Visiting
The Museum is housed in the VT Department of Geosciences, in room 2062 Derring Hall, Virginia Tech, 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, Virginia. [37°13' 46.6"N, 80°13' 35.6"W]
Public hours are 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Mon-Fri during the Fall and Spring academic semesters; reduced hours during academic breaks. Free. Children should be accompanied by an adult.
Search "Places" for Derring Hall on the interactive campus map to find accessibility information. For safety, school busses can loop in to drop students off by the back door of Derring Hall, then go park elsewhere.
VT Parking passes are needed only during 9:00am - 5:00pm, M-F, parking lots and a garage are nearby. Handicap spaces are located immediately next to the building on both N and S sides. For more info see our front page, other parts of this website, or call 540-231-6894.
Museum Parking
No free parking is available at the Museum, as all parking on campus requires a parking fee.
The Museum suggests visitors park at the Perry Street Parking Garage
(https://vt.edu/about/locations/buildings/parking-deck.html.).
Visitors can purchase daily parking passes for $6 through the ParkMobile app, online
(https://virginiatech.t2hosted.com/Account/Portal), or in person at parking services.
If visitors are only visiting for a couple of hours the hourly parking rate would be the cheapest
option.
Visitors can find more parking information here:
https://parking.vt.edu/parking/visitors.html (general info)
https://parking.vt.edu/parking/parkmobile.html (more about ParkMobile and cost breakdown)
For special events at the Museum, no free parking is available, however, the Museum will
provide parking passes for special events (see our announcements)
Please be aware of current ongoing construction projects across campus and directly outside of
Derring, please plan your visit accordingly.
Smile! Notice of Public Image Capture
We may take pictures and/or video during Museum Events and Pubic Hours for record-keeping and promotional purposes. These images are helpful in supporting the Museum and could appear in publications, exhibits, reports, and advertising; on our websites; or through our social media accounts. They may also be circulated through wider University channels.
Please let the photographer know if you do not want to be included.
For information please contact Steven Mackay, College of Science Communications Director, smackay@vt.edu.
Guided and Group Visits
Tour guides (docents) are only available by advance reservation during limited hours. Programs usually focus on fossils and minerals, but can also address a wide range of earth science topics on request.
For guided, group, or class visits please contact Sharon Collins at 540- 231-6894 or email sharon72@vt.edu. Your visit will be arranged and led by our Geosciences student volunteers.
Groups and classes should schedule their time in advance to prevent overcrowding, even if not requesting a guide. Reservations are first-come, first-served. See the CALENDAR to help with planning.
Information needed for groups or guided tours:
- Group Name, or course number and name
- Contact person(s): Name, email, phone
- Requested date and time, flexible? (must be 2 weeks in advance)
- End time if on deadline
- Number of students (less than 30 per group, space is limited here)
- Ages or Grade level
- If kids, number of adults (1 per 10)
- Special requests, notes, SOLs to address.
Click for a scavenger hunt for a general audience and/or younger children, a Standards of Learning-based scavenger hunt with Key for grade 5 and up, and check for pre- and post-visit materials as they are developed.
Although we can design a visit according to a specific request, we specialize in the following programs:
- Preschool program
- Elementary school/home school program (grades K-5),
- Fifth to eighth grade program with SOL focus
- Cub scout/girl scout program (esp. Webelos geologist pin)
- Adult program for non-geologists
These programs are described in detail in this PDF document.