Parks Parks and Parks: Day 8 - Dinosaur National Monument

Today, we visited the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument, but not before having a delicious hot breakfast at the Dinosaur Inn & Suites. Dinosaur National Monument is huge. It is contained within parts of Utah and Colorado, but the Dinosaur Quarry is on the Utah side, so naturally we went there. The landscapes leading up to the quarry and visitor center were breathtaking, and we set the tone by playing the Jurassic Park soundtrack during the drive. When we got to the visitor center there was a shuttle waiting to drive us up to the quarry. After a short but educational ride to the quarry, we finally ready to see some fossils.

The Quarry Exhibit Hall is a preserved bone-bearing layer of the quarry wall containing the bones of 10 different species of dinosaurs that existed in the Morrison ecosystem 149 million years ago. A handy guide book helped us to identify each fossil by sectioning off the quarry face and cataloging each bone. It was the largest seek and find we have ever done, and it was a lot of fun!

After we left the Quarry we did the Auto Tour of the Tilted Rocks, a scenic drive through the Utah side of the park that highlighted petroglyphs, Split Mountain, Green River, and a cabin of a homesteader who lived in the area until 1964. The drive was beautiful, as you can see below. We loved this park and can't wait until we can come back and explore the Colorado side!

From Dinosaur National Monument we had a long drive to our motel for the night in Winnemucca, NV. On the way we drove alongside the Great Salt Lake and the Great Salt Lake Desert. Both were pretty spectacular.