Thirteen years ago, Hurricane Fran ravaged the Museum of Life and Science’s old Dinosaur Trail, forcing museum officials to close the popular, nearly 30-year-old exhibit.

It’s taken more than a decade for the Durham museum to open a new one. It happens Saturday during the grand opening of the $1.5 million Dinosaur Trail.

The two-acre, quarter-mile, mostly shady, paved loop on the museum’s campus features about 20 life-size dinosaurs and a 1,000-square-foot fossil dig dog site where children can dig for, find and take home marine fossils that are millions of years old.

Production delays mean one group of dinosaurs, the Leptoceratops, won’t make it in time for the opening. But the rest of the exhibit, including the 65-foot-long Alamosarus, is complete.

The dinosaur models, made of a steel frame coated with fast-drying plastic, are for looking, not touching. But children are welcome to climb on the 18-foot-long Parasaurolophus at the trail’s entrance.

The dinosaurs depicted models hail from the Late Cretaceous period, dating from 100 million to 65 million years ago. And the plant life along the trial, including ferns, southern magnolia, eastern hemlock and palms, were all considered to be what might have been found during that period.

Hundreds have seen the new trail trial this month. The museum opened it early to members, who got a preview as crews were finishing the project.

Museum officials, expecting a flurry of visitors this weekend, have set up free shuttle service. Museum goers can park at Brogden Middle School, 1001 Leon St., and take the shuttle to the museum on Murray Avenue.

The shuttles will travel a 15-minute turnaround, round trip between the museum and school. Two shuttles will run 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday. One will run noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

The N.C. Fossil Club also will showcase hundreds of fossils and talk about their collection adventures on Saturday and Sunday. And Paint Savvy will offer face painting; fees start at $5 for that. Everything else at the opening is free with admission.

Other highlights …

Grab some great deals on children’s clothes, toys and gear at the huge Kids Exchange consignment sale at the N.C. Fairgrounds. The public sale runs today through Sunday (when some items are 50 percent off). The sale marks the beginning of the 2009 fall/winter consignment sale season in the Triangle. Click here for details about other local sales in the area.

Learn about art with your kids at Ackland Art Museum’s Family Fun Tour, at 1:15 p.m. Sunday in Chapel Hill. The free program is designed for kids ages 6 to 12 with their families.

Watch a cast of nearly 50 local young people, ages 10 to 18, perform “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” at the Paul Green Theatre, UNC Center for Dramatic Art on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. There are several performances this weekend.

As always, there's more on the Mom2Mom calendar.