Dinosaur Ridge National Natural Landmark

Located in the heart of the most fertile source of Dinosaur Fossils in North America! See hundreds of Dinosaur tracks, more than 15 types of fossils, a volcanic ash bed and touch real dinosaur bones.

History

100 million years ago this area was the shoreline to beach. The area was lush with vegetation, so much that it was a swamp. There was also a creek that emptied into the ocean here. Crocodiles and duck billed dinosaurs roamed this creek. Hundreds of dinosaurs walked this coastline. This was a migratory path between Mexico and Canada. There was plenty of food and water here. It was also home and a nesting place for many species of dinosaurs.

Over time debris that was carried in by the water and buried all the remains of previous life deep below sandstone. As the Rocky Mountains were created the sandstone and remains were pushed back up to the surface of the earth. What used to be an ocean floor is now the side of a mountain. The currents from this ocean left ripple marks that are still visible in the sandstone wall of the mountain.

You can see 335 tracks from 37 different dinosaurs and animals here. All beautifully exposed on the mountain wall. You can also see scratch marks where the crocodiles swam surrounded with track marks from duck billed dinosaurs.

Bone Wars

During the Gold Rush, there was also a Great Dinosaur Rush. It was led by two rivals, Othniel Charles Marsh (Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale) and Edward Drinker Cope (Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia). People also flocked to Colorado in the hopes of being able to find dinosaur fossils. Fossil hunters sold those fossils to Marsh or Cope who were paying great money so that they could claim a new dinosaur discovery and name it.

In 1877 Arthur Lakes, a schoolteacher in Golden, discovered some bones while hiking in Golden. Marsh paid Lakes $100 to keep his finds secret from Cope but Lakes had already sent Cope a sample. Lakes later wrote to tell Cope that he would ship the bones to Marsh. The bones they dug up in this quarry allowed Marsh to name the Apatosaurus, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus which became the Colorado Fossil.

How were the tracks discovered?

In 1937 when they were building the Alameda Parkway to provide access to Red Rocks Park, they discovered hundreds of dinosaur footprints.  It was designated as a the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark in 1973.

It is free to visit the Trail, if you prefer a guided tour they are available for $9/person.1.1 mile paved section of road that is closed off for vehicles. It’s a 2 miles walk round trip. Bring good walking shoes, a hat, sunscreen, a camera and lots of water if visiting in the summer. Dogs are allowed here, please pick up after them! There is a couple restaurants close by but only a snack bar on site. There is a gift shop on each end of the trail. The restrooms are located next to the gift shops.