What to See at Dinosaur National Monument

A highlights guide to the fossils, petroglyphs, and Green River canyons on the Colorado–Utah line.

By Chris Hayworth, Nestward

Dinosaur National Monument is two parks wearing one name. The Utah side has the famous wall of fossils; the Colorado side has the canyons, overlooks, and rivers. They're an hour-plus apart by car, so the first thing to know is that "seeing Dinosaur" means picking which half, or planning two days. Here's what's actually worth your time on each.

The Quarry Exhibit Hall (the dinosaurs)

This is why most people come, and it delivers. The Quarry Exhibit Hall, about 7 miles north of Jensen, Utah, is a building constructed right over a tilted rock face holding more than 1,500 dinosaur bones (Allosaurus, Camarasaurus, Stegosaurus, and more) left half-excavated on purpose. You can stand inches from a real Camarasaurus skull and neck vertebrae still in the rock. In one downstairs area you're even allowed to touch fossils.

Logistics that trip people up: in the busy season you usually drive your own car up to the Quarry Visitor Center, then ride a short shuttle (or walk) to the Exhibit Hall. The hall keeps its own hours and can close seasonally, so check before you build a day around it. This is the single most kid-rewarding stop in the monument. It's a real Junior Ranger park, so grab a booklet at the visitor center.

Petroglyphs and the easy river-level walks

Stay on the Utah side after the Quarry and you can string together several short, high-payoff stops:

• Swelter Shelter petroglyphs: a very short walk to a panel of carvings left by the Fremont people. Easy, quick, and a good reset after the crowds at the Quarry.
• McKee Springs: some of the best-preserved petroglyphs in the monument, reached by a dirt road (check conditions; it's rough when wet).
• The River Trail and Box Canyon Trail near the Green River campground: flat, shaded-ish strolls along the water that work well for tired legs and younger kids.
• Hog Canyon Trail: a short out-and-back into a box canyon that's especially nice in fall.

Harpers Corner Scenic Drive (the canyon side)

The Colorado side has no fossils (and the park is blunt about that), but it has the scenery. From the Canyon Visitor Center in Dinosaur, Colorado, the Harpers Corner Scenic Drive climbs roughly 30 miles to a string of overlooks. Pull-offs like the short Plug Hat Trail break up the drive, and the road ends at the Harpers Corner Trail, a moderate few-mile round trip out a narrow ridge to a view of the Green and Yampa rivers meeting far below at the Mitten Park Fault. The Ruple Point Trail is the longer, quieter option from the same drive. Budget half a day round trip. It's a lot of driving for the overlooks, but they're genuinely big-country views.

Backcountry and the rivers

If you have more time, this is where Dinosaur stops being a roadside park:

• Jones Hole Trail: an 8.5-mile round-trip following a clear, trout-filled creek down to the Green River, with petroglyphs along the way. The standout long day hike. No pets; backcountry camping needs a permit.
• Echo Park: Steamboat Rock rising over the Green River at the river confluence, reached by a long unpaved road that's impassable when wet. Spectacular and remote.
• Gates of Lodore: the dramatic canyon entrance where the Green River carves in, with a short trail and a put-in for multi-day river trips.
• Whitewater rafting: the Green and Yampa run through here with real rapids in Split Mountain and Lodore canyons. These trips fill up and require permits or an outfitter, so plan months ahead.

One more thing worth staying up for: Dinosaur is a certified dark-sky park, and on a clear night the Milky Way is startlingly bright over the campgrounds. Pack a layer; even summer nights cool off fast at this elevation.

A reasonable plan

One day, fossils-first: Quarry Exhibit Hall in the morning, Swelter Shelter and a river-level walk after. Two days: add the Colorado side for Harpers Corner, or a long hike like Jones Hole. The two visitor centers are far apart, so don't expect to do both halves casually in an afternoon. Entrance is $25 per vehicle, good for seven days.