Wilbur D. May Center
Reno, United States
Wilbur D. May Center
The Wilbur D. May Center is an attraction located in Rancho San Rafael Regional Park at 1595 North Sierra, Reno, Nevada. The facility comprises the Wilbur D. May Museum and the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Previously, it also included the Great Basin Adventure, a children's park.
The museum features the antiques and collectibles belonging to Wilbur D. May. Born on December 28, 1898, Wilbur May was the third son of David May, founder of The May Department Stores Company. Wilbur was a rancher, pilot, artist, philanthropist, and world traveler who lived in Reno from 1936 to his death on January 20, 1982. The museum's collection derives from over 40 trips Wilbur made around the world, and include T'ang Dynasty pottery, African masks, statues, and artwork, Inuit scrimshaws, Egyptian scarab figures, Greek icons, wildlife dioramas and a shrunken head from South America. Also featured is a recreation of the living room, bedroom, tack room, and big game trophy room from Wilbur's 2,600-acre (1,100 ha) Double Diamond Ranch in South Reno.
Accommodations near Wilbur D. May Center
Circus Circus Reno Hotel Casino at THE ROW
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Nearby Tours & Activities
Opening times
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Saturday | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | 12:00 – 4:00 PM |
Guests' reviews
Not a huge museum, but good quality exhibits. The park outside the museum is always fun for kids.
Great museum. I especially enjoyed the Sherlock exhibit, if you have the time, it's defintely worth checking out. Even if you only get to see the museum.
Beautiful garden in Reno Nevada! Love going here to photograph insects and flowers! Wish there where more gardens like this in city.
Awrsome! I take ALL my out of town visitors there and visit all the changing exhibits.
What a great quick stop.
Nice place to take kids to. Its also an inexpensive place to spend part of your day
The museum is SMALL however the quality of the Artifacts is amazing . This is the ONLY place in NEVADA in which you can see a REAL HUMAN SHRUNKEN HEAD . The Wilbur collection is interesting from Animals to guns to artifacts to different kind of weapons . Worth my time and trip there . The Wilbur is a PERMANENT Exhibit then in other rooms they have traveling exhibits. Now they are having a " Hero Theme " and I must say...I am not a kid , I don't have kids but I had so much fun!
Interesting exhibits and very friendly staff, but a little pricey on the special events. Would like to see a special price for kids and senior citizens.
Good watercolors today and you can vote on them!
I was not expecting such a variety or quantity of unusual items. The taxidermy alone would have been worth it, but there are extra cultural items like masks and weaponry that were just fascinating. The Arboretum is gorgeous and huge. Pretty sure I only got through some of it, and I would go back just to explore outside more. Can't recommend enough, any plant or bird lover would have a great time enjoying all the wildlife.
Went for the super hero exhibit. It was really neat reading my little boy the origins of comics and Stan Lee. Certainly worth the money for a short family outing. The park and arboretum is beautiful too!
We enjoy the walking paths and views. Great to go in all seasons to experience the changes in the flora.
Nice park, we had our wedding reception and picture here 11 yrs ago, nice memories. The kids like to come and play here too.
Great museum in the middle of a very large Park. A lot of really terrific exhibits from Wilbur Mays trips around the world
I have been here many times over the years. It often has wonderful and educational displays. We came here for a wedding recently and before heading inside Wilbur D. May Center we looked around outside. Nope, no wedding. So we went up to the Door of the Center. Yep, Wedding was inside. I was really surprised that the wedding was inside the Wilbur D. May Center. I didn't know you could rent it out for special events. Did you? They had the wedding in the main area. Then the catered food was like in the hallway area towards the back room area. It was a little confusing as everyone had to leave the wedding area while the chairs were moved and tables were brought in. I must say it did go quickly. It was a lovely wedding and nice reception complete with dancing. It really is a lovely spot to get married in.
A place of serenity within the city. Well-kept facilities and docents and employees who are quite helpful. Always an interesting event to attend.
Beautiful and clean park. Love the historic areas. Went there for the Dragon Lights and it was beautiful.
Pleasant shady walking paths. Easy. Lots of different gardens. Looking forward to going again. Was there during Festival of Lanterns.
I love walking around the different garden areas. I spend time sitting on the benches in some of the gardens. I especially love spending time walking the labyrinth. I definitely recommend visiting
Beautiful museum in a lovely park. Free admission for many exhibits. Lovely gift shop.
I love this place so much! I've been coming here since I was a kid and it's a great place to learn and see amazing things.
