Things to do in Oklahoma, United States: The Best Specialty Museums

The Frank Phillips Ranch was founded in 1925 and the Woolaroc Museum had a humble beginning four years later in 1929. The 3,700 acre wildlife preserve is home to more than 30 varieties of native and exotic animals and birds. It is a working ranch that maintains the animals for the enjoyment of our guests in a natural, protected setting. The Woolaroc Museum presents one of the world's most unique collections of Western art and artifacts; Native American pottery, baskets, beads, blankets and cultural art; historical displays; and one of the most complete collections of Colt firearms. Guests can also tour the Lodge, which was used as a place for Frank Phillips to entertain his friends and maintain business relationships. The Lodge abounds with tales of the parties, business events and wilder goings-on.

The Stafford Air & Space Museum is a Smithsonian-affiliated institution named in honor of Weatherford native and NASA Astronaut, Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford, a veteran of the Project Gemini and Apollo space programs. Filled with artifacts from the earliest days of mankind’s first flights, to the manned spaceflight programs of the “Space Race” era between the United States and the Soviet Union, to the future aerospace, the Museum has something for everyone! The museum houses one and a half acre of exhibits under roof and showcases thousands of items. With artifacts including a General Dynamics F-16 “Fighting Falcon”, the actual Fixed-Base Simulator used to train all 135 Shuttle Program crews, a ten-story Titan II rocket, a moon rock returned to Earth by the crew of Apollo 17 and General Stafford’s Gemini VI spacecraft, you’ll be amazed at the history you can find under one roof.

The Museum of Osteology is "America's Only Skeleton Museum". The Museum of Osteology, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a unique educational experience. Focusing on the form and function of the skeletal system, this 7000 square ft. museum displays hundreds of skulls and skeletons from all corners of the world. Exhibits include adaptation, locomotion, classification and diversity of the vertebrate kingdom.

Housed in the renovated Cherokee National Capitol, the Cherokee National History Museum tells the Cherokee story through immersive exhibits and augmented reality. Visitors will start their journey with the Cherokee origin story, continue with Cherokee life before and after European contact, experience Removal through the words of those who lived it, and learn about the growth of Cherokee Nation.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. Founded in 1955, the Museum, located in Oklahoma City, collects, preserves, and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the American West. More than 10 million visitors from around the world have sought out this unique museum to gain better understanding of the West: a region and a history that permeates our national culture. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum features a superb collection of classic and contemporary Western art, including works by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, as well as sculptor James Earle Fraser’s magnificent work, The End of the Trail. The exhibition wing houses a turn-of-the-century town and interactive history galleries that focus on the American cowboy, rodeo and Native American culture.

For the ultimate Route 66 experience, visit the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton OK. The museum’s galleries have recently been redesigned to offer visitors a personal journey through the history of the nation’s most revered highway.