Visiting Dinosaur National Monument

Vernal, Utah is well known for its dinosaurs! As you drive into town, the roadside is decorated with colorful dinosaur statues, the most popular being Dinah, the pink dinosaur. About 45 minutes outside of town lies Dinosaur National Monument. This park covers areas in both Utah and Colorado, but because Steve and I went in February, we were only able to visit the Utah side, as the pass to Colorado was closed. It’s a small park, and the day we visited had maxed out its visitors at forty five.

Our day began inside the Quarry Exhibit Hall (photos at the end of the post), where an ancient riverbed has been dug up to reveal a large collection of dinosaur fossils. It’s amazing how many fossils congregated here, and in other areas throughout the park. The exhibit offers interactive screens that teach you about each fossil, and even allows for you to touch certain fossils.

After the Exhibit Hall, we drove off to discover the rest of the park. The area is filled with beautiful rock formations and rivers that create a stunning sight, even in the dead of winter. We visited Turtle Rock, found ancient petroglyphs, and walked along riverbeds at the base of canyon walls. It was such a quiet day, we felt like we had the entire park all to ourselves.

Once we’d finished up in Dinosaur National Monument, we made our way over to a small, lesser known canyon. We literally did have this area to ourselves, and took our time wandering between the jagged stone walls. I’d been here once before, and was excited to show Steve, knowing he would find joy in the odd and unique rock formations.

Just after sunset we made our way back to town for dinner at the 7-11 Ranch Restaurant, then settled into our Airbnb for the night. It was a quiet apartment, within walking distance to all of the main street highlights, that suited our needs for the one night we planned to stay.

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