New Mexico Bureau of Geology Mineral Museum

I visited this museum last year while on vacation in New Mexico. I really loved it! All the mineral displays were amazing. I geek out over geology so this was a very enjoyable visit for me. They also have a store and some minerals for sale as well. I bought myself a couple of small minerals to display at home.

Truly a gem of a museum, worth even a quick stop while driving across NM! Quite an impressive collection, and we liked that some of the tools of the trade were mixed into the displays.

What a wonderful place ! Free admission though it would be worth paying for. Excellent, very well displayed, labeled, organized, beautiful collection of rocks, fossils, minerals and gemstones. Hands down the best geology museum I've ever seen ! Thank you so much for providing the public with such an amazing place to visit ! Don't forget to check out the dark room to see the rocks glow ! Was super surprised that we were allowed to take photos too ! Many places will not let you. So very much appreciated the kindness of the staff and the amazing place they have provided.

Nice museum. Great side trip if you're in the neighborhood.

Beautiful collection in a really well curated museum. And for free! I loved the amount of local (both New Mexico and general southwestern US/northwestern México) gems and minerals on display. Though the museum is small, the collection rivals those of larger natural history museums in quality. The shop was small but really nice and has some awesome maps for sale, if you're into that kind of thing. Also the museum has gem and mineral specimens for sale in cases, one of which has only local specimens, super cool! I had to resist the urge to buy some but I'm more inspired now to go find these things myself.

This place was awesome. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area

An exceptional collection beautifully displayed! There is also a lot of excellent educational signage, good lighting, and plenty of space to walk around. This was my 2nd visit and worth the trip.
It's totally free!

Small but a tremendous collection, information and they have some rocks and minerals the kids can touch! We were on our way to santa fe and the kids saw the exit, so we added this stop and we were not dissapointed! You can also buy rocks and minerals.

Definitely worth the drive to this town that otherwise you would have no reason to go to or realize it was there as you flew by on the interstate. Not too far off the highway is this museum located inside the campus of New Mexico tech university. I have never seen a collection of so many minerals, jim's, crystals and all of my life. Truly an extensive collection. For very reasonable prices as low as $5 you can purchase some different rocks and minerals nearby the doors you enter the main part of the museum. You might miss it if you don't look for it it would be on the right. Adjacent and across the hall is a great little gift shop lots of things related to geology. The shop manager definitely took some time as each item there there seems to be unique and thought out.

My husband had a meeting with the Electric Company there. I found the Museum (I love artifacts and Geology) as I was searching for any places nearby to see dinosaur tracks, fossils, or rock shops. IT WAS AMAZING!! It's definitely the highlight of our trip!! I hope we have to go back for more meetings, so he can drop me off next time so I can spend more time at the museum.

Great display of minerals from locally and around the world.

Great free museum. My brain hurt after seeing so many beautiful rocks/minerals. Great resource for students and public.

Superior museum. There are lots of educational displays. Of course, there are lots of New Mexico minerals, and they also have lots of worldwide specimens as well. They are always adding to old displays and creating new ones. It is a must-see in Socorro. I really loved the meteorites on display.

Outstanding museum. Staff incredibly helpful. Artifacts and tools mixed with the rock and mineral samples were a great idea. This museum should be a must-stop for anyone in the area. The gift shop is an great source for maps and books. They also carry very reasonably priced jewelry from local artists.

This Museum is so amazing especially for people who love gems and minerals. You can find some amazing things to look at and lots of goodies for grandma or grandpa to get for their gkids.
Great little park is opposite of Museum.
Very nice employees. Very clean inside and around the building. Restrooms were clean.

This place is a hidden gem inside Socorro!

Pros:
- Very impressive collection of rocks, minerals, and gems.
- Some of the gems are for sale.
- Very good lighting and organization.
- They have a small darkroom to show off the "glowing" rocks.

Cons:
- The darkroom can use a upgrade but they are raising money to do just that.

Wow, I'm not a rock type of guy but who knew there was so many ways to classify them? It's very nice collection of rocks and you can even buy yours. Of you are around and have some time to spend, it's a no brainer and free to go in and look around.

This is a fantastic museum chock full of rock and mineral specimens! There are some really amazing samples here. The gift shop is large and full of cool and cute souvenirs.

The museum is somewhat small but the specimens are beautiful. It is more geology than you will see in a general museum. The gift shop is fairly good, too. There is also a restroom.

Mineral museum is a great relaxing experience. Highly recommend it. They even have a little shop.

Wish more people would go in there, on a free day, to just experience it at least once.