Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice
May 24, 2025 – September 21, 2025

Dinosaurs will roar into Upstate South Carolina, when the Upcountry History Museum presents Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice.

Crossing the threshold of this special exhibition means traveling back in time to explore the Age of the Dinosaurs.  As visitors move through the exhibit they encounter unfamiliar landscapes, touchable dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, and opportunities to investigate clues about what the dinosaurs left behind.  The exhibit builds on the popular fascination with dinosaurs and includes science, history, and literacy based activities to challenge all ages.

Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice, designed for children ages 3-10, is the first child-centered exhibit dedicated to expanding the understanding of dinosaur habitat and range. The bilingual (Spanish and English) exhibit features three distinct sections that build on a child’s innate curiosity about dinosaurs: Land of Fire (a warm dinosaur habitat), Land of Ice (a cold dinosaur habitat), and a Field Research Station (complete with a Big Dig experience).

The steamy Land of Fire – present day Montana – introduces visitors to the Triceratops, T-Rex, and the dinosaurs who called this environment home.  Children can circle the land in insect costumes, buzz through a volcano with oozing lava, work through a swampy bog, and identify an ecosystem of animals and plants.

No coats are needed for a trip across the Land of Ice where visitors meet the dinosaurs who made their homes in the cold climate of present day Alaska.  Activities include exploring an icy cave filled with northern lights effects, breezing down an icy slide, and creating a Cretaceous food chain in an environment based on cold dinosaur habitats 70 million years ago.

In the hands-on Field Research Station children and their caregivers don goggles and research vests, as they uncover dinosaur bones in a dig station and examine fossils to identify dinosaurs.

This immersive exhibit includes sculpted, touchable dinosaurs that feature the most recent scientific findings about the colors, textures and structural form of the dinosaurs.  Designed to spark children’s interest in science and history, the exhibit will immerse visitors in meaningful science experiences and activities that use scientific thinking skills; focus on history, natural history, and paleontology; and provide opportunities to build literacy and vocabulary skills through interactive activities.

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