This TRFamily loves an off the beaten path adventure. When we heard about FermiLab in Aurora, IL, we knew it was right up our alley! We packed some snacks and the roadtrip car bags and headed out.
The FermiLab (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) is a US Department of Energy facility and home to a large underground particle accelerator and several other high energy and physics experiements.
Finding the lab was easy- it’s right off the main road going north out of Aurora. We checked in at the guard post and were a little surprised to find that we would be free to explore the campus-like grounds (if we followed their rules: only certain areas and certain floors). We headed first to the Wilson Building- a fifteen story office tower that dominates the landscape and over looks the main accelerator.
The 15th floor of the Wilson Building offers views of the campus along with many explanatory models of the science projects being done at the lab. We loved looking out at the full view of the grounds and all the many outbuildings associated with different projects. The property hosts a herd of bison on the grounds, but on the hot day we visited they were all seeking shelter out of view.
Next we visited the hands-on Lederman Science Center. This small building houses dozens of activities and experiments for families to show some of the work being done at the Fermilab. Most of the activities educated, in various different ways, how molecules and atoms work. Everyone found a favorite activity there- from simulated particle collisions, to working remote trucks, to cosmic ray showers.
There is more to the lab that we didn’t explore, including a dog park and a history display showing what the area looked like before the FermiLab moved in. A family with older kids and/or more time available could spend most of the day exploring these grounds.
It was definitely one of our stranger trips. But we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Fermilab.