The Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave on Lookout Mountain above Golden is one of the cheapest history field trips on the Front Range: school and youth groups pay $1 per child ages 6-17, and the first two adults are free ($4 for each adult after that). Groups are capped at 45 people with at least one adult per ten children. Visits are self-guided, and the museum says a half hour inside is enough for most student groups, so a two-hour reserved slot usually rotates between the museum, William F. Cody’s gravesite, the observation deck, a short hike and lunch. When staffing and weather allow, an outdoor small-group activity can be added for $1 per student.
The page is written for school and youth visits and does not name homeschool groups, but the booking process is the same for any group: complete and email the Group Reservation Form, and treat the date as unconfirmed until the museum replies. The gravesite and the rest of Lookout Mountain Park are free even without a museum ticket.
How to book
- Download the Group Reservation Form from the museum’s field-trips page and email it; wait for the confirmation email.
- Hours: daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 31, then Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Nov. 1 (closed Mondays and major holidays).
- 987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Rd., Golden; the drive up Lookout Mountain Road is part of the trip.
Lesson hooks
- The Wild West show era, frontier myth versus record, and Colorado’s early tourism.
- Same mountain, same day: the free Lookout Mountain Nature Center is a short drive away, and the Mines Museum of Earth Science is free in town.
More like this: Cheap Field Trips · History · Golden
