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About Dinosaur Natl. Monument
Dinosaur National Monument is the legacy of rivers, past and present.
Here, preserved in the sands of an ancient river, is a time capsule
from the world of dinosaurs: the fossil bone deposit that gives
the park its name. The Dinosaur Quarry has revealed many secrets
of the past, but the remote and rugged land around it, created
by today's rivers, is a secret of the present, known to few travelers.
Stand on the tip of Harpers Corner and look down at the rivers
far below; your gaze is spanning time as well as space. In the
rocks beneath you are fossils of sea creatures two or three times
older than the dinosaurs. Upheavals that began about the time
that the last dinosaur died jolted these shells far above sea
level and downward cutting rivers stranded them on this promontory
in the sky.
Seen in this context, the Age of Dinosaurs is but a brief chapter
in a long story, and only a paragraph about the dinosaurs themselves
is written in the rocks here. Not until about the midpoint of
dinosaur history, about 145 million years ago, did a suitable
habitat develop here a low-lying plain crossed by several large
rivers and many intermittent streams, clad in a variety of ferns,
cycads, clubmosses, and clumps of tall conifers. This was home
to dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus (better known as Brontosaurus).
Diplodocus, Stegosaurus. and other vegetarians, and to the sharp-toothed
carnivores. Allosaurus was the largest at this time that preyed
upon them. As these animals lived and died, most of their skeletons
decayed without a trace, but in at least one spot, river floodwaters
washed a great number of carcasses and bones onto a sandbar.
There, mixed with the remains of turtles, crocodiles, and clams
that lived in the river, the bones were preserved in the sand.
This layer itself was not very thick, but thousands more meters
of sediments piled up on top of it as the sea crept in and out
during the last part of dinosaur times. Dissolved silica percolating
through the strata turned the ancient riverbed into a hard sandstone
and mineralized the bones buried within it.
When the Rocky Mountains began to rise to the east, this area
went along for the ride. Here, the mountain-building did not push
up the rock layers from below, but instead it squeezed them from
the sides, warping and tilting them, sometimes cracking and shifting
them along fault lines. Rain, frost, wind, and gravity slowly
but steadily wore away layer after layer of the uppermost strata,
revealing the older rocks beneath. In this way, a bit of the long-buried
riverbed and its fossil treasure began to show up on the top of
a jagged ridge.
Not far from that ridge, the prehistoric Fremont people carved
elaborate drawings into the cliffs about 1000 A.D. Fur trader
William H. Ashley floated down the Green River not far from that
ridge in 1825. Explorer-scientist John Wesley Powell followed
the same route in 1869. But it remained for Earl Douglass to take
a close enough look at the ridge to notice what was weathering
out on its surface. Douglass, a paleontologist from the Carnegie
Museum in Pittsburgh, Penna., had not come here by accident. He
knew that similar rocks in Colorado and Wyoming had yielded great
dinosaur finds, and he began to search this area in 1908. On August
17, 1909, he wrote in his diary: "At last in the top of the ledge
I saw eight of the tail bones of a Brontosaurus in exact position.
It was a beautiful sight." Those were the first of thousands of
bones, including several nearly complete skeletons, that Douglass
and his workers dug from this single ridge. Many of them are now
on display in the Carnegie Museum.
The quarry site was designated a national monument in 1915, and
though Douglass continued to excavate for several more years,
he did not remove everything. Today the remainder of the bone-bearing
layer forms one wall of the Dinosaur Quarry building. Here the
fossil bones are still being exposed in, but not removed from,
the sandstone face, creating a unique exhibit of the bones in
their natural setting. In the summer, you can watch the Quarry
paleontologists as they expose the fossils in high relief.
The canyons of the Green and Yampa Rivers were added to the original
park in 1938, but, isolated from main-traveled routes and perhaps
overshadowed by the uniqueness of the Quarry, they have remained
relatively unexplored. A few hardy souls settled in the canyons
around the turn of the century, but most of the land is still
wilderness.
Erosion has stripped away the "younger" rocks from most of the
canyon country, accentuating the contrast, in both time and environments,
between past and present. Land that was once a sea floor where
corals and shellfish thrived is now far away from moist ocean
winds, and a semi-desert climate prevails. The temperature can
vary by nearly 85?C (155?F) between January and July, and though
snow cloaks the ground in winter, it contains little water. Rain.
when it comes, is often in the form of brief, localized thundershowers,
drenching the ground in one place and filling the gullies with
flash floods, while dust devils rise in the hot breeze nearby.
In this setting, life must be tolerant of extremes. Good looks,
as humans rate them, are not very important in the desert. Most
of the dry basin-and-plateau land of the park is covered with
sagebrush, greasewood, and saltbrush, graduating into "pygmy forests"
of pinyon pine and juniper at the higher elevations. Drab as these
plants may seem to our eyes, they are beautifully adapted for
their special tasks: conserving water, resisting extreme temperatures,
and eking out a living from poor soils.
