Torrington Gopher Hole Museum

Torrington has around two hundred people and opened this museum in 1996 as a way to get travellers to stop. Inside are forty-four dioramas with seventy-seven taxidermied Richardson's ground squirrels, locally called gophers, dressed and posed in village scenes: a barber, a curling rink, a preacher, a hockey game. The animals are agricultural pests routinely controlled in the district, and the museum's position is that these were going to be killed regardless. It drew protest letters from animal rights groups internationally before it even opened, including a campaign from PETA, and the publicity did more for visitor numbers than anything the village could have arranged.

Highlights

• The forty-four dioramas - dressed ground squirrels in village scenes.
• The local humour - scenes of curling, church and hockey in miniature.
• The controversy file - the protest letters displayed by the museum.
• The village - fire hydrants painted as gophers along the street.

When to go

The museum closed at the end of September 2026 because its ageing building could no longer be kept fit for the collection, and it stays shut until further notice while a new home is sought; before that it opened May to September on short volunteer-run hours, so check whether it has reopened. It takes about twenty minutes.

What to expect

It is tiny and the visit is short. The taxidermy upsets some visitors, which the museum does not hide from. Opening hours were irregular and depended on volunteers, and since late September 2026 it has not been open at all.

Nearby

Three Hills lies southeast; Drumheller is south.

Key facts