Very cool. The museum is pretty interesting, but the best part is walking through the actual submarine. The only thing I would suggest is if they had someone stationed in different parts of the sub to give information about those parts of the sub.

Warning, dont use Google GPS to get there. There is construction and road closures, bit gps sends you across the water to the state park and you cant get to the museum. Call the museum for directions. That said, Go there! It is a fascinating part of history!

Great museum, worth a visit. Make sure you have a couple hours. There is a submarine which you can tour and walk through the entire length. There is a lower level you cannot get to, but you can see downstairs and see parts of The lower level. Essentially, every room is open to view. Some of them you can actually walk into. Shows how cramped it would have been on the sub. It’s best to try and get there so you can go through at a less busy time. If there are people waiting, then give plenty of room so that you can walk through at your own pace stop and go when you want. There are places you’ll probably want to look through in a lot more detail.In addition, there is a Coast Guard vessel. Again, you can walk through a fair amount of the vessel. That said, there isn’t a lot of boat to walk through.In the building there are several very good displays. They have a great deal of information about the submarine warfare in the Pacific in World War II.

This was so cool! Almost didnt go through the Sub, but so glad I did! Its not as claustrophobic as you might think! The experience trumps the small space. Wonderful museum.

Took my son on the tour and he was hooked. The tour is self guided and there are plenty of signs to read for all the history youd want to know about the famous WWII submarine. To see the accommodations and realize how many of our men served in one at once its amazing what they crammed inside of one. They keep the sub and shop well maintained and clean.

It was a great experience getting to go through an old submarine. The museum has a lot of really neat things, and I definitely got a history lesson and learned more about ships. Great for any age. Must be physically able to go up and down ladders/stairs if you want to go through the submarine, and be ok in tight spaces. We live about an hour away, but decided to take a drive up one Saturday to watch a freighter come in to Muskegon and then decided to go to the museum while we waited for it. It was definitely worth it! I would highly recommend this for anyone looking for something to do, or just to learn something new. 5/5 stars recommend.

It was cool, the museum was really informative and we read about everything they had posted to read. The tour is self guided and Veterans get a discount, woo hoo.On the flip side, being a Combat Vet and reading about the souls lost in these battles always pulls at my heart. It doesnt matter where or when, I know the feeling when you lose a Brother in Arms. God Speed, until we all regroup for the that last formation, Follow Me!

This was well worth the visit! The submarine was enjoyed by the whole family... our kids ages 2-11 loved it! We got to self tour the once active sub and the coast guard ship at our own pace...very good experience.

Such an amazing yet small museum. More to read than most museums, but to walk in a ww2 era diesel submarine restored to working condition is an experience that cant be overstated, it was just too cool.

It is a worth wild trip to learn a bit of history. Even the submarine was a beauty.

Very interesting museum in addition to the sub. You can arrange to sleep overnight if you gave a group of 20 or more.

Neat piece of history. Great for older school age kids and adults. Not great for small children and elderly who cant maneuver well as there are ladder type stairs. If you are claustrophobic you might want to stay on the upper deck and museum. Great place to watch ships come in! Check the shipping schedule in Muskegon for times. There is a small playground near and a few areas to beach nearby.

Great museum and a submarine to tour. They did a great job putting the museum together. Soooi much information! Soooi much history. Loved the wall sized timeline!

Outstanding museum dedicated to a priceless vessel. It was truly awe inspiring and full of surprises. The story behind the silversides is even more impressive!

What a great experience. Definitely worth visiting we did a guided tour of the boat and spent the night on board.

Great little museum! You get to tour both a WWII submarine and a WWII Coast guard vessel. $15 for adults. $10 for kids.

Lots of history here! Sub & boat to wander through! Plus very informative museum!

Great place to visit. They have a full size sub in the water. She fought in the Pacific in ww2.

An awesome place and a great opportunity to share an afternoon with your family!

It was a great place to learn about the submarines. And going through a submarine step by step was pretty cool

Definitely a fascinating place to visit.

