(Gold star to anyone who can figure out the random inspiration for the title of this post. Hint: it came from the TV show I was bingeing at the time I sat down to write this.)
If you’ve ever heard of Dinosaur National Monument, you probably specifically heard about the dinosaur quarry… a building that was built around a wall of partially excavated dinosaur bones. I first visited Dinosaur with my family when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and my only memory of that entire trip is this wall of bones. It’s truly one of a kind and it definitely left an impression my dinosaur-loving little kid self.
At the time, due to COVID, we had to purchase timed entry tickets in advance to visit the quarry, although this has since been discontinued. You then arrive at the visitor center about 15 minutes prior to your reservation time and take the free shuttle up to the quarry (or arrive even earlier and hike the Fossil Discovery Trail up instead).
We entered the quarry on the second floor and found ourselves staring at the enormous wall of bones. Camarasaurus is the most common species of dinosaur uncovered here, but there are also bones from Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Diplodocus, among other lesser-known species. In one spot you’re allowed to actually touch the bones!
Millions of years ago, this area was covered by a river. Paleontologists hypothesize that a lengthy drought about 149 million years ago resulted in a mass die off of dinosaurs. When the rains returned, the river overflowed with water and washed many of the bones downstream while burying others in layers of silt. Thousands of bones from more than 500 animals have been uncovered here. About 1500 of these bones remain in the wall today. Others have been removed and are on display in museums around the country.
Scientists also note that this quarry is not entirely representative of all the life in this area 149 million years ago; larger bones would have been more likely to remain intact and not travel as far, while smaller bones would have likely been swept away and/or heavily damaged. Fewer fossils of these smaller species – such as turtles, clams, insects, and plants – have been found here. Some fossil samples of these species are also on display in the quarry.
We spent about an hour at the quarry and then hiked the 1.2 mile (1.9 km) Fossil Discovery Trail back to the visitor center. It’s all downhill if you hike it in this direction. There are 3 short offshoot trails to some fossils embedded in the rocks. Unlike the wall of bones, these fossils are not excavated and we found them to be exceedingly difficult to spot. (Full disclosure: most of them were so difficult to find that we couldn’t find them at all.)
Also on the Utah side of the monument (it spans Utah and Colorado) is Cub Creek Road, more commonly known as the Tour of Tilted Rocks. Pick up a brochure for $1 just inside the entrance station and follow the numbered stops all the way to the end of the road. A word of advice: parking is scarce at stops #14 and #15, and they’re the most popular ones. Park rangers will block the road when the lots are full. Therefore I recommend starting early and doing the tour in reverse; drive to #14 and #15 first and then work your way back.
Stop #15 is the Josie Bassett Morris homestead. Josie was, quite honestly, a badass. After multiple divorces she decided she was best suited for the single life and established her own homestead here in 1914 where she remained for 50 years. She had close ties with many outlaws, including Butch Cassidy, and was a bootlegger during Prohibition. She was also smart and savvy and performed many tasks that were at the time considered to be a man’s job. Josie was fully self-sufficient, growing her own fruits and vegetables which she irrigated with a system she built, raising poultry, and corralling livestock in two box canyons.
There are short trails back into both canyons, which we really enjoyed. Not only are the towering rock walls pretty spectacular, but the area is also lush and green; truly an oasis in the desert.
Stop #14 is one of many sites in the monument where petroglyphs are on display. Most petroglyphs here at Dinosaur were made about 1000 years ago by the Fremont people. Not much is known about them; they left behind many pieces of their culture in Utah and then simply vanished from the archaeological record. One hypothesis is that they assimilated into another culture.
At stop #14 many petroglyphs, including some enormous lizard drawings, are visible on rock faces up above the road. A short but steep climb leads up to them. Please don’t touch them, as the oils on our hands accelerate the erosion and decay of the drawings.
Other stops along the Tour of Tilted Rocks include viewpoints, bits of geology and history, and more petroglyphs. An assortment of photos is below.
Our final stop (we went a little out of order) was #3: the Desert Voices Trail. This trail departs from Split Mountain Campground, down on the banks of the Green River, and meanders through the desert landscape for just shy of 2 miles (3.2 km). We really enjoyed the colorful scenery and learned a lot from the signs along the way.
And finally, we headed back to our home base at Green River Campground for the night. This is the only non-group campground in the monument that takes reservations. It’s… okay, I guess. It’s a pretty location. But it’s dusty as hell, especially when windy. Despite the fact that our rain fly goes basically down to the ground, we ended up with a layer of fine dirt inside our tent coating absolutely everything. It was a huge mess, and it was so bad our first night that we abandoned ship halfway through and slept in the car instead.
But aside from the dust, it was a decent place to stay.
And that’s all for now. Next post I will talk about the Colorado half of the monument, and the following post will recount our guided rafting trip through Dinosaur’s spectacular canyons. Stay tuned!
