Four years ago my husband and I made our first visit to a nearby scientific attraction in our area, where dinosaurs once roamed, called Dinosaur Ridge. We visited with my daughter and her family--click here--to read that post. Our oldest granddaughter was just 3 at the time! Last summer we made another visit with a community group that we belong to, on a special tour called "Walk With A Geologist."
Dinosaur Ridge is located at 16831 W. Alameda Parkway in Morrison, Colorado, and is part of the Dakota Hogback, which you can see in the top left of the photo collage above. It is one of the world's most famous dinosaur fossil locations! In 1877 the bones of many dinosaurs were found here, including Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, and Allosaurus. Full-size models of some of the dinosaurs can be seen around the grounds of Dinosaur Ridge.
In 1973 the Dinosaur Ridge area was recognized for its uniqueness as well as its historical and scientific significance when it was designated the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
On this visit, a local resident and retired geologist volunteer with Friends of Dinosaur Risge gave us a very informative tour. Usually, this is a walking tour, but as we have many seniors in our group we were allowed to drive up the ridge and make stops along the way. The road is now closed to traffic and usually can only be walked or traveled on a shuttle bus service as part of a paid tour.
Here our tour guide is pointing to dinosaur tracks left in what was once the sandy shore of a great sea 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period.
There are many areas on the ridge with hundreds of these footprints left behind by dinosaurs so long ago!
There are also many dinosaur bones to be seen...
... as well as giant imprints of the dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Ridge is really a fascinating way to travel back in time.
We went up and around the ridge to the western side where we had this beautiful view of the Colorado foothills.
Off in the distance can be seen the famous outdoor Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The two large red rocks that are seen in the photo above are from its outer walls, with the seating located between them. I have many posts on my blog featuring concerts we attended at Red Rocks Amphitheatre--here is one--click here--where we saw Josh Groban perform. It will show what the theater looks like inside.
On this side of the ridge, we saw the Morrison Formation. The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of 150 million-year-old Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone, and limestone and is light gray, greenish-gray, or red.
Please click on this to enlarge
The Morrison Formation was named after Morrison, Colorado, where the first fossils in the formation were discovered by Arthur Lakes in 1877. That same year, it became the center of the Bone Wars, a fossil-collecting rivalry between early paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. In Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, the Morrison Formation was a major source of uranium ore.
Another area of interest shows the slimy carpet-like beach area where the dinosaurs roamed 92 million years ago. The placard explains that microorganisms created sediment in layers in supratidal zones where the high tide water would saturate and feed the mat and then quickly drain away. This mat was one of the reasons the dinosaur prints were so well preserved.
When the tour was completed we dropped into the Dinosaur Discovery Center to look at the exhibits. They had replicas of scales and horns from stegosaurus, dinosaur claws, casts of footprints, and actual dinosaur bones, as well as other exhibits, and there is also a visitor center and a gift shop.
When the tour was completed we dropped into the Dinosaur Discovery Center to look at the exhibits. They had replicas of scales and horns from stegosaurus, dinosaur claws, casts of footprints, and actual dinosaur bones, as well as other exhibits, and there is also a visitor center and a gift shop.
Memorial Day 2020
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I really like how everything is marked and explained. It makes visiting the place so much more interesting. Really great outing.
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Hello,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting park, thanks for sharing your visit and photos.
The dinosaur exhibit is cool, I am glad it is open again. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!
I think we’ll have to visit Dinosaur Ridge when we can get home again. It looks pretty interesting. Thank you for this!! Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a place I would love.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I've never seen anything remotely like this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/05/meet-tommy.html
How amazing is that to see!!
ReplyDeleteI love guided tours like that. I remember them to this day from my childhood. When I was an elementary school teacher one of the kids favourite units was about dinosaurs. It wasn't in our set curriculum for first grade, but in those days things weren't quite so test driven and prescribed. In my opinion, kids learned better with high interest topics. - Margy
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place to spend time! I'm sure you could spent days there and learn more and more! Have a good week! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! That sounds like such a neat place to visit. We have a museum in our state where the entire ground floor is a preserved piece of ocean floor studded with dinosaur footprints. They are so neat to see.
ReplyDelete...and many don't think that the earth is that old! I hope that you are enjoying your day!
ReplyDeleteWow~ That's quite amazing~
ReplyDeleteVery interesting . My cit also has a Fossil Discovery Center. Many of the bones at this exhibit have been found in nearby areas. Actually this museum is only a block or so from my house.
ReplyDeletePat - you don't have to be a kid, just young at heart, to appreciate this incredible site and all it has to offer. Thanks for the outstanding virtual tour! I hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend! Always glad to have you at Mosaic Monday!
ReplyDeleteFascinating post. How good to see these historically significant sites being recognised and preserved. Pity our forefathers didn't do much about it in earlier times.
ReplyDeleteI feel excited about reading your series of reviews coming to the area of pre-dinosaur history ... What a very interesting fact. I in Indonesia only ever come to an amusement park that shows the physical replicas of dinosaurs and the history of each dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteYour vacation location is very cool in my eyes ..
Greetings from Indonesia.
I am so ready to travel and this would be a great place to visit. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow what an extremely interesting trip and one I'm sure the grandkids would love. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDawn aka Spatulas On Parade
This looks very cool! I can imagine our little ones (at least the oldest) would be quite enamored of this, at least till he got worn out!
ReplyDeleteThat is so very cool. Would love to go on that tour.
ReplyDeleteI'm not one for tours much, but this one looks quite interesting. I love your photos and am glad you shared them. The links are fantastic, too.
ReplyDeleteYour link is a great addition to 'My Corner of the World' this week!
Wish I could take my grandchildren there. They would love it!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a great place to visit. I love the patriotic stegasaurus !
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe foothills shots take me back to the years I lived in Colorado. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteA pretty cool place and one more that I need to visit, next time I am in Colorado. Thanks for linking up.
ReplyDeleteThe dino footprints are fascinating. Thanks for taking us along!
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be an interesting places for all especially kids. Its nice to see how well the footprints, bones etc have been preserved.
ReplyDeleteLooks very interesting!
ReplyDeleteHello, Pat
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool place to tour. The footprints and giant imprints left by the dinosaurs is amazing. I can imagine the bone wars happening between the fossil collectors. Great post and photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. I appreciate your visit and the comment too! Enjoy your day, have a great new week ahead!
A great geologic tour for the grownups, but I am especially enamored of the fact that you were and will be able to tour this with grandchildren! I remember that pretty much every one of my children and grands went through a stage when they were fascinated with dinosaurs; it would be so much fun to see this through their eyes!
ReplyDeleteThis looks a great place to visit. There is something fascinating about fossils and dinosaurs etc. Many thanks for all of your photographs which I enjoyed looking at.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
I would love to visit...
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