Historic tour of a WWII submarine. Starting with a great museum this is an amazing journey back in time. There are hands on displays for kids and interesting exhibits for adults. Then a self guided tour below deck on the sub. See how many valves you can count... You cant help but to be impressed that people lived onboard this machine as well as battled for our freedom and their lives. Thanks to all who served.

This is a great place to bring the kiddos. It isnt everyday we get to experience the history of WWII or what our servicemen and sailors had to endure. I highly recommend taking some time to let the kids run around the submarine and imagine what it was like back then, and experience history for themselves.

What a fun museum trip. My grandkids had a blast and I throughly enjoyed the exhibits inside.

We stayed overnight with Cub Scout Pack 128. Wow! And thats an understatement! We slept in the forward compartment and the officers quarters. Those of use that slept in the forward compartment, slept side by side with torpedoes next to us. I sleep easy, so when it was lights out, I didnt wake up until 7AM. Bunks were surprisingly comfortable. Some of the adults and the younger kids and girls slept in the officers quarters.Heres the amazing part... as were sleeping there and walking around in utter awe, its hard not to imagine the 80 sailors that were aboard this submarine, hunting for Japanese ships to destroy. It really flooded me with awe and a sense of patriotic emotion.If youre ever on the fence about coming out to visit the USS Silversides, or stay the night with your Cub Scout pack, DO IT! You wont regret it!

Awesome exhibits !! Very informative, I especially like the actual submarine. First time inside a sub and it is an experience I will always treasure. The place is very clean, staff is super polite and courteous, makes every one feel at home. I also like how they moored the sub and coast guard cutter for visitors. It was extremely windy when we visited and yet the vessels hardly swayed .

Awful customer service! We walked in to the building and asked the lady of we can go in to the gift shop, she said we are closing the store in 10 minutes at 5:25 very curtly! We walked in and found a few things we wouldve bought if we were treated kindly.

What a cool experience going through two actual submarines and seeing how these men lived for months in such confined spaces. Wow!!

An interesting naval museum even if you’re not a history buff. I’m not usually one for history but this place sure is interesting!

Great place to go! Lots of history kept there, not just of the sub as well. Alsonyou get to tour the inside which was quite the experience!

Fantastic museum especially getting to tour the submarine. Hats off to all the folks who have served on a submarine. I could not make it long in that environment.

Super cool museum for families with young or older children - I wish we had more time to explore and read all of the history! The fact that you can go in and explore real submarines is amazing. They even have sleep overs IN the subs!! Can’t wait to go back

Really nice museum, submarine was very interesting, my family learned a lot while here

Americana ! I have great respect for this place , make sure to see the museum and the sub. Better than history class for the kids.

This is a spot not to miss. It gives you an appreciation of the tools of war that helped create the world we live in today.

Imagine finding a submarine in Muskegon! History is excellently told at the museum and then you can board the ship!

First time visiting 5/26/2018. I would encourage purchasing a ticket for both the museum portion and the submarine to get a better understanding of what the submarine represented to those who served on the USS Silversides. If you have time, you may also want to watch the video which runs about 40 minutes.Thanks for reading my review!

Recently myself, my son, and my father all went camping at Muskegon State Park for a few days. While we were there we stopped by the Silversides Museam because we thought it would be cool to check it out and maybe take a tour of the submarine. We were planning on being there for about 45 mins or so...We stayed nearly 4 hours total.This tiny little museam is PACKED with so many amazing stories and displays. Packed, but not cluttered. There was plenty of room to move around freely as well as a recommended path you could follow around to all of the exhibits. The woman we spoke to was very nice and informative when we came in to buy tickets. There is a 2nd floor with elevator access and a viewing area where they show a full walk through of Silversides for those who cant or do not wish to tour the actual submarine, which is proudly stationed outside the museam between 2 other ships. Sadly, I did not tour the actual submarine due to some mobility concerns I had about climbing ladders and such but my son and my father both did the actual tour and really enjoyed it. Even though I didnt get to go on Silversides myself there was still plenty for me to see. In-fact the whole tour took them less than 30 mins and that included a tour of the Coast Guard ship docked right next to it. We spent hours walking through the small building reading all about Silversides and admiring the historic memorabilia on display. None of us expected to be in there that long and we were all pleasantly surprised at just how interested we became once we started exploring. We didnt even get to FULLY read all the snippets they have painted among the walls and could have easily stayed another hour or two. Tickets are cheap and well worth the price with or without the tour and they have an adorable little gift shop there but unfortunately the store was pretty empty. I would imagine that with the pandemic its been difficult to restock merchandise because it was pretty bare-bones. I really wanted this navy blue zip-front Silversides hoodie they had but there were exactly 2. One was a Small and the other was a 3XL. My dad and my son ran into the same issue with T-shirt sizing (there were only about 5-7 adult shirts left) but I was fotunate enough to find an XL that suits me just fine. I also picked up a couple magnets for my collection and snapped a ton of pics.If youre gonna be in this area I would definitely recommend stopping by and checking this place out. It was way cooler than we imagined it would be and Silversides has an amazing history that we truly enjoyed learning about.

