Dinosaur National Monument

It seemed appropriate to visit Dinosaur National Monument this year as it is the 100th anniversary of when President Wilson protected the first 80 acres six years after Earl Douglass, a Carnegie Museum paleontologist discovered dinosaur fossils while looking for mammal fossils. Ironically while his find became a MAJOR dinosaur find, his interest remained with the mammals. In 1938 President Roosevelt added close to 200,000 acres to this monument that now not only includes the great fossils, but magnificent landscapes and canyons created by the Yampa and Green Rivers; part in Utah and part in Colorado. We as usual, need to go back and see MORE. There is always that thing called time restrictions.

The Dinosaur Quarry Exhibit is on the Utah side. A part of the major fossil hill is now inside a large glass building where you can even touch some of the fossils still embedded i the hill.



The fossils include dinosaurs, mammals, exhibits of sea life, insects and croprolite. Unless one believes that humans had dinosaurs as pets beginning about 6000 years ago, this one area is millions of years of history. It is difficult to photograph as there is such little contrast





On the main drive in that area the landscape is simply beautiful and difficult to capture, but we tried. :-)





And there are great petroglyphs in that area ---

This one convinces me that there were visitors from another world



And some I found quite different, but then again, I know little about all of this.



And some that look like so many others we have seen.



And some that looked like jewelry.



And then there was the beautiful and serene old homestead from Josie Barrett beginning in about 1914 when she was about 40 years old and where she lived with no modern amenities for almost 50 years until at the age of 89 she broke a hip and died less than a year later What a woman. She was widowed by one husband and divorced four other husbands --- the last one shortly after establishing the homestead on Cub Creek. As a young person with her family, she met Butch Cassidy and friends. While living alone she was accused of cattle rustling and moonshining. And lots more --- I like this woman.

Her home



Her water source



An old piece of her equipment



Such a serene setting. The silence was only interrupted by the sound of running water and the many birds.



And this little guy seemed undisturbed by our presence, but he had better get smart quickly or he is going to be someone's lunch soon!



There are a number of other places to explore by rougher dirt roads, but we were facing some bad weather and some time restraints.

But we did visit and camp in the north east corner of the Park in Colorado --- the lesser visited Gates of Lodore. There was only one other camper there --- we loved the solitude.



From the campground there is a less than a mile hike up the mountain to the view of the Gates of Lodore on the Green River.






And the view looking back



So much more to explore there.

And just some misc. pictures of our trip taken with my phone.

Careful who is crossing the road



Walking around Steamboat Springs --- woke up the next morning to snow covering the ground!



And when we travel, we love to stop at local eateries in small towns --- a good way to meet and learn about the locals. So here are phone shots of some of those places.













Thank you for looking and sharing our experience.

[Edited on 4-30-2015 by DianaT]

Yes Cliffy, it was a good trip.

Igor, it is fun to be able to see the fossils and bones still in the mountain. I have one picture of my beloved old fossil reaching out and touching another fossil.

bajabuddha --- wow, what a story. We think we would love to float on the Green thorough those gates --- in calm weather, however. It is BEAUTIFUL. And yes, so much to explore in many ways- need to spend more time.

There was one campground we really wanted to stay at on the Utah side but they say the road is impassable even with the 4WD in wet weather, so next time.