Right smack dab in the middle of Texas is the Dinosaur Valley State Park. Its about 50 miles southwest of Ft. Worth in the city of Glen Rose. The park was opened in 1972, saving it from folks who were cutting up the tracks and selling them for garden ornaments!
About 120 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed what was then the marshy gulf coastline leaving footprints in the soft shore. Their tracks were covered with rising water, then silt and sand deposts filled the impressions. The Paluxy River has since eroded away those deposits and now we can see them along the banks of the creek. Some are underwater still so you have to wade in to examine them closer. Its kinda funny that such an important piece of history is so unprotected. Parents hold hands with thier small children while they walk along the bank to step in one of the dinosaur prints. Oh well, I guess the water erodes the tracks as much as walking on them barefoot does.
Replicas of the 2 kinds of dinosaurs that roamed the area are on display in the park. There is the 3-toed (theropod) carnivour like the tyrannosaurus rex, and the large round sauropod dinosaur like the apatosaurus. These are not from the Jurasiac period which was much earlier.
It sure makes you dream about what a different world it was back then and the extreme changes that have taken place in the millions of years since. I wonder if they had giant mosquitos too?
There are lots of campsites and hiking trails
along with horse and bike trails. Bring a swimming suit and cool off after
a hot tour of the area.
The offical Dinosaur Valley State Park site.
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