The museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM)[3] and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The campus also includes over a dozen aquariums featuring wildlife representative of that found in the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico and other river systems and deltas, including giant catfish, sturgeon, ducks, frogs, turtles, rays, octopodes, river otters, and more.

There are also outdoor exhibits, featuring river otters, a marsh, and large artifacts, such as boats, a blacksmith shop, a stream, and raptor aviaries including bald eagle.

[7] The Hall of Fame was created in 1985 and over 100 experts on American rivers, including conservationists, writers and historians, voted for the first inductees.

[8] John P. Bickel was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Hall of Fame which started fund-raising in 1979.