Many of you know how much Carol and I are drawn the the Southwest. We have been to various parts of it over the years at least 8 or 9 times and it is always fun to revisit favorite places and to explore new ones. We spent more time in southern Utah than anywhere and are looking forward to returning in a few days when we leave the Grand Mesa area of Colorado, but on this go around we are seeing areas that we have not previously visited.
Since leaving Wyoming we've spent 3 days at Dinosaur National Monument which spans 2 states ~ at its western side is near Vernal, Utah and crosses into Colorado.
Dinosaur National Monument is located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. This park has fossils of dinosaurs including Allosaurus, Abydosaurus (a nearly complete skull, lower jaws and first four neck vertebrae of the specimen DINO 16488 found here) and various long-neck, long-tail sauropods. It was declared a National Monument on October 4, 1915.
Geology:
The rock layer enclosing the fossils is a sandstone and conglomerate bed of alluvial or river bed origin known as the Morrison Formation from the Jurassic Period some 150 million years old. The dinosaurs and other ancient animals were washed into the area and buried presumably during flooding events. The pile of sediments were later buried and lithified into solid rock. The layers of rock were later uplifted and tilted to their present angle by the mountain building forces that formed the Uintas. The relentless forces of erosion exposed the layers at the surface to be found by paleontologists.
The Quarry:
The "Dinosaur Wall" located within the Dinosaur Quarry building in the park consists of a steeply tilted (67° from horizontal) rock layer which contains hundreds of dinosaur fossils. The enclosing rock has been chipped away to reveal the fossil bones intact for public viewing.
Besides the amazing concentration of Dinosaur fossils the scenic vistas, flora, and geology in the Monument are alone worth time spent there.
So now that you are up to speed - I would like to share some pictures or our time there.
While at Dinosaur ~ We also visited a wonderful museum in Vernal and other sites famous for natural geology and petroglyphs. One such place we visited is Moonshine Arch which is a fantastic arch on private land that allows access and is an amazing example of natural erosion.
We also visited McConkie Ranch in Dry Creek Canyon - about 10 miles outside of Vernal. There are hundreds of petroglyphs from the Fremont period on this beautiful sandstone cliff stretching over a mile.
The rock art located up Dry Fork Canyon is world renowned and located along a 200-foot-high "Navajo Formation" sandstone cliff. These petroglyphs are located on the Sadie McConkie Ranch, a private property, but have remained accessible to the public, all they ask is that visitors do not damage the sites, and obey all signs. Nowhere else can you see more petroglyphs in one area that are so easily accessible.
There are trails that take you up close and personal were you can view figures up to 9 feet tall. These figures represent the Fremont culture, which flourished in this area from about 1-1200 A.D. You may spend any were from 1 to 8 hours exploring this area, depending on how far you want to hike and how much you want to see.
The Ranch
An other place we visited was an eerie and very strange area called Fantasy Canyon.
I have included a link to a BLM page that describes this unique geologic feature:
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/recreation_/fantasy_canyon.html
Well ~ thanks for joining us on our journey and we hope you are all well and we will stay in touch!
Don and Carol
Great photos! Love the rock formations!
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