaeology in North America. Site definitely pays homage to the sophistication of Native culture dating back over 10,000 years. Highly recommended.

A VERY interesting stop. The US Forest Service employees give a private tour of the facility, which presents a bison kill site utilized by paleo-Indians. The site also has a very nice hiking trail that goes to the Toadstools, a paleontology site presenting fossils of the Miocene. Definitely worth a trip.

My family stopped here as part of the Nebraska Passport Stamp Tour and had a nice time. We spent $20 for two adults and 3 kids. The tour was well done and lasted 45 minutes. There were 600 bison killed here over a period of roughly 600 years over the size of a football field. It was an interesting time spent looking at the kill sight and listening to the different theories that have evolved over time. My children enjoyed throwing the spear with the Atlatl.

Hudson-Meng is a little off the beaten path, but well worth the trip! The site itself is located within a stunning landscape so the drive up to the site is very enjoyable. You do have to pay a small fee to get in, but you get a really great tour in exchange. The tour guides are really friendly and knowledgeable about the history of the bone bed and I learned a lot in the short time I was there. The bone bed itself has the remains of several hundred extinct bison that lived 10,000 years ago. No one is really sure how the bison died but most scientists think that humans killed them because a lot of arrowheads were found there too. When you visit, you can actually see part of the bone bed that has been left exactly as it was found by archaeologists. It's a really neat way to see what an archaeological dig looks like. The tour guides do a good job of explaining how the site was excavated and how archaeologists came up with the theories for how the bison died. When I first planned to visit I had no idea that this is one of the oldest human occupation sites in all of North and South America. So cool! It's really an awesome site to see!

I had only limited time here but it was a great stop. The staff provide interesting interpretation of the mysterious bone bed and why it might be there. Make time to do the hike to Toadstool park - it will give you a chance to walk through untouched grasslands, refreshing coulees and toadstool-shaped hoodoos. Go early and take lots of water as the hoodoos reflect the heat back on you. It is a three mile (5K) hike but will feel longer if you aren't prepared for the hike.

This is so fascinating! My family and I really enjoyed stopping here. We did not plan on stopping here, but we're glad we did! There is so much history behind this place. Apparently, 600 bison were mysteriously killed 10,000 years ago. Nobody knows why, but scientists are creating theories as to why they were killed. They uncovered the bones of the bison in 1954, and the building (built over the bones to prevent faster erosion) was finished in 1998. The density of where the bones are, is so high. There can be 30 bones in a square foot of soil. Amazing! We took a tour of the live site where paleontologists have uncovered many different bones. We got to see the different bones, and the tour guide was so helpful! Alex, (the tour guide) was very patient and answered all of our questions on the site and presented different theories that have been thought of by scientists. The tour is great for kids as well as adults and is so interesting to look at. He also showed us how the native Indians may have killed the buffalo by using a technique that kills the buffalo more efficiently. He showed us how to throw the arrow and we got to try it out-it was so cool to experience it! For a very affordable price, we received so much history! I definitely recommend this for a fun family activity!

A very interesting, isolated site manned by college students working there. Short stop in a scenic area. A chance to see a real dig in work with a fascinating (as yet unsolved) tale to tell.

Hudson-Meng is a fascinating place. We received a fantastic tour from Luke, who explained the history of the bonebed discovery and what archaeologists think it means. The history of the site stretches back 10,000 years. We chose to hike from Hudson-Meng 3 miles to Toadstool Geo park and back and enjoyed the walk into the great wide open.

For info on the site - read others.BUT - the visit includes an about 45min+ walk around and talk.I wasn't looking forward to it after 4 hours at Toadstool Geological Park, but it was great!The USFS guys there are really into their geology, geography, history, anthropology and archeology. Remember - part of the name is "Educational Center". And they are good at it!Our guide, Luke, on Aug 12 (afternoon) was a very good. For walkers - if it isn't killer hot, if you're going to both Toadstool Geological Park and Hudson Meng - take the 3 mile trail if you walk. It won't take much longer than the drive - but it's still 6mi walking round trip.Also - neither spot is going to be great if you have younger kids. Adolescents and above.

My son & I drove to the museum,the drive was long plus it was a gravel & drusty road, but it was worth. There were alot of fossil bones.

Great place! Really worth the scenic drive if you are visiting Chadron or Fort Robinson. The students working giving the tour were very informative. Just a neat site!