Capitan, New Mexico: Smokey Bear Museum And Grave

Smokey Bear was a cartoon character and a real bear. A cartoon lives forever, but the real bear died during the Bicentennial. He's buried under a tree.

Very interesting museum and Smokey's grave site. There were a couple movies to watch and old Smokey Bear pictures to see... There were trivia question boxes along the way to test if you knew the answers about Smokey and forest fires.

Lots of facts about Smokey are presenting on the walls of the museum. It's a short walkway to Smokey's actual gravesite. Neat little town around it, too!

I visited the Smokey Bear Grave and Museum on December 28th, 2006. It was a real treat. This museum is definitely directed towards kids, but I think adults will enjoy it as well. The kids can fill out these packets (given out with paid admission) and receive a junior ranger patch or badge. They have to go through the museum and answer the questions.

Every 15 minutes or so a movie is shown in the back of the museum. It gives a general overview of Smokey and forest fires. The museum provides the rest of the details. I would recommend seeing the movie first and then walk through the museum.

Afterwards you can go outside and see all the different plants native to the area. On this walk you will see Smokey's grave.

We stopped at the Smokey Bear Restaurant for breakfast, near Smokey Bear's Grave. It was a good value and good tasting. The workers and patrons were very personable.

The museum itself has a lot of good information about Smokey Bear ( pictures of him throughout his life, and accompanying memorabilia), as well as information about preventing forest fires. It's presented in such a way that kids will like it.

Outside the current museum (the original now serves as a gift shop) is a nice boardwalk with a lot of plants native to the area. It's a nice walk to Smokey's grave. The grave is a circular area, well-shaded and marked with a plaque.

The gift shop was well-stocked. There were some collectibles that were very expensive but other things were affordable. If you have a National Parks Passport, the lady will stamp the back of it with a Smokey Bear stamp.