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The Big Digs

You hope your kids will love Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as much as you loved Raiders of the Lost Ark. Don't stop there—take them on a real-life archaeological dig. Led by paleontologists, these programs provide hands-on adventure that's worth building a vacation around—and that would make Indy proud.

By Melinda Page

The Mammoth Site: Hot Springs, South Dakota; Dig Up: Bones from the Ice Age

The 26,000-year-old remains of 56 Columbian and woolly mammoths still lie in this giant sinkhole, enclosed by a roof. Kids can spend 1 1/2 hours excavating fossils in a replica pit.
From $9 for 1 1/2 hours; The Mammoth Site.

Stay Here:

FlatIron Coffee Bar & Guest Suites, from $135 a night; 745 N. River St.; FlatIron Coffee Roasters.

crow canyon archaeological center

cortez, colorado

DIG UP: Pueblo Indian artifacts

Unearth 800-year-old pottery shards and primitive tools or help archaeologists piece artifacts together.
From $25 for a day to $1,050 for a week (includes on-site lodging); Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

STAY HERE (for the day program):

Far View Lodge, from $116 a night; Mesa Verde National Park; visit Mesa Verde.

two medicine dinosaur center

bynum, montana

DIG UP: Dinosaur bones

Help the pros uncover the fossilized remains of eggshells, teeth, or a crested duckbill dinosaur skeleton in Big Sky country.
From $35 for three hours to $100 for a day; Two Medicine Dinosaur Center.

STAY HERE:

Fairfield Park Inn, from $70 a night; 13 Fifth St. N., Fairfield, Mont.; Fairfield Park Inn.

crater of diamonds state park

murfreesboro, arkansas

DIG UP: Diamonds

Sift through dirt from a 37-acre plowed field and you could find (and keep) any of more than 40 types of rocks and minerals. The chances are good: Visitors found 1,024 diamonds in 2007.
From $3.50 for kids to $6.50 for adults (for the day); Crater of Diamonds State Park.

STAY HERE:

Camp in the park ($17) or get a cabin at Self Creek Lodge, from $165 a night; 4192 Hwy. 70 W., Kirby, Ark.; Self Creek.

muncy historical society

muncy, pennsylvania

DIG UP: Colonial housewares

Find everything from nails and windowpanes to apothecary bottles and teeny toys around the foundations of a lock keeper's house on an old Susquehanna River canal, circa 1832. Kids can take home a baggie of selected artifacts.
Free; Muncy Historical Society.