Dinosaur Ridge Morrison, CO |
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Rating |
Good |
Age |
6 and up |
Lockers |
Not Needed |
Restrooms |
Visitor Center |
Food |
In town |
Closest Coffee |
Ozzies in downtown Morrison |
Recommendation |
Take this short drive and see some great and historic fossils. |
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Review: by Dad
This is very interesting short driving tour.
A little background information: The town of Morrison, CO was an epicenter for early fossil hunting in the West. In 1877 Arthur Lake found some dinosaur fossils. He sent them back East to two important early paleontologists, O.C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. Both Marsh and Cope were intrigued by the finds and immediately set up shop here. Their competition to find and identify dinosaur species has become known as the Bone Wars. Almost all of the dinosaurs found in the western United States have been located in a distinctive layer of rock called the Morrison Formation. Named after the town of Morrison, this layer can be seen throughout the West. Eventually the quarries here would produce the first Stegosaurus, Apatosoaurus, Allosaurus, and Diplodocus. This drive takes you on a tour of this area.
The exposed upright slab of dinosaur footprints is the big draw, but we actually found a couple of the other stops more interesting. Toward the end of the tour there are some Apatosaurus footprints and the first dinosaur quarry in this important area. The dinosaur quarry still has some fossils visible. The longer you stay and look, the more fossils you will find.
The dinosaur footprints are actually visible from the highway, so it is easy to find the ridge. It is worth stopping by the visitor center, however, to purchase a self-guided tour, along with some other cool things. The visitor center has a sandbox with fossil casts buried so that younger visitors can pretend to be paleontologists. Make sure to check the rattlesnake sighting board to see if any have been sighted in the area recently.
Additional Review:
Will: “You might want to stop at Red Rocks just around the corner to do some hiking. This rock is actually from a mountain range that is older than the Rockies."
Sam: "On a sad note, there is no roof over the fantastic slab of dinosaur footprints. This exposed rock contains over 300 tracks of Iguanadons, Ornithomimus, and Gallimimus. The prints have been eroding since the 30's and may disappear in the next 10 years."