Have you ever wanted to see dinosaur bones up close?
Then you must visit Dinosaur National Monument.
There are two entrances to the park, one located in Colorado and one located in Utah.
To see the bones you must use the entrance located just outside Jensen, UT.
Here you will find the Visitor Center, the Fossil Quarry and the Fossil Discovery Trail.
Once you park your car and explore at the Visitor Center, take the tram to the Quarry. The tram runs every 15 minutes, and is free of charge.
The tram will drop you off at the entrance to the Quarry, and it is quite a site. Inside the building there is an entire wall of dinosaur bones, in their original burial places. It’s an incredible thing to see the amount of bones, and how they are layered in the wall of rock.
After you are finished at the quarry, take the Fossil Discovery Trail from the top of the hill, and hike down the mountain to view the landscape up close. There are some petroglyphs, and other spots on the hike where you can view some additional remnants of a past world.
The hike is less than a mile, and an easy trail to follow, and will lead you right back to the Visitor Center and your car. Just a reminder to take water, as there is no shade on the trail, and can get pretty warm.
I did take a quick trip to the second entrance in Colorado, which was about 20 miles away from the Utah entrance. There is not much to see, except some interesting landscapes, and states on the sign when you enter the park that there are no dinosaur fossils to see in this area. I drove for about 10 miles and turned around, as there are other areas I was ready to see and explore.
I definitely recommend a trip to Dinosaur National Park, especially if you have children, then you can make the decision if you want to embark on the second part drive on the Colorado side to say you have seen it all!
