WELCOME!

Come share the excitement at this state-of-the-art museum complex!

The Western Center is home to a fascinating array of Native American artifacts and Ice Age fossils that were unearthed at Diamond Valley Lake. You'll be moved by "Max", the largest mastodon found in the Western U.S., as well as “Xena", a Columbian mammoth. Let your imagination run wild as you walk on tempered glass which houses “Little Stevie”, a large mastodon installed beneath the museum floor to re-create the actual dig site.

The museum has been designed to provide world-class facilities for the research, curation, and presentation of the nearly 1,000,000 specimens discovered during the development of the Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, California.

Scientists, researchers, students and the general public have an unparalleled opportunity to interact with and to understand the magnificent creatures and resourceful people who inhabited the Diamond and Domenigoni Valleys from the distant Ice Age past through today.

An interactive learning/conference center for scholars, researchers, students of all levels, and the general public, is available. Flexible and innovative meeting areas and appropriate media technology will facilitate the sharing of information generated by Western Center research.

Programs for the community are held regularly at the Western Center to assist all to be life long learners.

Whether it's our Dire wolves, saber-toothed cat, or the many other fossils, local family history, or Native American artifacts, we have something for you!