Got your hard hat? In Coors Mineral Hall, follow the mine shaft into a Mexican silver mine, where a cavern glistens with milky white gypsum crystals and stalactites. Then enter Colorado's own Sweet Home Mine to discover a six-foot wall of blood-red rhodochrosite crystals.

Colorado was founded on mining, and in the historical mining section you'll see more local finds, like Tom's Baby, an eight-pound nugget of crystallized gold unearthed in Breckenridge in 1887.

You'll also uncover Brazilian topaz, California watermelon tourmaline, Australian opals, intense blue azurite, green malachite, four-inch zeolite needle sprays from India, and hundreds of other dazzling specimens from around the world. Hands-on activities and videos help young explorers learn about mineral characteristics and how minerals form.