Final spring, I indulged my interior paleontologist (and let’s face it, baby) and took an RV journey solely centered round dinosaur tracks. We went to 3 websites, in addition to another geological and petroglyph websites, and spent nights in our camper planning out the following day’s journey.
They’re even larger and extra magical in individual, particularly once you notice the sheer dimension and weight of the animals making prints that may match my hand thrice. It sparks the creativeness, providing you with a glimpse right into a second in time, of how these animals lived, moved, and interacted with their environments.
Planning your Dino-tastic RV journey
That is the proper journey for dino-fanatics, historical past lovers, desert rats, and most of all – households. These kid-friendly hikes and museums have a mix of schooling, hands-on studying, and gigantic fossils and dinosaur replicas to wow everybody.
Instance itinerary and free Google map
Day 1: Hit the busier components of Canyonlands and Moab observe websites (Potash, Hells Revenge). Head out to Utahraptor Park to camp.
Day 2: Spend your morning espresso up at Willow Springs observe web site. After the solar is up, head over to Mill Canyon observe web site. Then have lunch and take a break. Go to Moab Giants within the afternoon. Then head again to your similar campsite.
Day 3: Cease at Copper canyon in your means out to i70. Head east and cease at Sego canyon petroglyphs if in case you have time.
Day 4: Cease in Rabbit Valley, the Path By means of Time, then cease in Fruita on the Dinosaur Hill tracksite and Dinosaur Journey museum. There are a number of locations to park or RV campgrounds to select from right here. Numerous yummy meals decisions in Fruita or Grand Junction.
Day 5: Don’t overlook to cease at E-book Cliffs in your means north to Dinosaur Nationwide Monument. Spend the day on the Monument, camp, and spend one other day (Day 6).
Day 7: Head again towards Moab going west; to Jurassic Nationwide Monument and a couple of close by observe websites. Proceed heading again to Moab or camp right here on your final night time.
Obtain the google map
This map comes with over 60 pins together with museums, observe websites, RV parks, and dump stations. Make a replica and make it yours by enhancing and including extra pins.
Get the dinosaur RV journey Google map:
Tricks to plan the most effective highway journey round dinosaurs
- Hire your RV in Utah or western Colorado and schedule supply to your first location, or the place you’re protecting your automotive for the week.
- In case you’re going to hit a number of observe websites in a day, plan to camp close to a web site that’s outdoors of the busy areas of Moab, Canyonlands or Grand Junction. Willow Springs is a good instance of a observe web site that’s off the overwhelmed path sufficient to be a enjoyable drive that almost all RVs can deal with, and has loads of boondocking campsites in close by Utahraptor state park. There are a handful of pit bogs dotted all through. Go throughout the off season or midweek and also you’ll discover loads of spots.
- Plan your path to hit at the least a observe web site and an interpretive web site like a museum so you may stability your day with inside and outside actions, academic and hands-on, in addition to a toilet cease, a spot to seize a chew, and refill water.
- Analysis your Utah campgrounds and western Colorado tenting choices so you might be hitting the busiest spots throughout the week or off season.
- Test the museums’ web sites totally free academic supplies you may print beforehand, so that you and your youngsters can comply with alongside all through the journey.
- Hold your path to a manageable distance in between stops and pay attention to highway closures. There are roughly three factors to the “Dinosaur Triangle”: Grand Junction, Dinosaur, and Moab. Clockwise or counterclockwise are each legitimate choices.
When to go
Mid-week and off-seasons like November via March. In any other case, you’ll wish to have your journey deliberate and spots booked, so that you’re not competing with vacationers for spots that refill shortly.
Many of those websites are fully open to the solar with no shade. Pack sufficient water, hike early, take cowl throughout the hottest components of the day, and benefit from the sundown!
Checklist of dinosaur observe websites
Colorado
Dinosaur Hill
- Location: Close to Fruita, Mesa County
- Kind of tracks: Largely sauropod tracks
- Accessibility: Reasonable (well-marked trails, however includes some elevation acquire)
- Notable options: Dinosaur bones have been first found right here by Elmer Riggs in 1900. It’s now a part of the Dinosaur Journey Path system.
- Obtain brochure: Dinosaur Hill Path
- Get there: Maps
Mygatt-Moore Quarry
- Location: Rabbit Valley, close to Grand Junction
- Kind of tracks: Theropods and different dinosaur species
- Accessibility: Simple (brief walks from parking)
- Notable options: Identified for having quite a lot of dinosaur fossils and tracks proper close to i70, together with a big focus of Allosaurus.
- Obtain: Brochure
- Get there: Maps
Extra path brochures on the western slope:
Utah
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite
- Location: North of Moab, Grand County
- Kind of tracks: Theropods, sauropods, ankylosaurs, and extra
- Accessibility: Simple (brief stroll from parking)
- Notable options: Early Cretaceous (roughly 112 million years in the past) dinosaur tracksite with over 200 tracks from at the least ten several types of animals, together with theropods, sauropods, ornithopods, ankylosaurs, birds, and even crocodiles.
- Obtain: Brochure
- Get there: Maps
Willow Springs Dinosaur Tracksite
- Location: Northeast of Moab, Grand County
- Kind of tracks: Theropods, sauropods, ankylosaurs, and extra
- Accessibility: Simple (brief stroll from parking)
- Notable options: Showcases tracks from each theropods and ornithopods (three-toed dinosaurs) and sauropod tracks (long-necked dinosaurs). They date again roughly 165 million years, fashioned by strolling throughout tidal flats and preserved within the Entrada Formation’s sandstone.
- Obtain: Brochure
- Get there: Maps
- Be ready to cross a sandy wash on the best way there – it appears like browsing!
Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackways
- Location: Close to Moab, Grand County
- Kind of tracks: Sauropods and theropods
- Accessibility: Reasonable (trails could also be uneven and uncovered to the solar)
- Notable options: Identified for its well-preserved theropod and sauropod tracks, providing expansive desert views and a sandy drive in.
- Get there: Maps
Dinosaur Nationwide Monument
- Location: Straddling the Colorado-Utah border, close to Jensen, Utah
- Kind of tracks: Jurassic Interval, together with stays of Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Allosaurus.
- Accessibility: Permits for scenic drives, simple paved walkways, extra average trails, and ranger-led excursions.
- Notable options: An enormous cliff with dinosaur bones stacked all through.
- Get there: Maps
The abundance of dinosaur tracks
The Colorado-Utah area boasts a number of thousand recognized dinosaur observe websites, with new discoveries steadily popping up. All kinds of dinosaur species is represented, from large sauropods to agile theropods. The sheer quantity and variety of tracks within the area make it a major space for understanding dinosaur habits and ecosystems from the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations.
The Jurassic Interval (201-145 million years in the past)
A time of heat climates and widespread seas. Dinosaurs like Allosaurus and big sauropods (Apatosaurus, Diplodocus) dominated. Within the space now generally known as Colorado and Utah, this era produced lots of the iconic fossils discovered within the Morrison Formation, a sedimentary layer well-known for its abundance of enormous dinosaur bones. Jurassic fossils are usually bigger and embrace long-necked sauropods and theropods. Trackways from this period, like these on the Mill Canyon and Dinosaur Ridge websites, usually present the actions of enormous herbivores and carnivores throughout coastal and river plains.
The Cretaceous Interval (145-66 million years in the past)
This era adopted the Jurassic, and in Utah and Colorado, it noticed the event of in depth inland seas just like the Western Inside Seaway. Dinosaurs comparable to Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops roamed the coastal areas and floodplains. The Cretaceous rock formations, just like the Dakota Formation, are inclined to protect extra diversified ecosystems, together with birds, crocodilians, and smaller dinosaurs, in addition to marine fossils. Cretaceous fossils from this area can also embrace footprints of numerous dinosaurs, from giant predators to small, bird-like species.
The geographic variations from altering landscapes, with the Jurassic interval that includes expansive floodplains and the Cretaceous interval characterised by shifting seas, estuaries, and extra diversified habitats.
How and the place to seek out dinosaur tracks
Dinosaur tracks are generally present in sedimentary rock formations comparable to sandstone and mudstone, which fashioned in historic riverbeds, lakes, and floodplains. When mountaineering round, search for giant flat surfaces or depressions within the rock. Early morning or late afternoon permits the low-angle daylight to boost the shadows, making tracks simpler to see.
Respecting and preserving dinosaur tracks
Conservation is essential to make sure these observe websites stay preserved for future generations – all the things from the fossils to the dwelling cryptobiotic soil surrounding it, is fragile.
Keep away from stepping on the tracks, chorus from eradicating any fossils or supplies, and report any new discoveries. Fossil websites are protected by federal legal guidelines, such because the Paleontological Assets Preservation Act (PRPA).
- Depart them in place.
- Doc the fossils with images and a GPS studying, if doable, in order that they are often discovered by land managers and archeologists.
- Doc the options of the realm, like what the rocks seem like, landmarks, and highway instructions.
- Contact the suitable public land administration company (BLM, Nationwide Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, state land company) or native museum.
- Don’t make replicas, tracings, molds, or casts. This damages the fossils.
Images suggestions for dinosaur tracks
For the most effective images, go to throughout early morning or late afternoon for optimum lighting. Use a wide-angle lens to seize the dimensions of the panorama and a tripod for stability. To spotlight the main points of the tracks, attempt utilizing raking gentle, and embrace a scale bar in your images for reference. Submit-processing instruments can additional improve the visibility of delicate observe options.
Museums and customer facilities
Moab Giants
- Location: Moab, UT (Close to Mill Canyon)
- Displays: Dinosaur park with a desert path dotted with life-size fashions of T. rex & different prehistoric beasts
- Get there: Maps
Dinosaur Journey Museum
- Location: Fruita, Colorado
- Displays: Actual dinosaur skeletons, robotic recreations, and fossils from the Western Slope
- Extra assets: Gives guided excursions and fossil excavation alternatives.
- Get there: Maps
Museum of Historic Life at Thanksgiving Level
- Location: Lehi, Utah
- Notable reveals: The world’s largest assortment of mounted dinosaur skeletons
- Extra assets: Interactive reveals for kids and adults.
- Get there: Maps
Dinosaur Nationwide Monument
- Location: Straddling the Colorado-Utah border, close to Jensen, Utah
- Notable reveals: The Quarry Exhibit Corridor incorporates a wall of over 1,500 dinosaur bones from the Jurassic Interval, together with stays of Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Allosaurus. You possibly can see fossils nonetheless embedded within the rock, offering a novel take a look at an energetic fossil web site.
- Extra assets: Scenic drives, mountaineering trails to view petroglyphs and extra fossil websites, and ranger-led excursions.
- Get there: Maps
Get your dino on
Dinosaur tracks in Western Colorado and Utah supply a rare glimpse into prehistoric life. Go to these websites responsibly and assist conservation efforts, so you may contribute to the preservation of those pure wonders whereas having fun with the expertise of strolling within the footsteps of giants.
Continue learning:
Occasions: Plan your RV journey round fashionable occasions like Dino Days in Fruita, Spooky Halloween nights at Giants Moab, or perhaps a fancy cocktail-tasting Dino on the Rocks fundraiser and silent public sale for Museums of Western Colorado.