Dinosaur Tracks in Utah

A few months ago Todd and I were staring at all the DVDs one night trying to find a movie to watch, and nothing was looking particularly appealing to either one of us. Todd randomly picked up Jurassic World assuming I would get bored and just fall asleep. Little did he know this movie would spark a random obsession of mine for dinosaurs and lead to a movie marathon watching all of the Jurassic Park films.

After a month of hearing about how much I like dinosaurs now and how badly I wished they were still on the earth, and numerous requests asking to go to a dinosaur museum he proposed an idea way better than any museum.  With a smirk on his face he told me tales of the Utah Raptor and informed me there were dinosaur tracks that were fossilized in the ground at Buckhorn Wash in the San Rafael Swell. When he promised to take me there on our way home from camping one weekend my inner twelve year old heart jumped for joy and couldn’t wait until I saw them in person.

The Buckhorn Wash Dinosaur Footprint is tucked away on a small hill and can be easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. It is marked by a miniature sign where you can stop your car and walk up a little trail that will take just a few minutes and is easy enough for kids to walk up themselves. As you approach the line of rocks at the top and follow them to the end of the mount you will see the obvious print surrounded by a circle of rocks. While there is only one dinosaur track on the ground it is thrilling to think how long this has been there. That dinosaurs walked the earth so many millions of years ago and were actually right in Utah.

While we traveled down to Buckhorn Wash to camp and see the Indian Rock Art I found out how amusing and entertaining it is to find random little activities to do and sights to see along the way to your end destination. There really is something out there for everyone and an unplanned detour can fill your trip with even more amazing memories! While Todd might not like dinosaurs as much as I do, it was something wonderful both of us could see. Does anyone have any other ideas and cool places where we can go and see actual Dinosaur tracks? I’d love to know and take a trip to go see them!