Dinosaur National Monument is located in eastern Utah and western Colorado, pretty far from almost everywhere else. It is about 180 miles from Salt Lake City, 350 miles from Casper Wyoming, and 320 miles from Denver. On the way to the monument we stayed in Baggs, WY. Baggs is the first place we have stayed that had no cell service, no FM radio, and no over-the-air TV. However, what this part of the country lacks in what we consider to be necessities, it more than makes up for in natural beauty.
After dinner in Baggs, we drove a few miles north and east to explore Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. This land is owned by the federal government and is managed for a variety of purposes. All citizens can enjoy it, through hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, or just taking a drive as we did. We saw pronghorn antelope, mule deer, friendly domestic horses, and beautiful scenery. We didn’t see any other people; however, we did pass one occupied campsite with a couple of 4-wheelers and a satellite dish. This was our first foray onto BLM land and it won’t be our last. When we are out west, where 99% of the BLM land is located, we plan to start exploring more of it. It is uncrowded, easily accessed, and most of it is quite beautiful! Some day we’ll boondock on BLM land. You can stay for 14 days at no charge in most places!
What is boondocking? Completely self-contained camping. We take our own fresh water, keep used water in tanks until we can get to a dump station, and electricity can be supplied by generator (we don’t have one – yet).
Dinosaur National Monument is a two-part park. The more visited part is where the dinosaur fossils are found. It is a small part of the park, near Jensen, UT. The highlight is Quarry Exhibit Hall, built around a cliff that has more than 1500 fossils still embedded in it, for people to look at and touch. After seeing the fossils in the cliff it amazes me how paleontologists are able to remove the fossils without damaging them. These fossils came from an ancient river bed that dried up, causing many animals to die of dehydration. Then it flooded and a bunch more died from drowning. Those poor beasts couldn’t win for losing.
The other and larger part of the monument is all about the local terrain. The vast majority of visitors go to the Quarry Exhibit Hall and then leave. They have missed a wonderland of tall mountains, deep canyons, fast-flowing rivers, ancient Fremont petroglyphs, and amazing vistas.
On day one of hiking we drove Cub Creek Road to the Josie Morris cabin. Josie was a single mom who lived alone on a hog-and-cattle ranch at the end of the road until 1964 when she died at age 90. She was an incredibly self-sufficient woman who built her own cabin and provided her own food for most of her life.
The Fremont people inhabited this region approximately 1000-400 years ago. They left many petroglyphs throughout the park. We stopped several times on the way to Josie’s ranch to see the petroglyphs. Many of them are out of reach today. At the time they were created the land was high enough for the artist to stand and create their art. Subsequent erosion, sometimes as much as 35 feet, has left their art high on the cliff walls.
Box Canyon and Hog Canyon, located near Josie’s cabin, were pleasant and easy walks. They gave us terrific views from inside the box canyons and a nice walk along a small spring-fed creek.
Harpers Corner Road is 31 miles long and is quite scenic. Towards the end is a dirt road to Echo Park. We drove 12 miles one way in 4WD to hike along the river in this picture. The drive drops most of the 2500 feet in the first 3 miles! Steamboat Rock is at the end of the drive. We walked along the Green River and enjoyed the absolute quiet (except for birds and insects).
After that hike we drove back up the mountain and hiked 2 miles to see Echo Park from above. It is a vertical drop of almost 2500 feet from the overlook to the river area. The second hike was at more than 7500 ft elevation. There is not a lot of air to breathe at 7500 ft when you are hiking uphill. We did not have time to get used to the elevation change from Minneapolis to Dinosaur NM.
We went to Dinosaur National Monument expecting to see dinosaur fossils. That part was informative and fun. We did not expect the magnificent canyons and mountains. If we get nearby again we will go back and finish up more of the hikes and scenery we didn’t get to experience. We both really enjoy hikes in the high desert. Each one is a new experience for us.