The Curious Traveler's Guide to the Four Corners

 

Dinosaur National Monument: from Jensen UT, take Hwy. 149 N to the monument, 40 2617N, 109 1825 W (coordinates for Quarry Visitor Center), 5000 feet elevation at the visitor center, 435-781-7700, www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm, facebook page updated regularly, park is open 24 hours daily but visitor centers and quarry have limited hours (see below), $10 private vehicle, $5 individual, $20 annual pass,

Map Link: http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/upload/DINO-Website-Park-Map-HQ.pdf

Description:

This is an incredible National Monument because of its isolation, beauty, geology and history. But, it's not for those who expect luxury and lots of services. It's rugged, largely undeveloped but incredibly awe inspiring. It spans 210,000 acres, contains 2 rivers and sits at the edge of one of the largest mountain ranges in the United States.  If you get a chance to go, try to schedule two to three days so that you can appreciate the diversity the park has to offer.

Getting Oriented:

·         Dinosaur is a pretty isolated park. It's always a good idea in this area to bring water and to have the tank filled with gas. Gravel or dirt roads are usually impassable when wet. If weather is iffy, call for road conditions, 435-781-7700

·         From Vernal, the monument is directly east on  3500 South and from Jensen directly North on Hwy. 14. Both roads converge on Hwy. 149 which takes visitors to the Quarry Visitor Center. Other access routes in Utah are on dirt or gravel roads. From the Quarry Visitor Center, visitors must check in the rangers and then continue, on the shuttle in the main season, to the Quarry Exhibit Wall. See map, http://aMAP.to/fhncwsp

·         Once in the park, hwy. 146 splits about 10 miles in with the north fork going to Split Mountain and the South fork going to Green River and several miles further on a dirt road to Josie Morris Cabin and petroglyphs. You can access the north side of the park from two separate routes. From Hwy. 146, take 3500 South for 4.8 miles to a paved turn off. This will take you to Rainbow Park and Island Park.  From the paved turn off at 3500 South, you can also get to Jones Hole. Travel 4.1m on the paved road and at a fork that goes east to Rainbow park on a dirt road or north on a paved road, follow the paved road to a water tank and then head west on Jones Hole Rd.

·         The monument bridges the border of Colorado and Utah. Much of the dinosaur interpretation can be found on the Utah side of the border where the Dinosaur Quarry and Visitor Center reside.

·         comments: a shuttle runs from the visitor center to the Quarry Exhibit between May and Sept.  See info below.

·         reviews

Media connection: The Intermountain Natural History Association has a large selection of reading materials about the area. You can always order these before you go to brush up on your information and it's a great way to get kids involved. Check out their web shopping at http://www.inhaweb.com/index.html

Practicalities: Some Facts about the monument: Dinosaur National Monument was declared by Woodrow Wilson as a National Monument in 1915, it is one of the older monuments in the system

·         grocery

·         No grocery in the park

·         laundry

·         No laundry in the park

·         restrooms

·          available at the Quarry Visitor Center, Island Park overlook, Harper Corner, Canyon Overlook, campgrounds

·         permits

·         Permit office, 970-374-2468

·         Permit applications for high use season (Green River from May 13-Sept 30; Yampa River May 14-July 13) are accepted after Nov. 1 through Feb. 1. Low use areas, low water and one-day trip applications are accepted beginning March 1.

·         Permits are required for all river trips within the park. Multiday trip permits ($15 application fee, $185 permit fee) and single-day permits ($15 for application fee, $20 for permit fee) are issued through a lottery process.

click here for the boating lottery application

·         boat permits are required to launch above Gates of Lodore or Deerlodge and to raft the Green River below the Split Mountain boat ramp

·         Free back country permits, available at the visitor center, are required for stays outside of developed campgrounds.

·         weather

·         Summers are hot, often in the 100's. Expect afternoon showers that can make for difficult driving and hiking conditions. Evenings, however, are cool. Dinosaur Quarry is one of the hotter areas while Harper's Corners is cooler.

·         road quality, contact 435-781-7700

Kid Alert: Very few children (and many adults as well) can resist Dinosaurs, and this park gets you as close as possible to the process of how Dinosaurs are discovered, classified, prepared and presented. It's one of the few places in the world where you can actually see the dinosaur fossils exposed in rock before they are excavated. The monument's website has a multimedia presentation that introduces visitors to the monument. While the presentation has lots of interesting information, kids may find the site initially a bit boring (there is lots of text) but if they can view it with an adult, the adult can help them focus on the media part of the website It's a great introduction to the monument for all ages. http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/dino/overview.html

Media Connection for kids: Check out these books and activities if you've got a curious child or two

·         Dinosaur National Monument, David Petersen (geared toward late elementary school), http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-National-Monument-True-Books/dp/0516410741

·         National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book, Catherine D Hughes http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Little-First-Dinosaurs/dp/1426308469/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370290347&sr=8-2&keywords=Dinosaur%3A+paleontology 
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·         Neat-Oh! Zip Bin Dinosaur Play Set, this is a cool toy to bring in the car because the dinosaurs can be brought out to the actual sights, and reenact ancient dinosaur activity. 

http://www.amazon.com/Neat-Oh-ZipBin-Dinosaur-Medium-Play/dp/B000JXKWYC/ref=pd_sim_b_1

·         Shuttle: a shuttle starts running from Quarry Visitor Center in mid-May through the summer. You park at the visitor center and then take the shuttle, running throughout the day about every hour, to the Exhibit wall. If you arrive before 9am, when the shuttle starts, you can drive your own car to the wall.