Dusty Old Bones…

by Jeff · September 10, 2020

And no, they are not mine!

We arrived in the town of Vernal, Utah to the sights of a dinosaur statue on almost every corner. Pulling into the Vernal/Dinosaurland KOA here is simple and easy. A stop at he registration office and we are set for the stay. They have all of the information pertaining to the Monument as well as the Covid-19 warnings and restrictions that are in effect at the quarry. The woman at the desk made sure we had tickets and reservations to visit the quarry (we had gotten them online a week earlier) and then we were led to the site. This is a typical KOA with all the expected amenities and upkeep that makes them so attractive.

Up and out the door the next morning for our 10 am tour time at the dinosaur quarry. We head out into the surrounding hills, bypassing Vernal and Jensen and taking the Brush Creek road. It leads you on a merry drive out through the landscape and eventually along brush creek where you turn left onto hwy 149 to the monument. 149 opens up onto the Green River and a lovely farming bottom before entering into the monument.

As we pull up to the monument gate we fall into a routine that has worked well this trip. Holding our America The Beautiful pass and license out so the ranger can see the expiration of the pass and the picture on the license at the same time. This has garnered a thank you from every ranger on this trip.

We get to the visitors center and find that it was a good thing to have purchased our passes as they are turning folks away who have not bought them online (2 bucks for two people for the tram and entry and only available online at recreation.gov). The tram had good separation seating for each family group with no worries about distancing, they also require a mask in any area where distancing is not possible.

We leave the lower visitors center on our time machine and go back…Not just to yesteryear but through the epochs to millions of years ago when much of this arid desert was sea bottom or shoreline. There are millenia old sand dunes jutting into the air and ancient tide lines. As you pass through these ages represented in the rocks surrounding us the automated tour guide explains the history and meaning of the different types of rock and colors. We arrive at the quarry visitor center in a completely different Epoch and enter the cool of the air conditioned center built around the famous quarry of bones. You start at the top of the quarry wall and marvel at the number of bones found in one place. At first it looks like something made up for the tourists but you are assured at every step that the wall is the way it was excavated. Any follower of old dusty bones is going to enjoy this excursion (and, of course, every child)! There are rangers on hand to explain to adventurers of all ages each exhibit and the history of the discoveries made here (and of course, to keep the less enlightened from defacing anything).

When you exit the building you can choose to take the tram back down to the lower lot or walk the trail through time and see more fossils in their habitat. We chose to take the walk down and soon found ourselves in old sand banks where there are fossils of clams and other sea life. How extraordinary it is to envision this great land covered in a sea with dunes on the shores and animals of all sorts living out of and in the sea.

A visit to the Dinosaur National Monument is a splendid way to spend the day. After the visitors center and quarry, we drove through the monument and were treated to fabulous views and access to the Green River and to another exhibit telling the story of some of the pioneers here.