Where else can you go and step back into history? The interior looks just like it did back in 1943. Once you been inside, youll wonder how John Wayne ever made those movies! I cant imagine how terrified these Sailors were when they were under attack.The museum itself is very well done. And the Coast Guard Cutter, while theres not a lot to see, was still pretty interesting.

An amazing piece of American history. We appreciated all the work and funding thats been invested to preserve and share the USS Silversides with generations to come. The museum is well done and the exhibits are informative, interesting and interactive.

Love this place it is full of history I recommend this place staff is friendly I go here every year

Really cool piece of history, very few places you can have an experience like this.

They are doing an engine start in a few days call for details. Museum is interesting but had a lot to read on walls everywhere. Learned things I didnt know about Pearl Harbor though. Gift shop prices are high on some trinkets. My kids still have stuff when we visited 16 yrs ago. Directly opposite channel from Muskegon state park. Will have to drive all the way around lake to cross

This was an amazing place to bring our unit for an overnight encampment. We have kids ranging in age from 8 to 18 and they were able to keep the interest of all age groups. I would say the kids highlight was being able to sleep on the actual submarine, the adults was watching our unit being able to participate in lowering and raising the colors.The staff of the museum went above and beyond, being very accommodating and meeting all our needs. Each one was very friendly and helpful.

Incredible, amazing and well worth the time and small fee to experience true history.Museum is well thought out, teaches through several means about the era, also very clean and current COVID protocols are in place for everyones safety.Great place for families, couples, groups. Check out their website and book an overnight stay.A friend of mine helped rework the Silversides 20+ years ago when I first toured her, a great deal of improvement has happened since then. Coast Guard cutter is great as well. A needed thing once in your life. Do this sometime!

An amazing experience. We took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. not only do you get a tour of the USS silversides, the beautiful museum inside, but what a treat to actually spend the night on a World War II battle proven submarine! To be a part of something that went through so much during the war taking down enemy ships saving countless American lives, but the pure history and almost everything is intact as is. It actually can still run if need be, but to say I spent the night on a submarine is something out hold dearly! A must-do for any history war or nautical buff!

Really nice museum and informational. I just learned even more about WWII and submarines. Great exibit and you can even go in the Sub.

Excellent slice of military history. There were a ton of spiders and cobwebs when you first enter the submarine so fair warning to those who suffer from arachnophobia! Its also not for those who suffer from claustrophobia. I still say its well worth it to venture into the belly of the sub. What a phenomenal vessel! The museum building itself was nice and friendly for all ages. They even have an extra large interactive battleship game board! Some of the exhibits were off display for remodeling but Im sure they will feature something worth the wait. Theres also a cute gift shop.

We arrived at little late for the tours but still a great experience for the kids to see and a heart warming one for me due to personal reasons! Would recommend going back during normal operations and taking the tour!

What a fantastic day trip. Dont miss the indoor museum.

