NSF Ice Core Facility

On the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, behind unremarkable government doors, sits a walk-in freezer kept at -36C that holds more than ten miles of ice cores drilled from Antarctica and Greenland, some of it hundreds of thousands of years old. The NSF Ice Core Facility curates the physical archive of Earth's climate history, and almost nobody outside the geology community knows the public can actually tour it. You suit up in cold-weather gear and step into a room full of frozen time. Roughly 100 tours a year, free, booked months out.

The move: Request a tour well in advance, bundle up together for the freezer room, then thaw out over coffee debating how a chunk of 100,000-year-old ice ends up in a Lakewood warehouse.

• 📍 Lakewood (Denver Federal Center)
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Low-key
• 🌗 Indoors

Where: Denver Federal Center, 6th Ave & Kipling, Lakewood, CO (NSF Ice Core Facility / USGS); tours by online request form only

Hours: Free tours run roughly 8-11am and 1-4pm on scheduled days, no drop-ins, must be requested months in advance via the online form. NOTE: as of mid-2026 tours are curtailed due to adjacent construction; confirm availability on icecores.org before requesting.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3

Verified 2026-06-07.