If you’ve been following mine and my family’s travel adventures for a while, you know this wasn’t our first time visiting Dinosaur National Monument. We love traveling, history, and exploring new places so this park is always a good destination for us.

[To read about our first time visiting Dinosaur National Monument when our son was only 1 year old, click here.]

This time around, we brought along my sister and one of Nate’s cousins to join us. The more the merrier, right? That’s what we believe, but we also felt like experts on the area so we were excited to show it off.

Since my sister nor Nate’s cousin had ever visited the park before, we knew specific spots we wanted to show them. However, we did explore new places too and that was really fun. The next time we go, we’ll be even more expert 🙂

We stayed on the Utah side of the monument during this particular weekend, but the Colorado side is only a 30 minute drive farther so we plan on exploring that side next time.

If you’re in the mood for adventure, keep reading and start planning your own trip to Dinosaur National Monument!

1. Quarry Exhibit Hall

This place is what Dinosaur National Monument is all about! Whether you’re in Utah or Colorado, I highly recommend stopping here. To get to the quarry, you have to wait at the Quarry Visitor Center for a shuttle bus to drive you over.

Please Note: During the Covid-19 period, you need to reserve a time slot for the Quarry Exhibit Hall. It is $1 per person over the age of 2 to ride the shuttle, and wearing masks is recommended.

As the name suggests, this building revolves around a real quarry wall of dinosaur fossils. That’s right, there is a huge wall of just dinosaur fossils!

Want to know the best part? They let you touch them!

You are not allowed to climb the wall, but you can touch as many bones as you can reach. It is an amazing experience! They also feature a full skeleton cast of an Allosaurus and its real skull. Being at the quarry makes you feel like you could actually see a dinosaur roaming around the park when you leave.

2. Split Mountain

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Split Mountain during our most recent trip, but it is definitely worth it if you can! Here you can find a lot of cool petroglyphs and amazing views.

All you have to do is follow the road from the Visitor Center and you will find signs for Split Mountain.

Although there are rock stairs leading the way to the main petroglyph area, it can be slippery depending on when you go and how much sand/dirt is on them. We learned the hard way last time that it is not stroller-friendly. So if you have a little child, I would recommend wearing them or just carrying them.

Another fun aspect of Split Mountain is that once you’re at the “top” of the stairs, you can go wherever you want! You can follow a path to the left or right, or make your own. Nate explored on his own last year and found more lizard petroglyphs (the symbol of the Fremont people).

3. Josie Morris Cabin

This is a “you have to see to believe” type place. In the year 1913, Josie Morris, a divorcee with all her children grown, decided to make a new home for herself. She built an entire cabin all by herself in the middle of the park, which is essentially the middle of nowhere.

She raised her own cattle, grew her own food, and created her own plumbing. It’s incredible to see how much she accomplished!

If the cabin wasn’t enough, there are also two trails that showcase where she kept her livestock. Neither trail is longer than 1.5 miles round trip so they are very doable.

We hiked part of the Hog Canyon trail, and although it is gorgeous scenery, it is not stroller-friendly. At the big age of 2, Parker wasn’t using a stroller, but the grass can grow tall in some areas so we had to hold him through that.

4. McKee Spring Petroglyphs

Can you tell we love petroglyphs?

This set of carvings is on the Island Park Road, which is not part of the main monument roads. To arrive here, you have to drive north until you hit Island Park Road (or just follow the park map like we do).

Be warned though, this road is at least 12 miles of dirt. It is not paved at all, so you should make sure your car can handle it.

The McKee Spring Petroglyphs will be on your left and they will be very visible from the road. Similar to Split Mountain, you can choose to go in any direction once you make it up to the top. This last time, I stayed in the car with a napping Parker while Nate and our guests ventured out. They found a really cool cave! You never know what you might find while exploring the land!

5. Island Park/Green River

Following the dirt road some more, you will see signs for Island Park. There is also an overlook stop where you can view the Green River and valley. It is beautiful!

After the overlook, jump back in the car and keep driving until you arrive next to the river itself. I should warn you again though, that the closer you get to the river, the higher the weeds get under your car. There isn’t really a parking lot or anything at Island Park so you pretty much just stop when you see the sign about fish. (It says there are endangered fish in the water, but we didn’t see any fish at all).

I stayed in the shallow end with Parker while we were there, but Nate and our guests walked out to the “deep” end and it only hit their waist. You’ll have to look online before you visit to see how high the river will be.

It was so nice to be in the refreshing water and cool off after being in the scorching sun. I even learned how to skip a rock! Hands down, this was our favorite part of our trip to Vernal, Utah and we can’t wait to go back!

 

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