Helena

Location: Helena, Montana http://www.gncarousel.com/
Address: 989 Carousel Way

Ride Cost: $1.50 per ride
Food Services: Ice cream shop located inside the building. They have dairy free options available. They also serve hot dogs, pizza, pretzels and nachos.
Age Range: all ages
Estimated Stay Length: 30 minutes.
Worth the Trip?: Yes, particularly in the area. The carousel is fun, the ice cream is good and it is right across from Helena’s science centre Exploration Works and a lovely open air park.

Gordie’s Review (5 years old): “I liked the ice cream. And riding on the dinosaur.”
Nicky’s Review (2 years old): “horse! again!”

Overall: We were staying at the nearby Best Western – Great Northern Hotel (it has a train theme my son LOVED it) on our way to Yellowstone National Park. Since we found ourselves in walking distance of the carousel we decided to stop by. The kids loved it, we ended up going again in the morning before we left. The carousel features animals from the area and stained glass work at the top with scenes from Helena. The carousel also has the rings that you can try to grab and you get a free ride if you get the brass ring. The ice cream was delicious and my kids (who don’t handle a lot of dairy very well) were thrilled that they had dairy free options.

Have you been to the Great Northern Carousel? What did you think?

Location: Helena, Montana http://www.explorationworks.org/ Address: 995 Carousel Way

Day Pass Cost: $9 adult, $5.50 kids under 18, under 2 is free.
Food Services: Cafe serving snacks and drinks
Age Range: 10 and under
Estimated Stay Length: 1-2 hours.
Worth the Trip?: Yes, particularly if you are in the area and have younger kids. It’s also right next to a open air park area and the Great Northern Carousel.

Gordie’s Review (5 years old): “I liked the thing you squished your face in. [the giant pin art] and the thing where you put the scarves in and they whooshed around.”
Nicky’s Review (2 years old): “slide!”

Overall:

Exploration Works is Helena’s Science Centre. It’s located next to the Carousel and a beautiful outdoor park area. This is a great area for families visiting Helena. Exploration Works is a bit smaller than I had expected, but we had a lot of fun.

The Exploration Garden

Just outside the building is the Exploration Garden. There’s an enclosed garden space on one side.

Beside the garden is a pathway with outdoor musical instruments

Both of my kids loved these. You can access them without paying admission.

First Floor

Inside the building there are two floors. Here, you can find some classic science centre experiments like the one below.

On one side is space for small travelling exhibits. While we were there the travelling exhibit was Get Up and Groove.

Right by the doors is a water play area which is always a big hit with kids. They have water jackets to protect the kids clothes but you may want to have extra clothes handy especially if you have younger kids.

Little Sky Country

On the opposite side is an exhibit designed specifically for kids 5 and under.

My kids loved it here. I ended up practically having to drag them out so that we could see the rest of the exhibits. Nicky’s favorite part was climbing up the steps, dancing at the top and then sliding down the slide. Gordie spent most of his time with a set of building bricks.

The space is attractive with lots of opportunities for pretend play.

They also have a lot of features highlighting the animals and geography of the area.

2nd Floor – Science Cafe

On the second floor you’ll find more hands on science experiments. These exhibits rotate so they may be different from the ones that were there on our visit. But it will still give you an idea of what you may expect.