Western Science Center, Natural history museum in Hemet, United States.

The Western Science Center is a 33,000-square-foot museum near Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, California. Its welcome lobby has 24-foot walls with re-created paleontological strata and reproduction fossils projecting from them, and a 156-foot exterior walkway traces a life-on-Earth timeline. Inside are a permanent gallery, a temporary exhibit area and a collections repository closed to the public.

The Western Science Center opened in 2006 as the Western Center for Archaeology & Paleontology, built to house nearly one million specimens unearthed during the construction of Diamond Valley Lake. In November 2008 it received Smithsonian Affiliate status. Its collection includes "Max", the largest mastodon found in the western United States, and "Xena", a Columbian mammoth.

The permanent gallery traces the valley's occupants: artifacts donated by the Domenigoni family, the original settlers, and by the Soboba band of Luiseño Indians who lived there before them. Displays also cover European and Native American culture and history of the area around Diamond and Domenigoni Valleys.

The museum welcomes visitors on several days of the week in a modern building with good accessibility. Plan to spend a few hours exploring the different exhibit areas and examining the archaeological displays at your own pace.

The museum's repository, closed to the public, holds Riverside County paleontological and archaeological collections on 14-foot-tall motorized compactor shelving. Outside, a 156-foot walkway traces a timeline of life on Earth, and the lobby walls recreate fossil-bearing strata with reproductions projecting from them.