(photo credit: Cory Doctorow)
Welcome to part 3 of the Summer Bucket List Series! If you missed our post on free movies in the park, click here. Need more info about local splash pads? Click here.
You’ll find an insane amount of kid-based fun on our Pinterest page here.
5 Great Spots To Find Dinosaur Tracks In Utah. There’s something so intense about standing next to the prints of some great creature from, say, 165 million years ago and seeing it today. Utah’s simply cluttered with excellent dinosaur tracks, and with “Jurassic World” cracking half a billion dollars at the box office it’s first weekend, this is your chance to get a taste of that era for yourself. (Sadly, I can’t get you a taste of Chris Pratt from “Jurassic World,” which REALLY would make our summer, eh?)
(photo credit: Serolynn)
1. Willow Springs Dinosaur Trackways: The Willow Springs site features the tracks of theropods and ornithopods (three-toed tracks) and those from sauropods (long-neck dinosaurs). On our last visit to Moab, our twins were ecstatic to see the three toes–they’re amazingly clear prints. The tracks were made over 165 million years ago.
(photo credit: Randall Chancellor)
2. Dinosaur Stomping Ground Tracks: Take a short hike of about a mile and a half to see some astonishingly large prints. The scenery’s gorgeous and there’s a mountain bike trail if you’d rather conduct your exploration on wheels. You’ll find the site about 23 miles north of Moab.
(photo credit: Cory Doctorow)
3. Twentymile Wash Dinosaur Megatrackway: Over 800 dinosaur footprints are preserved in the upper part of the Entrada Sandstone. This is definitely one of the best sites for multiple tracks, and it’s easy to get the kids excited by having lots of prints to look at. The site’s close to the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
(photo credit: Massachusetts office of trustees of dinosaur tracks)
4. Red Cliffs Area Dinosaur Site: The dinosaur tracks are located very close to the campsites, which makes this a good pick for families. After following a short ½ mile interpretive trail to theRed Cliffs Anasazi Site the remnants of a Virgin Anasazi habitationcan can be seen. You can also get a taste of pioneer history by visiting the Orson Adams House just down the road. Red Cliffs is located close to St. George.
(photo credit: missmass)
5. Poison Spider Dinosaur Trackways: Say “meat eating dinosaurs” to my twins and watch their savage little eyes light up. This site outside of Moab has two rock slabs with footprints visible from the parking lot, one at the base of the cliffs and another halfway down the slope, just above the cliff that drops down to the road. The lower of these slabs contains the tracks of at least 10 different meat-eating dinosaurs, ranging in size from 17 inches to nearly 5 feet at the hips.
