Royal Gorge Dinosaur Fossils Public Preservation Sites

Royal Gorge Dinosaur Fossils and more

The Royal Gorge Region is rich in dinosaur fossils and tales of paleontological history. Below are three locations that should be added to your road trip that will satisfy dinosaur enthusiasts of any age.

The Dinosaur Fossil Experience

View dinosaur fossils and prehistoric tracks, walk discovery trails, search for fossils (never disturb or remove fossils), and visit the Royal Gorge Regional History Museum. The museum has an outstanding collection of dinosaur fossils, dinosaur bones, and a complete Stegosaurus replica skeleton displayed as it was found in the ground in 1992.

Garden Park Fossil Area

Garden Park Fossil Area, located just north of Cañon City on Red Canyon Road. This site is a 3,600-acre area that has been producing significant dinosaur fossils for nearly 125 years. Most of the Jurassic dinosaur fossils displayed at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History are from this area. Three stegosaurus skeletons, including Colorado’s state fossil, were excavated here.

Indian Springs Trace Fossil Site

The National Park Service designated the privately owned Indian Springs Trace Fossil Site as a National Natural Landmark. Located just east of Cañon City on the private Thorson Family Ranch. It was designated as a National Natural Landmark due to the importance of trace fossils found from the Ordovician Period (485 to 443 million years ago). These trace fossils include tracks left by trilobites, fish, and other prehistoric creatures on the bottom of an ancient ocean. Indian Springs is considered the best locality to study Ordovician Period trace fossils in North America because of the excellent preservation and wide variety of ichnospecies or types of trace fossils available.

Royal Gorge Dinosaur Fossils Experience

The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience is home to a world-class collection of interactive displays, full-scale dinosaur fossil casts, and real dinosaur fossils. Visitors can participate in entertaining guided tours of the exhibit halls and outdoor animatronic dinosaur exhibits. Leave knowing much more about Colorado’s paleontological history while creating indelible memories of a great time spent learning and discovering with your group.

Skyline Drive Trackway Site

In December 1999, William Kurtz, a paleontology student at the University of Colorado, made a remarkable discovery. While walking along Skyline Drive west of Cañon City, he was amazed to see what he thought were dinosaur tracks.

With help from the city of Cañon City in closing Skyline Drive to work in secrecy. Garden Park Paleontology Society volunteers began excavating the trackway site in February 2000. The volunteers worked with hammers, chisels, crowbars, picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows to clear tons of rock covering the tracks and other fossils.

Today, visitors can view tracks made during the early Cretaceous Period, approximately 107 million years ago. Researchers have determined that a group of dinosaurs were walking side by side through the mud along the edge of an estuary, probably eating the plants. The tracks were then filled in by sand and plant debris, which hardened an preserved the actual tracks.

by Kathleen Fitzsimmons