The Best Dinosaur and Fossil National Parks and Monuments

By Courtney Johnson

Besides natural wonders and historic sites, our nation’s national parks and monuments offer a glimpse of the very distant past. Fossils and dinosaur enthusiasts will take particular pleasure in visiting sites that preserve the stories of the mammals, plants, aquatic life and insects that once called Earth their home. Below are a few tips for exploring some of the best parks and monuments to learn the longer story of these creatures, as well as the story of the geologic time scale in North America.

Dinosaur National Monument, Dinosaur, CO and Vernal, UT

This 210,000 acre national monument, established in 1915, stretches over two states, Colorado and Utah. There are over 800 paleontological sites in the monument, which was established October 4, 1915. In April 2019, the park was designated as an International Dark Star Park by the International Dark-Sky Association.

The Dinosaur Quarry Building features a “wall of bones” with 1,500 dinosaur bones from several dinosaurs, including Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. Visitors can also see petroglyphs and pictographs around the park dating back to the Fremont people who called the area home from c 200 to c 1300 along trails including the Fossil Discovery Trail. This trail is the highlight of the park, featuring three fossil areas: In the Morrison Formation, there are bone fragments of dinosaurs and impressions of freshwater clams; in the Stump Formation, view fossils of the ichthyosaur-a large extinct marine reptile; the tiniest fossils of the park can be found in the Mowry Shale along the trail—look for the sparkle of the fossilized scales from fish who once swam the waters. Head to the solitude of McKee Springs to view Fremont petroglyphs. Close to the visitor center, Swelter Shelter includes pictographs and petroglyphs. At Cub Creek, you can see rare petroglyphs in the shapes of lizards.
Off trail hiking is also allowed in the monument area.

Nearby Dinosaur National Monument is Red Fleet State Park. Hike the two-mile out and back Red Fleet Dinosaur Track Site trail to measure your feet up to the tracks of a Dilophosaurus.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Harrison, Nebraska

In 1965, Congress declared Agate Fossil Beds a national monument, but it was not officially designated until June of 1997. There are two main fossil hotspots at the monument, Carnegie Hill and University Hill. Miocene mammal specimens were once found in these fossil beds that date back to the Arikareean North American Stage of the geologic time scale, 20 to 16.3 million years ago.

Some of the mammal fossils found here include ancestors of the modern horse, Amphicyon, a bear dog and relatives of horses and rhinos. Be sure to see the on-site exhibit that shows pieces of fossilized burrows made from an ancient ancestor to the beaver, the Palaeocastor.

Hike 2.7 miles on the paved Fossil Hills Trail to see the site where James Cook first discovered fossil bones in the 1880’s. The one mile Daemonelix Trail features the Devil’s Corkscrew (and the fossilized beaver burrows), fossilized grassland soil and ancient sand dunes.

The visitor center contains reconstructed skeletons of the Miocene mammals. At the James H. Cook Gallery, visitors can see artifacts from the Oglalla Lakota (Sioux) societies and from other indigenous groups that made homes within the Plains. Some of these artifacts were gifts to Cook that he felt should stay at his homestead.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon

On October 8th, 1975, part of the John Day River Basin was recognized as a national monument. The fossils in this region were first unearthed and studied in 1864, led by amateur geologist and missionary Thomas Condon.

Covering 13,944 acres and divided into three units, the monument features the fossilized remains of mammals and plants from the late Eocene Epoch, between 66 and 23 million years ago, and the late Miocene Epoch, between 23 and 5 million years ago.

The Sheep Rock unit contains the headquarters for the park. The fossilized remains of animals and plants can be found in the rock layers dating from between 33 and 7 million years ago, including camels, bear dogs, sloths and elephants. Seven hiking trails, most short in length show the featured layers. Other highlights of the Sheep Rock Unit is the historic Cant Ranch and the Thomas Condon Paleontology and Visitor Center. There are over 500 fossil specimens to view at the center as well as an area to view scientists studying fossils.

Located west of the town of Fossil, visitors can view landforms created from a series of volcanic mudflows dating from 44 million years ago at the Clarno Palisades. Within these hardened mudflows are the fossils of many mammals, including crocodilians and four toed horses. Paleontologists have also found the remains of bananas and ancient palms. Four short trails highlight the area.

The Painted Hills Unit features hills of black, red, gold and yellow that change amongst the seasons, the hillsides turning white with snow in the winter and yellow with the wildflowers of spring. There are five trails in this unit, with the Leaf Hill Trail the most popular because of the interpretive signs explaining the work of paleontologists in the area.

Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest, Arizona

To find one of the largest collections of petrified wood in the world, head to Petrified Forest National Park. Declared a national monument in 1906, the designation changed to national park in 1962. The park strongly stresses a “leave no trace” policy, as disrespectful visitors remove tons of petrified wood each year.

The Blue Mesa Trail is a one-mile trail that takes you past petrified trees. The Crystal Forest Trail is less than a mile and the best for viewing the petrified trees. Be sure to also look for the crystals in the logs along this trail. The Giant Logs Trail has colored petrified logs.