Within this arid setting, the rivers and their canyons are linear
oases, in which the green of cottonwoods and boxelders seems all
the more vivid in contrast to the surroundings. Boaters drifting
along a quiet stretch of water may be startled by the sound of
a flock of Canada geese taking wing, or by the sight of a bighorn
sheep high on a cliff. Around the next bend might be a surprise
of another kind. as the river plunges madly into a foaming rapid.
Roar-bounce-splash! - who would have expected this in the middle
of the desert?
Perhaps the unexpected is what Dinosaur National Monument is all
about a gallery of dinosaur bones in solid rock, the whisper of
flowing water heard from a sun-baked canyon rim, the aroma of
Douglas-fir on the high mountain slopes. Time and the rivers have
been long at work on this land. Take the time to discover its
secrets.
General Park Information
Dinosaur Quarry
This building, 11 kilometers (7 miles) north of Jensen. Utah,
is the only place in the park to see dinosaur bones. It is open
every day of the year except January 1, Thanksgiving, and December
25. Because of limited parking space at the Quarry, a shuttle
bus operates daily in summer from the main parking area. During
the rest of the year you may drive in directly.
Headquarters Visitor Center
This center. 3 kilometers (2 miles) east of Dinosaur, Colorado,
is the gateway to the canyon country and has no fossils. Exhibits
and a short slide program provide orientation to the park. Headquarters
is open daily in the summer and weekdays only in winter. During
the summer the park offers a variety of programs to help you understand
and enjoy the surroundings. See visitor activity schedules for
details.
Canyon Country
No visit to the park is complete without at least a glimpse of
the canyon country, and Harpers Corner Scenic Drive does just
that. The round trip takes about two hours and lets you scan the
landscape from roadside overlooks. If you have another hour or
two, walk the trail at Harpers Corner itself, which gives stunning
views of the canyons below. Some of the most scenic parts of the
park are accessible on paved or well-graded roads: Gates of Lodore
and Deerlodge Park, where the Green and Yampa Rivers begin their
canyon plunges; and Jones Hole, an oasis-like tributary of Whirlpool
Canyon with an easy hiking trail alongside a clear, rushing stream.
Rougher roads, unsuitable for low-slung vehicles and trailers,
lead farther into the back country. The most spectacular of these
is 21-kilometer (13-mile) Echo Park Road. Before planning any
back country travel, you should inquire ahead of time for current
information.
Campgrounds
Split Mountain and Green River Campgrounds are developed. The
sites can accommodate most recreational vehicles, but there are
no hookups or sanitary dump stations. Firewood can be bought at
both. Primitive campgrounds are at Echo Park, Gates of Lodore,
Deerlodge, and Rainbow Park, drinking water is available at Echo
Park and Lodore. Vehicle-based camping is limited to these designated
campgrounds. Wood gathering is prohibited at all campgrounds.
Hiking
There are only a few trails in this rugged. high-desert park,
but they provide the most intimate look at the landscape. Check
with a ranger for information about trails and back country permits.
For any hiking, always carry plenty of water and let someone know
where you're going and when you II be back.
River running
One of the best ways to see the canyon country is on the rivers
themselves. Further information is available.
Fishing
The muddy water of the rivers somewhat limits fishing. A state
fishing license is required. A number of endangered fish species
inhabit these rivers Check with a ranger for detailed information
about conditions
Gas, lodging, and supplies are not available in the park. Jensen,
Utah. and Dinosaur. Colorado, have gas stations, small groceries,
and cafes. Dinosaur also has limited lodging. Vernal, Utah, and
Rangely and Craig, Colorado, have motels, restaurants, stores,
and medical services. Transcontinental buses serve Vernal and
Dinosaur, and a scheduled airline serves Vernal Rental cars are
available in Vernal and Craig.
Regulations
This park belongs to you and to everyone else. Do not collect
or disturb any rock, fossil. plant, or artifact. Wildlife may
not be hunted, trapped. or injured. Do not feed any wild animal.
Pets must be leashed or otherwise physically restrained at all
times; they are not allowed in public buildings, with hikers,
or on the rivers. Firearms must be sealed, cased, broken down,
or otherwise packed to prevent their use. Camp or picnic only
at designated sites and dispose of all refuse in garbage cans.
Never leave a campfire unattended; be sure it is out cold before
you leave or go to bed. All vehicles, including four-wheel-drives
and motorbikes, must stay on the roads. Off-road driving destroys
plants and animals and leaves scars that are slow to heal.
Seasons
The park lies on the edge of the Great Basin Desert, a region
of greatly varied weather. Summers are hot with cool nights and
thundershowers in July and August. Winters are cold with moderate
snowfall. Roads to the Dinosaur Quarry and Split Mountain Campground
are kept open.
For More Information
- Contact
-
- Dinosaur National Monument
4545 Highway 40
- Dinosaur, CO 81610
Phone: (970) 374-3000
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