NCAR Public Tours

A Public tour at NCAR's Mesa Laboratory and Visitor Center is a wonderful way to spend a morning or afternoon if you visit or reside in the Denver metro area. You won't experience long lines, crowds or expensive entry fees at NCAR.  Instead, enjoy a free tour that offers an informative view of weather, climate, and the broad spectrum of atmospheric research at a world-class science laboratory. Learn about current Earth science research spanning our planet's changing climate to atmospheric chemistry and the genesis of severe weather phenomena. See scientific observational tools including some of the fastest supercomputers in existence today. Before or after a tour, explore our informative exhibits, stroll or roll the third of a mile round-trip Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail, or enjoy lunch in the NCAR Cafeteria. NCAR is opened 363 days per year!

Noon Hour Tours

Join us from noon to approximately 1 p.m. for the noon-hour tour offered Monday through Friday through 2011, except holidays. Daily noon-hour tours will be offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday beginning in 2012. We begin the tour in the carpeted area adjacent to the NCAR Front Desk at our Mesa Lab facility. No reservations are necessary. Guide-by-Cell phone tours are available daily at any time during public hours. The building remains open to the public 363 days per year with one closure date in April and the other in October due to supercomputer matinence. Please check our website for the specific dates each year.

Group Tours

Group tours are available by special arrangement by contacting the tour scheduling office, ideally one month or more in advance of your visit to ensure availability of the date(s) desired.  The maximum group size that can be accommodated at any one time is 100 individuals, however, this figure is also dependent on staff availablity on the date and time under consideration. Groups with children should review our Field Trip Web page and our Field Trip Planning Guide.  All field trips include a group tour as well as a Science Learning Lab.

Cell Phone Audio Tours

Many visitors with children from four to twelve years of age choose our Cell Phone Audio Tour option, which offers an entertaining children's tour in addition to an informative version especially for adults. Both the adult and children's version can be completed in approximately one hour and is available in Spanish in addition to English.

Self-guided Tours

We encourage individuals and families to visit NCAR even if they are unable or not interested in particating in the daily noon tour or in listening to our Cell Phone Audio Tour. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the exhibits and conduct their own self-guided tour anytime during public hours.

Visualization Laboratory

Tour planners have the opportunity to reserve NCAR's 3D Visualization Laboratory as an added experience during their group's visit.  As part of NCAR's computing division, the "Vis Lab" showcases a state-of-the-art scientific visualization environment capable of projecting natural phenomena in the Earth system such as hurricanes, atmospheric circulation, or climate change projections that are generated from supercomputer models or observed data.

Cafeteria

Many visitors on weekday noon tours or in group tours choose to have breakfast or lunch in NCAR's cafeteria in advance or immediately following their tour. Breakfast or lunch arrangements for group tours can be made at the time of scheduling, ideally ten or more days in advance. Weekly menus and pricing information are posted on our Website each Friday for the following week. Due to the cafeteria's wide variety of offerings, its expansive vistas of Boulder Valley, and the work of local artists' that adourn its walls, visitors find a meal at NCAR to be an enjoyable affair.  Please note, however, that the cafeteria accepts cash only and is open to the public on weekdays from 8 to 9:30 a.m. for breakfast and from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m. for lunch. Vending machines and an ATM machine are also conveniently available at all times that the building is open.

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Postal Address: P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 • Shipping Address: 1850 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305 • (303) 497-1000
Last updated: T. Eastburn 10/2011