Dinosaur National Monument

10 minutes down the road is this National Park.

We headed there one Saturday to see what it's all about.

It didn't take us long to decide on the annual pass instead of just a day pass.

 This is the visitor center where you can watch a film, buy souvenirs,

 read about the geology and the pioneers of the area, or even color pictures.

The real gem is the Quarry.

Says the Ranger:

Ages and ages ago this area was a river bottom.

There was a drought.

Many dinosaurs died in that drought.

Their bones and carcasses would have been scavenged and scattered 

but the torrential rains came and mudslides buried their bodies quickly.

We may not have found so many remains if after that

 there hadn't been a huge shift in the earth.

Everything in the area was pushed up to a 70 degree angle.  

So now that ancient river bed is the 4th wall of the Quarry.

It's amazing to see so many of their bones.

Some are so easy to identify!

We loved it. 

From there you can take an Auto Tour down the road to see these:

Or visit an old pioneer cabin.

(we had a wild game of tag here)

There are many hiking trails,

spots to stop and play in Green River,

and amazing views of the mountains,

especially that Split Mountain that I am loving more and more.

The geology here is fascinating.  

You can see the layers of the earth's history.

Layers and tilting and colors.

That form up there is called Elephant Toes.  

We can't wait to visit again.