Though this is a small museum it has a lot to offer, with all manner of interesting items crammed onto the grounds and into the buildings. Outside, the first thing one notices on approaching the museum are the dinosaurs, three of which stand outside. Less noticeable are a series of vintage buildings, most of which hold further displays of local paraphernalia. At the end of the row of buildings is an ice cream parlor, open through the season whenever the museum is open.
Inside the main building are paleontology displays as well as items of more recent vintage relating to the local history of Choteau.
Not as noticeable as the other two dinosaurs here, this guy is set back among the buildings and, being green, tends to better blend into his surroundings. Though he is a herbivore, don't try to feed him as he will only eat plants that are 75 million years old, or older.
Maiasaura (from the Greek "µa?a" and the feminine form of Latin saurus, meaning "good mother reptile" or "good mother lizard" ) is a large herbivorous hadrosaurid ("duck-billed") dinosaur genus that lived in the area currently covered by the state of Montana in the Upper Cretaceous Period (mid to late Campanian), about 76.7 million years ago.
The first fossils of Maiasaura were discovered in 1978. The genus was named in 1979. The name refers to the find of nests with eggs, embryos and young animals, in a nesting colony. These showed that Maiasaura fed its young while they were in the nest, the first time such evidence was obtained for a dinosaur. Hundreds of bones of Maiasaura have been dug up.
Maiasaura was about 9 metres (30 ft) long. Young animals walked on their hind legs, adults on all fours. Maiasaura was probably closely related to Brachylophosaurus.
From Wiki
Old Trail Museum
The museum complex consists of the main museum building which houses a gift shop, a dinosaur gallery, area artifacts and exhibits. A wooden boardwalk accesses several other buildings including the Grizzly Cabin, the Jesse Gleason Art Studio, the Metis House, the Schoolhouse, the Ice Cream Parlor, a Blackfoot tepee or lodge and the Carriage House gift shop that has Montana-made and locally-made items.
The museum is one of 14 stops on the Montana Dinosaur Trail. The Dinosaurs of the Two Medicine Paleontology Gallery in the main building contains a life-size Maiasaura (the Montana State Fossil) along with a mural of the natural environment by local artist Jim Utsler.
Other paleontology exhibits in the gallery include a dinosaur skull cast of Einiosaurus, a cast of a meat-eating dinosaur, dinosaur footprints, dinosaur eggs, nests, and babies; and tools of the trade. Also included are exhibits of Maiasaura babies, Egg Mountain, dinosaur claws, Cretaceous marine fossils, geology of the Rocky Mountain Front and the Willow Creek anticline and a dino dig display.
Included is a “touch” bone where children and adults alike will get the opportunity to see (and touch) a real fossilized duck-billed dinosaur thigh bone.
In addition to the paleontology the museum contains more exhibits such as, Old Agency on the Teton, Jesse Gleason’s art studio, the Old North Trail, a Metis Red River Cart and Choteau’s last hanging.
After touring the museum enjoy an ice cream from the ice cream parlor located in the museum complex. There are shaded picnic tables for your convenience and plenty of room to park your RV.
From the Old Trail Museum