The Important Stuff:
- Getting there: The photos and info in this post are from the Utah entrance to Dinosaur National Monument near the towns of Jensen and Vernal. This is the half of the monument with dinosaur bones
- Fees and passes: entry to the monument costs $25/car for a 7 day pass; interagency passes accepted
- Where to stay: there are two campgrounds in this side of the monument: Green River Campground ($18/night) and Split Mountain group campground; both take reservations during the summer. There is also an RV park outside the monument in Jensen and hotels and other lodging in Vernal
- Hiking: most people who visit Dinosaur come to see the quarry, so if you’re looking for solitude I recommend hiking one or more of the short trails. More info on each hike can be found here
- Other: although the elevation at Dinosaur is around 5000 feet (1500 m), this is the desert. It’s hot and dry in the summer and cools off quite abruptly at night. Even at the end of May it was about 85°F (29°C) and sunny during the day… later in the summer temperatures regularly exceed 100°F (38°C) so this is a park best visited in the offseason
Handstands Around the World 
What an unique place!
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It really is, I highly recommend a visit! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Hi Diana, I was going through some of the thousands of photos I have last night and what should I come across? Dinosaur National Monument. Many of the photos you used are photos that Peggy and I took as well. It was fun seeing your perspective, Kokopelli and all! Thanks. Curt
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How neat! It’s always fun to read someone else’s perspective on a place and see how they experienced it. Thanks for stopping by!
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Wonderful work Diana! Your ‘Green River Sunset’ is gorgeous!
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Thank you! I went running across the campground for that one to get to the river before the color disappeared, so I’m glad it turned out well.
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What an interesting place to explore!! Great sharing!!
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Thank you!
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That wall of bones… I’m lost for words. So cool 😀 And incredible you’re allowed to touch some of the bones. You definitely don’t get that experience in a museum! Love the sunset over the campground, though what a bummer about all the dust in your tent. Hope it wasn’t too much of a pain to clean when you got home!
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It’s such a unique experience! I wish my photos did a better job of showing how enormous it is.
Unfortunately that dust was a huge pain to clean… there was definitely a vacuum involved 😩
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What an interesting historical site to see..I saw dinosaurs in different areas of the world ..in museums..but this would and incredible site to see.
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Some of the bones that were found here are now in different museums around the world… I wonder if you saw any of them?
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I think might we may have seen some in the UK…not sure .
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Oh my goodness, what an interesting place – there’s just something about the prehistoric animals that seems to capture the imagination of children and adults alike. We just finished watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom for the fourth time and although most of the dinosaurs were armed with jaws which remain the most powerful weapon nature has ever created, I still find them fascinating. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva
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I agree, they’re so fascinating! It’s so strange to think of a world that’s so completely different from the earth we know today. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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So pretty! I think we only went to the Colorado side. I don’t remember it being that pretty. Hmmm . . . maybe your next post will jog my memory.
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Again your post brought back fond memories. That fossil wall leaves a lasting impression, as much as Josie Bassett’s remarkable life. We also camped at the same campground but were luckier than you and didn’t get blasted by dust.
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Glad to hear you had a better camping experience than we did!
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This looks sooo cool! I need to get out there
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You definitely do, it was even cooler than we were expecting!
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Looks awesome, thanks for sharing! I thought about stopping by the Colorado part of this once, but didn’t I didnt realize the bone wall part was in Utah!
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The Colorado side is worth a visit as well! That’s actually my next post 🙂
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What a neat place to explore and learn more about the dinosaurs. That wall of bones is incredible. Speaking of incredible, what a great sunset you had while camping. At least the campsite had that going for it.
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When we went to Dinosaur National Monument, we did not explore the entire park. Thank you for sharing areas we did not visit.
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It’s an enormous monument! Even in our 3 days there we barely scratched the surface.
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Thank you for this detailed explanation. Amazing how these prehistoric animals have been preserved. Beautiful images, thank you 🙂
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It is pretty amazing to be looking at something that is so many millions of years old but still almost fully intact. Thanks for stopping by!
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Also – that bunny is so cute!!
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Oh my gosh, this place looks like a dream!! Wow! I really want to visit this area sometime this year before it gets too cold. It’s such a neat little area! And those Lincoln log cabins – I love them!! Do you know if it’s safe to paddle board on the Green River? It seems like it’s calm enough up there!
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It was amazing, we loved it far more than we expected we would! It is possible to paddleboard… we went on a rafting trip and the company we used also does paddleboarding trips. I’m not sure how you paddleboard through the rapids, but apparently it can be done. We also saw people floating the river near the campgrounds which I think would be a much calmer area for paddleboarding. I do believe you need a permit to be on the river, but you’d have to confirm with the park.
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Hmm, okay that is all good to know! I’ve got my own, so I can look into needing a permit. I’m pretty sure you can kayak/paddle board on the Colorado River down in Moab without a permit, which is why I ask! Thank you!
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I would assume outside the monument boundary the rules on the Green River are different. Not sure about the Yampa. I think that river is actually completely closed to recreation right now due to low water levels.
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Okay, all good to know! I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the info!
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I never heard of the Dinosaur National Monument (or any dinosaur site, for that matter) until your posts…but now I’m fascinated! Especially as one of the millions of kids who grew up learning about dinosaur history in the US, I think it’s incredible that paleontologists have uncovered so much out there, let alone offering the public to see them for themselves! I’m not sure what the title’s reference is about, but I will say that the first thing that came to mind was “The Land Before Time” cartoon series/film about dinosaurs, which I’ve watched as a kid and found so cute! Looks like such a fulfilling trip you had, and that cotton-candy sunset over the Green River certainly offered a sight to see after a long day on the road!
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It’s not Land Before Time… but a good guess! This is such an incredible place for dinosaur history, hopefully you’re able to visit one day. I was even more fascinated by it than I expected I’d be!
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