A Massive Dinosaur Fossil Museum Is Coming to NJ in March + Tickets Are on Sale

A new dinosaur fossil park museum is coming to NJ and tickets just went on sale.

Rowan University updated its information – and you will be able to explore South Jersey’s ancient past, all with an eye toward a more sustainable future, as of March 29. You can get tickets here.

The $73 million, 44,000-square-foot Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park Museum in Mantua Twp. is an exciting endeavor that will shed light on the dinosaur world for visitors. The museum will be set into the 65-acre Edelman Fossil Park (part of 123 acres total), perched above a former 4-acre marl quarry where 66-million-year-old marine and terrestrial fossils exist.

Kids and adults will marvel at “skeletal reconstructions of creatures that existed right here, 66 million years ago.” That means over 100,000 fossils from 100 species!

The Hall of Extinction & Hope will feature recreations that will enable visitors to experience the demise of the dinosaurs. Visitors will enter the Monstrous Seas Gallery of the Late Cretaceous worlds and see a recreated Dryptosaurus, the first discovered tyrannosaur, which was found just a mile from the Fossil Park site in 1866, and a 55-foot mosasaur, like one discovered at the site. The Dinosaur Coast Gallery teaches you about the lives of East Coast dinos from 66 million years ago.

The Discovery Forest will feature hands-on learning stations and Critter Cove will have sea and land animals with genetic connections to the site during the Late Cretaceous era. There will also be a Fossil Research Workshop, a virtual reality chamber, café, museum store, a paleo-themed playground, gardens and nature trails.

The museum will be eco-friendly, and is set to become New Jersey’s largest public net-zero building, meaning 100 percent of the energy used will come from renewable on-site sources and/or green energy through New Jersey’s power grid. The surrounding grounds will restore plant and animal habitat and other landscape features making this one sustainable destination.

Starting May 1, you will actually be able to dig for fossils and possibly even keep some, though some important artifacts will be kept on site for further research.

Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University is located at 66 Million Mosasaur Way, Mantua Twp., and will open on March 29. Tickets start at $29 for adults and $24 for children 3-12, with free admission for kids 2 and under, and additional benefits for members.

• Jennifer Amato contributed to this story.

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