Steamboat Bertrand Collection

We go to the reserve to hike and observe birds every year, and weve always wanted to stop by the museum out of curiosity. I honestly expected a small gift shop and maybe like one room with some taxidermy of local fauna and some info posters about the ship, but I was pleasantly surprised. The collection is beyond comprehensive. They spent years pulling out every single item from the bottom of the river, including tiny things like hair clips. If youre interested in boats, the Victorian era, or simply history in general, youll enjoy the visit. The area with the actual collection is dark and fairly cold and all the items are behind a wall of glass since they have to be preserved in certain conditions (including fridges and freezers in the back that arent visible to the public), so keep in mind that they are not freely out on display. The building the museum is located is - to me - a museum piece in itself. I find the architecture stunning. Probably a weird thing to say since its basically a massive chunk of concrete, but there is a certain charm to the geometry of it. The gift shop was a pleasant surprise as well, the girl at the counter was incredibly friendly and answered all our questions, and we walked away with a bag full of mushroom and animal-themed souvenirs.
Mar 15th, 2024

Feb 12th, 2024

Nice park hours are very short ,during the day they close ferry early. Put three dollars in the dropbox, just to make sure don't wanna get a ticket. It's getting close to being hunting season the trails look to be closed.
Nov 2nd, 2023

Oct 12th, 2023

Very, very interesting and informative
Sep 26th, 2023