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The main entrance sign for The Wild Center is seen in Tupper Lake on Feb. 1, 2025.
(Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)
TUPPER LAKE — Another year, another nomination of national prestige for The Wild Center.
The museum was named on Monday as one of 20 nominees vying for the “Best Science Museum” in USA TODAY’s 2026 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. This is the fourth year in a row that The Wild Center has been nominated, and it won the contest in 2024.
The string of nominations and the win are all the more impressive when considering the competition — some of the most well-known museums in the country’s largest cities. For instance, other nominations include San Francisco’s Exploratorium, The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and The Museum of Science in Boston.
Of the 19 locations (Pittsburgh had two museums nominated), only three had populations less than 250,000. Those include Hilo, Hawaii (about 44,000) and Cartersville, Georgia (about 25,000) and, of course, Tupper Lake (about 5,000).
The full list, and voting, is available at tinyurl.com/5884y3bk. Each person is allowed one online vote per day. Polls close at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 9. Winners will be announced on Wed., Feb. 18.
The Wild Center’s Marketing Director, Nick Gunn, said that though it may sound cliche, it’s an incredible honor to be nominated once again. He said it’s proof that the museum is continuing to push the envelope in terms of delivering the best visitor experience possible.
“To have this little corner of the globe represented by The Wild Center, I hope that members of our community are proud of that, because we don’t exist without this community,” he said. “We’re planting our flag for what a small community can do and the impact that it can have on a national stage.”
Though the contest is a reader’s choice award, the slate of nominations was made by a panel of travel experts who traversed the country in putting together this list of the best of the best.
“It’s a testament to the dedication of our staff and the strength of our community,” Gunn said. “Being recognized on a national stage alongside some of the country’s most respected science institutions reinforces the importance of hands-on, place-based learning experiences that connect people to the natural world.”
Gunn said the nomination is also a recognition of the museum’s staff and their dedication to putting out year-round programming and continuing to draw people to the museum from near and far. For instance, the Albany International Airport recently unveiled an Adirondacks exhibit that was developed, in part, by Wild Center staff and plants the seed for a possible visit by travelers making their way in and out of the state’s Capital Region.
“The experience really is driven by the staff,” he said. “We’ve got a really, really good crew at The Wild Center of people dedicated to the Adirondacks and dedicated to sharing that story with visitors from all over.”
For more information about the 10Best Awards and to see the full list of nominations across the various categories, visit 10best.com.
