On our way to Idaho from Grand Junction, we saw Dinosaur on the map. Curious about this unusual name for a town, we did some quick research and found that Dinosaur, Colorado is home to the Dinosaur National Monument. (Actually it’s on the border with Utah and most of the interesting stuff turned out to be on the Utah side).
Dinosaur National Monument turned out to be a really interesting and unique place. In that location, archeologists had discovered a huge amount of dinosaur bones all in one spot. There had been a river there, and dinosaur bones were washed down the river at some point, collecting in one spot. Now, millions of years later, these fossils are embedded in the rocky ground. Rather than excavating all of them, a museum-like building was constructed around the site so that the public could see the fossils preserved in the stone. This was named the Bone Quarry.
We had a fun time looking at the many fossils and guessing which type of dinosaur, and which body parts, they were from. There were also some exhibits showing well preserved fossils and other interesting information.
Aside from the museum part, there were hikes on which ancient petroglyphs could be seen. We decided not to go there, as we still had a long drive ahead of us. It would have been interesting, though, so maybe next time 🙂.
Even though this took us a couple hours off our planned route, it was a worthwhile detour. We were pleased that we were able to visit such a unique place — where else in the world can you see hundreds of dinosaur fossils preserved in stone as they have been for millions of years, and even touch a few? It’s so great that such a special thing was made available to the public. At least, to those who are willing to drive to middle of nowhere, Jensen, Utah.
