Dinosaur National Monument

Season

The area is open throughout the year. The best time for a visit is between May and October.

Dinosaur National Monument, famed for its fossils, lies in Northwestern Colorado, with a tip reaching into Utah. It occupies part of the Yampa plateau, which is cut by the spectacular canyons on the Yampa River and Green River. This extraordinary natural landscape has been created by movements in the earth's crust and the erosive forces of water and wind.

Fossils

The area round the Yampa and Green Rivers became world-famous when the fossilized remains of saurians (dinosaurs), crocodiles and tortoises were found there. In the Jurassic period giant creatures, including Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus and Stegosaurus, roamed over this part of America.
The monument provides unique educational opportunities for visitors, students, and scholars. Recreational opportunities include viewingscenery, hiking, camping, and rafting the Green and Yampa Rivers. The Yampa is the only remaining large tributary in the Colorado River system that retains its free-flowing character, giving the river rafter anexperience of unusual quality. Dinosaur Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation 1313 on October 4,1915 (39 Stat. 1752), as an 80-acre monument to preserve the outstanding fossil resources at the dinosaur quarry north of Jensen, Utah. After establishment, paleontologic excavations and research by the Carnegie Museum and other institutions were more evident than the presence of the National Park Service.

Note:

Constructed on expanding and contracting soil, the Quarry Visitor Center experiences continuing problems with foundation movement. In July 2006, the building was closed due to numerous hazards created by the foundationmovement. The National Park Service is exploring ways to re-open the famous cliff face of dinosaur bones as quickly as possible. In the interim, a temporary visitor center has been opened where visitors can view fossil exhibits and receive information about a mile hike to an area where dinosaur fossil bones are naturally eroding from the rocks.