Dinosaur Trip to Utah

[PJorgen]

My wife loves everything about dinosaurs, fossils, tracks, museums and whatever. This spring we're planning a trip to Utah in the FWC and I'm looking for recommendations of what not to miss.

We'll certainly visit the fossil beds at Dinosaur National Monument. What else should we see? It will be a 7-8 day trip and we're coming from northern California so we should have 4-5 days in Utah.

 

[Alley-Kat]

I suppose that you have already Googled "Utah Dinosaur Locations", and the lists that pop up are good.

I've been to most of them and the Dinosaur National Monument is probably the best. You could stay there many days and not see it all, especially, if the weather is DRY and the dirt roads are in good shape. If its WET then you can skip the dirt roads this time and go elsewhere on this trip.

 

[dsrtrat]

Check out the Dinosaur Tracks at Johnson Farm located in St. George one of the best collections of tracks in the world.

 

[BILL98388]

Here is another great place to see the remains of dinosaurs and related beasts.

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/quarry.html


Bill

 

[Durango1]

It isn't "dinosaurs" but last summer we drove the 40 mile Sand Canyon road. The NPS makes it sound like a difficult 4WD road. But I honestly think a 2WD sedan (carefully driven) would have been fine. Great scenery and in 40 miles we saw ONE car! (Unusual in a NP!)

To be fair it looked like they had recently graded the road.

Steve

 

[PJorgen]

Thanks for the input so far. I have Googled "Utah Dinosaur Trip" and gotten a lot of good ideas, too many in fact. Need to limit it to the top 4 or 5 as that is all we have time for. It might come down to only sites that are close together so that we don't spend most of the trip driving from one to another.

The Cleveland-Lloyd quarry looks pretty good. Anything else on the not-to-be-missed list?

 

[searching for nowhere]

You can read about my failed attempt to see some dinosaur tracks in southern Utah. If you make t to these track, please post pictures.


https://searchingfor.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/off-to-see-dinosaur-tracks/

 

[PJorgen]

You can read about my failed attempt to see some dinosaur tracks in southern Utah. If you make t to these track, please post pictures.


https://searchingfor.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/off-to-see-dinosaur-tracks/

OK, this looks fun and we're headed to the St. George area anyway. I prefer out of the way, less visited places whenever possible.

However, I'm wondering if I'll have the same problems you did. What kind of a vehicle were you driving? I've got a GMC 2500HD 4x4 pickup with FWC that weighs in at about 8800 lbs. 12" wide tires that I can air down (and I have a compressor) but that much weight and soft sand don't always work well together.

 

[searching for nowhere]

I drive a simple city pickup truck. A Dodge Dakota was nothing special with no camper (I pull a trailer). I was told there is only the one small hill the and rest of the way is flat. And it is a very small hill. I've wondered if there are ATVs to rent in the area that can get you to the site. It is a big ATV area.

You can think about walking in. If I remember right I think it is 2 - 3 miles one way. But that is walking in deep sand and after the hill there is no shade.

I believe it is one of the best Dino track sites and worth extra effort.

Lots of nice boondocking sites in the area.

Let us know if you make it to the site

 

[searching for nowhere]

For more info:

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/more/cultural/Paleontology/utah_paleontology/color_country_paleontology/moccasin_track_site.html

 

[SunMan]

Tracks can be found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Monument.

Twenty Mile Wash Dinosaur Track Site: