Fossil Discovery Center 13-foot mammoth replica

The mammoth in the entrance hall of the Fossil Discovery Center is a replica, but the real fossils came from the ground across the road. According to the museum, the centre stands directly across the road from the Fairmead Landfill, where fossils were discovered in 1993. A travel guide to the Yosemite region says a sanitation worker found the tusk of a Columbian mammoth that year, and that the San Joaquin Paleontology Foundation was formed in 1993 as the finds multiplied.

The museum describes full-size replicas of fossil skeletons, and names the 13-foot-tall Columbian mammoth and a 12-foot-tall short-faced bear as two of the most impressive. FOX26 reported in April 2026 that visitors are greeted by the mammoth as soon as they walk in. The museum notes that Columbian mammoths weighed about 10 tons.