October 4 marked the 96th anniversary of Dinosaur becoming a National Monument. This was also the day that the park held the grand opening of it’s new Dinosaur Quarry building. Five years ago they had to close the old one due to the poor structural integrity of the quarry (to the point that windows were falling out, walls exploded, and one side of the building was 15 ft. higher than the other). We were happy that we were able to go to the opening of the remade Quarry and new visitor center.
Inside the Quarry is the famous Wall of Bones. It is a hillside that contains over 1500 dinosaur bones that were left where they lie. There are about 15 species of dinosaur, including the stegosaurus (pictured below on the far right). There are also baby dinosaurs. It is very cool to see.
Magnus helped to celebrate by breaking in his Halloween costume. The costume didn’t specify what sort of green, spiny creature it was, so we decided he was a dinosaur.
There was a very nice ceremony that included a blessing from a Uintah Indian Chieftain. The keynote speaker was Governor Gary Herbert of Utah, who also cut the ribbon.
We got to meet him and he was impressed (as was everyone else) by Magnus’s dinosaur awesome-ness.
After the ceremony we headed out into the park again.
We stopped by some very nice petroglyphs that are over 1000 years old. You try and figure out what they are pictures of (we liked the jazz hands):
We had a good time wandering around trying to find as many as we could. They were all over the cliff face.
We thought this view of Split Mountain and the Green River was cool. Dinosaur really has some neat rock formations.
We couldn’t pass this up: 
We did one more long drive down a dirt road to see the well-known McKee Spring Petroglyphs. They were very cool. The first spot had some sort of buffalo on it.
These are the main ones. I really like the little guy by the big one’s left foot.
He seems so excited about something. Also, The big one has a cool shield.
That was our Dinosaur adventure.
2 comments:
We went there a few years ago, it was SOOOO cool! I never thought I could be so interested in dinosaurs, but it was fascinating! I looked through the windows of that old building and couldn't believe what I saw in there. I loved the hieroglyphics (I don't know how to spell this one), too. I was so excited to read this post, that's awesome that you got to go!
What an amazing place, so many stories we do not know. The petroglyphs are intriguing. One can wonder who sat there etching away, what he or she had to say, to whom, and what things go together.
I loved the colorful shrubbery. Sage?
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