Dinosaur

There is nothing quite like the contrast of blue sky, red and white rocks and sparse green of a South West view.  When we left the mountains we headed west through Colorado to Dinosaur National Monument.  Dinosaur is a park with two units - with the Green River flowing throughout.  The Colorado Unit is primarily range land with a gorgeous canyon view.   The Utah portion (in Vernal) is where you find the fossils and petroglyphs.  

The campground at Dinosaur was one of my favorite places to stay when I visited as a kid, and it was again at the top of my list as an adult.  Although it's usually very hot and dry in this part of Utah, there are glorious cottonwood trees, and an unbeatable view of Split Rock and the Green River.  

The view from the campground.

 After checking in and setting up we headed off to do some hiking to see some wonderful ancient rock art.  It was hot and sunny, but the pay off was worth it.

Can you see the lizard?

Kokopelli

 Then we headed back to the Colorado Unit to view the canyon.  Our next big trip will be to the Southwest.  I was hoping that the views would inspire everyone to forget about how hot that trip will be and focus on the beauty and history.  I wasn't wrong - The Woodsman especially was impressed with the view and is now looking forward with anticipation to our Four Corners trip.

Finally, the next morning, we visited the Quarry.  DNM is where the Carnegie fossils were found, so being from Pittsburgh, PA I have always felt a special connection to this place.  If your kids are interested in fossils or paleontology this is one of the best locations you can visit.  We spent hours inside the Quarry using the bone identifying program so the kids could see which species of dinosaur belonged to each bone.  We were also able to take a ranger led hike through part of the quarry where we were able to see and touch fossils.

We learned so much from this park and really enjoyed our time there.