A chance to see a piece of history up close and personal, the USS Silversides is a great opportunity to spend time in a WWII Submarine. In addition to tours, the museum offers a chance for groups to sleep in the submarine overnight. The overnight session gives your group quality time with the museum and the ships before settling in for the night aboard the USS Silversides.As one can imagine, life aboard a WWII sub is not a 5-star hotel. The crews quarters are cramped and feature the actual bunks (and creaky springs). Depending on the time of the year, it can get quite cold or hot, so plan accordingly (I wore thermal underwear, and slept clothed, so I was fine). Because of the cramped conditions, I did find it difficult to sleep and spent most of the night perusing the ship, which is in excellent condition and is really an impressive piece of engineering to see. I came away with a renewed sense of our militarys technical capabilities and a greater sense of respect to the men who served aboard the USS Silversides.The museum building is fine and provides space for displays and exhibits covering WWII, and while informative, the overall quality does not quite match the condition of the USS Silversides, and in some places is not quite done.Overall, this is a great educational destination for a scout troop or school outing and an overnighter is certainly worth the time.

This place has a lot more than I expected. Walking through the submarine was very neat. Its hard to imagine 80 people living on one of those.

Great history here. It was a fun museum to visit with my son. Loved the submarine and Coast guard cutter. The staff was super friendly and very knowledgeable. Highly recommend

Great WW2 history opportunity to learn and appreciate.

This was awesome to see how the WW2 submariners lived.

Stayed overnight with the cub scouts. Very cool to see how the sub worked and the conditions that WW2 soldiers were in. Kids had a great time and learned a few things as well.

Great museum and exhibits. Knowledgeable staff.

The museum is very neat, full of fun stuff to explore! And the sub tour was incredible! The guide was very nice and knowledgeable.

Tours are currently self guided.

History and important events are right there for your eyes to see and touch!

Pretty cool to see!

Whether you are a history buff, military buff, war buff, or just like a great museum, the USS Silversides Museum is a fabulous addition to your trip to Muskegon, Lake Michigan or Michigans Adventure. There are several aspects to this museum. The first is in the building filled with 2 floors of giant open rooms filled with WWII scale models, photos, artifacts, films, posters, and amazing history. Be sure to read about the amazing nurses who are given credit for their contributions in WWII. Also visit a lovely gift shop, pop machine, snack machines and well kept bathrooms. I highly recommend watching the movie on the far left inside the building. Wow!Next you head outside to the ACTUAL Silversides Submarine. It is amazing and you get to go inside and see every bit of it, knowing that men actually were in this incredible vessel in WWII, creating an awesome defense against our foes, and it STILL runs today! When you enter it, your view will change of what these men must have lived thru. To be inside this, in such small quarters, with fumes and bombs and in such peril from the water and our enemies fire... total respect!Lastly when you emerge from the sub, you will see a big Coast Guard boat that you can also board and explore.My advice: GO! It is worth the ticket price! Spend the time on all 3 parts of this museum. Wear gym shoes, not flip flops or sandals. Read everything in the museum. Buy something at the gift shop to help support the upkeep of these treasures. You wont be disappointed by this museum.

This submarine is super impressive. You have enough time to explore and understand the history.

A great place to stop. So much history in one place. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Great place to feel history around you. Family loved our visit. I learn something new every time.

The USS Silverside museum is best place. A must to visit place in Michigan state. The world war II submarine is USS Silverside is converted into a museum. The submarine is still in working condition. You can. See the actuall working parts inside the museum. It is a awesome experience to see the submarine. You can get the tickets online with some discount or you can have the tickets on the reception counter of the museum. You will require an hour or two just to see the submarine from inside. And more 1 hour to see the museum building describing the details about the submarine life, torpedoes, other technology used at that time of operation of museum.A must visit place with family and friends.

We missed it before it closed but it was still a great experience.

Family friendly and affordable. Nice museum.

Nice place to learn about History!

I really enjoyed walking through this WWII submarine.

Great experience for our Cub Scout group! We spent the night on the sub and learned alot at the museum. Staff was very friendly and informative.

Great history reminder....freedom is not free. Really geared for the next generation.

Cool place. Arrived after close and was still able to see the outside items.

Stunning museum. Humbling to view. Absolutely a must-see in this area.

Had a wonderful time a the museum. The submarine was fascinating, and being 62, I only bumped my head a few times. The staff has done a great job of upkeep with the sub, and the interpretive signs were very helpful, as were the videos inside the museum.

Went on a tour of the submarine it was awesome !! My four boys loved it !! Would definitely recommend ..

Great museum with a well planned out display and lots of activities for school groups.

As a History teacher, I learned so much more about the experiences I have read about by actually going in the confined places of the fleet boat. Along with the submarine looking like it returned from its final patrol in 1945, there is a museum where you can learn about numerous things.

Loved this place. It made me cry a couple of times while reading some of the history and listening to the interviews on the big screen TV. My teenagers were touched as well. Going through the submarine was a great learning experience. It ended up being our favorite part of our whole trip Michigan.

Very informative, excellent reminder of our naval history

Absolutely beautiful museum. Located on lake Michigan Chanel that connects to Muskegon lake . Gift store, handicap accessible. Two floors of history.

A great local museum . It is a not miss place if your in Muskegon. After your done you can enjoy the rest of the park..

Very enjoyable and historical. Staff and tour guides very knowledgeable and helpful. This was a great scout trip and the scouts got to sleep on the submarine.

We brought a Cub Scout pack to tour and overnight in the submarine. Our overall experience was very positive. The staff was very knowledgeable and really did a great job presenting to a group of elementary school boys. If your group decides to go I highly recommend the class on buoyancy and robotics. At night you are left on your own, so I recommend planning some type of activity to keep the kids occupied.

Very cool place. Great museum. My son had a blast learning about submarines and WWII.

This was a fun experience, the museum was great and the USS Silversides was even better, it was an amazing look back at what our amazing service men and women of the United States Navy went through.

Had a great learning experience with our grandchildren

I expected a small plaque and a gift shop but ended up spending almost 3 hours here. well worth your time if you have any interest in ww2, naval history or warfare, submarines, or servicemen history. entry fee is 15 dollars and you get access to museum and submarine and a coast guard vessel. I feel theyve put the fees to great use and that theyd made the experience very high quality. while I was there I saw construction of 2 or 3 more exhibits so its actually growing.inside the lower floor there is a fairly large battleship game that kids can play with a curtain between each side, its about 4 feet tall and the red and white pins are just smaller than a bowling pin.It looked like they also use the facility for some kind of schooling, I saw tanks for practicing using robotic submersibles but I dont know if the public can use this.I visited October 26 so I imagine its even more bustling during the summer. all the other ship memorials were closed or inaccessible so if youre looking to go to one go to this one.bad: gift shop being expensive is expected, but I was kind of disappointed that the goods were a little cheap. I would have bought a more expensive item if it was of quality.

Great way to experience what it was like on a WW2 Submarine

Great historical site!

Lots of information to take in, but make sure you watch the little movie before going on the sub. I found it all to be very interesting. My daughter is 5...she didnt do much with all of the reading, but she loved the movie, the sub, the boat, and the GIFT shop.

We were actually just walking the Harbour which allows us the opportunity to view the submarine.

Fantastic! Budget more time than you thought!!!

Took our grandson and he absolutely loved it!!

Cub Scout overnight aboard the USCGC Mclain. Wonderful event, fun, and educational. Kids had a blast.

Great piece of history! Its one of the most successful submarines in history. Walking through the submarine its hard to imagine what the sailors loved through during WW2. Highly recommend for everyone!

Its a great piece of US history right in Muskegon to go see, definitely worth the money.

Even though the price is high you should enjoy this place as the story of this warship is amazing. also, when I was in boy scouts I slept abroad and it got me into military ships. the building is one of my favorite spots because of the vast accractions. to all those people saying its overpriced, learn the story behind this special gato class submarine.

My husband loved every inch of this. Boats and airplanes arent normally my preferred interest, but loved watching him enjoy this. The boats are incredible to imagine how someone stayed in that cramped living space for that long! Husband loved all the knobs and gadgets. The museum itself has a great little movie about the submarine and tons of memorabilia. Husband read every word! I, however, looked through the cute gift shop and picked up a couple of trinkets. It was an enjoyable time. I got my fill of subs, boats, and wars. Husband was like a little boy again!

Excellent staff... very knowledgeable, friendly, and patient with kids! I highly recommend staying overnight aboard the USS Silversides for a unique experience!