travel across the US searching for dinosaur remains
From California, travel east to Nevada then on to Utah. While in Nevada, stop in Austin to view the remains of an Ichthyosaur. From Austin on to Provo, Utah to see the dinosaur exhibits, then on to Cleveland, Utah. Cleveland offers a dinosaur quarry that has turned up thirty full skeletons along with thousands of other dinosaur bones and eggs. From Cleveland, the vacation goes to Jensen where one of the best dinosaur beds in the world is located. So far, eleven different species have been discovered here. Salt Lake City is the next stop and a museum that houses an excellent collection of Jurassic dinosaurs. Ogden will be the last stop in Utah. Ogden has several places to visit, including a park that contains over 100 models of dinosaurs, many are untouchable, but a few are for climbing. This would be a nice stop for children. From Ogden the dinosaur trail heads on to Pocotello, Idaho where a dinosaur fan could study dinosaurs found in Idaho. After visiting Idaho, travel on to Montana and Wyoming.
Wyoming and Montana offer more dinosaur attractions, putting them on the dinosaur-tracking trail. Montana has claim to finding dinosaur remains in 48 of 56 counties. One of the first stops in Montana is in Browning where a T-rex baby fossil is on display. Next is on to Choteau where a walking tour is available at one of Montana's richest dinosaur deposits. Visitors here can learn about Maiasaurus, along with dinosaurs nesting habits. From Choteau travel on to Malta where the world's best-preserved mummy dinosaur and two Brachylophosaurus are on exhibit and volunteers can prepare and study dinosaur specimens or take a weeklong digging trip. After visiting Malta, head to Ft. Peck to view life size models of an exceptionally well-preserved T-rex fossil located here. This field station is also the fossil repository for the state of Montana. In Wyoming, a vacationer can actually partake in a dig discovered in 1993. This site has had over 1500 bones unearthed, including two nearly complete Camarasuar skeletons.
Colorado is next on this vacation. Near Grand Junction is a good place to start. In 1900 a Brachiosaurus was found here, it was the largest known dinosaur for many years. A paleontology laboratory that studies fossils found in western Colorado and eastern Utah is located in a museum also near Grand Junction. The museum also features many dinosaur exhibits including skeletons and animated replicas. Visitors to this museum can also attend digs and major expeditions. After visiting all that Grand Junction has to offer, travel on to Fruita. Fruita offers a paleontologic lab and accurate robotic dinosaurs. Delta is the next destination on the dinosaur trail. Many fossils have been found in a quarry near Delta. After visiting the quarry, move on to Canon City and visit educational center and a dinosaur quarry where 17 new species were found. Boulder is the next stop with exhibits of several skulls including Triceratops, Diplodocus and Carythosaurus. From Boulder, go to Morrison to see the preserved dinosaur tracks called a "Dinosaur Freeway". While in Morrison, you can also watch a 30-minute video history of Dinosaur Ridge and see interactive displays. Our Colorado adventure ends in Denver, which even has one dinosaur exhibit.
After traveling through Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico are the next states to visit on the tour across America. Arizona has dinosaur remains and exhibits. These can be found in Flagstaff, Tuba City and Page. New Mexico also has dinosaur tracks found in Farmington, Clayton and Albuquerque.
Texas and Oklahoma have had dinosaurs found as well. Evidence of these are found in Ft. Stockton where footprints and casts have been found, Midland where footprints were found, Ft. Worth has a reproduction dig for children, and Glen Rose where the famous dinosaur tracksite is found. Oklahoma has had three sets of dinosaur tracks found near Black Mesa.
Three more states finish our trip. These states are Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina. Arkansas can boast of having one of the longest dinosaur trackways in North America in Howard County. Tennessee has the only bones found in Tennessee on exhibit in the McClung museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. South Carolina has its own permanent exhibit of most of the dinosaur fossils found in South Carolina at South Carolina State Museum. This museum even has a Specimen Preparation Area where guests can meet with the staff, watch fossil cleaning and ask questions.