Beyond the petrified trees, visitors can see the fossils of animals and plants from the Late Triassic period, over 200 million years ago, including early dinosaurs. There are also hundreds of archeological sites within the park that are protected. The Puerco Pueblo Trail takes you to the remains of a hundred room pueblo dating from over 600 years ago. On the Agate Trail, there is a pueblo that was last occupied roughly 700 years ago.

Backcountry hiking is also a popular choice at this park. The 8.5 mile Red Basin/Clam Bed hike is a popular choice with petrified wood, petroglyphs, fossil clam beds and hoodoos all along the route. The four mile Onyx Bridge hike takes you to a petrified log estimated to be 210 million years old. The shorter 2.5 Jasper Road hike features the “First Forest,” the petrified wood first discovered by travelers to the area. A permit is needed for the 7.5 mile hike at the Devil’s Playground, where hoodoos are visible.

Florissant Beds National Monument, Florissant, CO

The Florissant Fossil Beds at this national monument are from approximately 34 million years ago, within the Eocene Epoch. Lake Florissant formed during this period. The lake was 12.5 miles long and one mile wide approximately. The monument was established in 1969.

Almost 1,700 different species of insect and plant fossils have been found in the shale and hardened mud of the Florissant Formation. The largest, and perhaps the most intriguing, fossils are of the petrified sequoia trees, some 14 feet wide. The 1.1 mile Petrified Forest Loop takes you past the giant stumps of the sequoia trees. There are 30 known stumps that have been uncovered in the park, but there may be more underneath the surface that haven’t been found yet.

Stop by the pavilion to talk with a ranger and see some of the fossils that have been found at the monument including spiders, leaves, cones and seeds. The Visitor Center and exhibits are worthy of a stop at to see some of the fossil remains of small animals like possum, birds and fish that were also found in the shale and mud of the formation.

Collecting and searching for fossils within the park is prohibited. Close to the monument is the Florissant Fossil Quarry where you can dig for fossils.

Fossil Butte National Monument, Kemmerer, Wyoming

Once a sub-tropical lake ecosystem, Fossil Butte National Monument was designated as a national monument on Oct 23, 1972. During the Eocene Epoch (55 to 34 million years ago), three great lakes created the Green River Lake System in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Fossil Lake was once where the monument stands today.

The lake was estimated to be between 20 miles wide and 40 to 50 miles long. The monument is only 13 square miles of the whole estimated lake size. The fossils of Arthropods including dragonflies and crickets, and the fossils of numerous plants including palm trees and cattails have been found in the lake area. Amphibian fossils including frogs, mammal fossils including bats and Palaeosinopa didelphoides, an otter-like carnivore and several types of turtles have also been found. Fowl and shoreline bird fossils and evidence of over 10 now extinct fish have also been discovered.

Stop by the visitor center to see over 80 fossils and casts. A video highlights the fossils that have been found in the area. In the summer months, you can also see fossils being prepared in public. A short hike (about ¾ of a mile) takes you to the butte. You may catch interns who will talk about excavating and may let young visitors help them to flake deposits to find fossils. No personal or commercial fossil collecting is allowed at the monument.

**Badlands National Park, photo by Courtney Johnson.**

Badlands National Park, south Dakota

Beginning as an inland sea, the land encompassing Badlands became a swamp floodplain over time. As the earth evolved, the area went from swamp to forest. Wind, ice and water eroded the forest away leading to the landscape you see in the park today. The national park was established on January 29, 1939.

Most of the fossils that have been located within Badlands National Park boundaries belong to mammals. The fossils, estimated to be 34-37 million years old, belong to ancient alligators and rhinoceros, saber tooth cats, rodents and horses.

The fossils in the park can be found in two formations, the Brule and the Chadron. The Brule formation is layers of sedimentary rock deposited 29 to 34 million years ago. This is where the remains of camels, pigs, brontotheres and crocodiles have been found. The Chadron formation is layers of sedimentary rock deposited 34 to 37 million years ago. Fossils of crocodiles, horses and brontotheres have been found in these formations.

Everyday visitors have found fossils within the park taking to the designated trails or by blazing their own paths. Take the Fossil Exhibit trail along a boardwalk to see fossil replicas and exhibits about the extinct animals that once called the Badlands area home.

You may fossil hunt on your own in the park, but be aware that any fossil found within the park must be turned into park headquarters, by law. Before you leave the park, visit the Fossil Preparation Lab where you can interact with park paleontologists.

Prehistoric Trackways National Monument
Robledo Mountains of Doña Ana County, New Mexico

Established in 2009, the 5,280 acres of the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument features fossils from the Paleozoic Era. The 100th monument designated by the NPS, the sediments here were deposited pre-dinosaur, some 280 million years ago.

The mega-trackways are the highlight of a visit to this monument. Discovered in 1987, the footprints are known as ichnofossils created by creatures from sea and land as well as plants. Previously unidentified insects and petrified wood can also be found along the trackways. Tracks from beetles, Dimetrodon lizards and horseshoe crabs are just some of the many tracks that can be seen.

It is one of the most significant Permian track sites found in the world. Viewing of the trackways is limited and done via reservation for the Geological Tour.

Courtney Johnson is a freelance sports and parenting writer based in Erie, Colorado. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband AJ and six-year-old daughter Emma. Follow her adventures at http://adventureswithmylittleray.com.

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