The park itself straddles the border of Utah and northwestern Colorado and encompasses 325 square miles. It preserves two areas- the dinosaur fossils, for which the park is named, are located primarily in the Utah portion. The Colorado side includes multiple canyons and the Green and Yampa Rivers. It was initially designated a National Monument in 1915 by President Woodrow Wilson. President Franklin Roosevelt increased the size of the park by 200,000 acres in 1938.
A brief aside- I mentioned the difference between a Monument and a Park in a previous blog. However, another significant difference is that a President can designate a monument on his own, where a National Park must be designated and voted on by Congress.
Dinosaur National Monument includes one of the earth's richest known dinosaur fossil beds. During a drought 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period, many dinosaurs died near a river's edge. When the drought ended, the raging river waters carried the bones to this area. The bones were then entombed in river sediments, minerals filled the bones and turned them to stone. Erosion eventually revealed the fossils. In 1909, Earl Douglas of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum, took full advantage and began to quarry the fossils. Thousands of tons of fossils were removed from the quarry. The Quarry Exhibit Hall was built over the original quarry area, encompassing about a third of the remaining area.
The story does not end there. Sometime after the bones were deposited in the river bed, tectonic forces uplifted the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Uinta Mountains to the west. In between, the pressure on this area created wrinkles, causing the layers of rock to tilt at about a 60 degree angle. This accounts for what you see in the Exhibit Hall- the slanted wall containing thousands of embedded dinosaur fossils is actually the bed of the river in which they were deposited, pushed up at an angle- a perfect angle, by the way, for viewing the remains! Several years ago, Dale and I had intended to visit here, but heard the Exhibit Hall was closed, as the building, built on the river bed, had begun to crack and become unstable. Our thought then was- How stupid, why would you build this building on a river bed? Well, now we know- it is built there because that is where the fossils are! The building has now been reinforced with piers extending to bedrock.
While viewing the fossils in the Hall, we noticed a ranger lead walk would happen at 10 am. We got our sneakers on, grabbed hats and water, and met up at the appropriate place. The walk was just over a mile and lasted about 1 1/2 hours on the Fossil Discovery Trail. The ranger took us to several different formations that show exposed layers of rocks, showing millions of years of history. It is always so amazing to look around you and realize the desert, dry area was once a shallow inland sea! The ranger pointed out some embedded fossils and described how to spot them, as well as evidence of the tectonic forces that created this park. At one point, as the ranger was pointing out fossils of freshwater clams, he noted that the most common fossil in the park was the clam. However, Clam National Monument did not seem to have the same ring as the current title....
This park was very interesting and certainly worth a visit, especially if you are interested in geologic history and the history of the dinosaurs. It was really amazing to be able to touch the bones of such ancient creatures! A special addition to this park is the discovery here of two previously unknown species of dinosaurs.
We left the park after noon, driving south on route 138 in Colorado, a scenic drive, heading to Grand Junction to visit my sister and her husband for several days. We have taken this route before, but still found it very pretty. One section as you approach Grand Junction is quite steep, windy and narrow on the way up as well as the way down. Always love those kind of roads.... We arrived about 5 pm and spent a pleasant evening catching up.
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