In the path of the dinosaurs...
highlights of the western interior seaways
Have you ever wondered what it was like when dinosaurs walked those creek beds down to the edge of the Western Interior Seaways? We may never know what it was like to feel the humid air that they felt, see the flora and fauna of a tropical jungle leading down to it, or watch the rumble of a nearby volcano spewing and gurgling out lava but we can get a really good idea. Come along with me as we cover a few of the big spots along the Seaway from Dinosaur tracks to fossil beds, where we can see their tracks and where they lived before modern humans walked on the earth.
We will start in the Big Bend National Park with some Texas sized Dinosaurs. The first is aptly named the Alamosaurus standing at a tall 28 feet tall and 70 feet long. One of the last of the sauropods, he was not likely to be hunted down with his massive 33 tons to balance a nasty tail swipe! Next is the Pterosaurs which flew with up to a 36 foot wingspan and would have dwarfed any dragons of the time…pun intended. There are also a few other animals of the area such as large crocodiles. You can catch up on all that information at the Fossil Discovery Exhibit off of Persimmons Gap Entrance. As you go through the park to get there, you can see three different sites where you can view the K-P boundary-the line in the sand that divides the dinosaur age from the rest of the time period. It is a layer of ash caused by the asteroid that ended this era.
After the trip to Big Bend comes Clayton State Park. This is a great place to get up close and personal with the Dinosaur trackway. When they cleared the land for the lake and park, they uncovered a prehistoric pathway that followed the creek bed to the seaway. You can actually see where the dinosaurs traveled in packs and there is even a rare tail print showing how they used their tails for balance. It is also a great place to camp overnight. It is fascinating to think that the Ogallala Aquifer and the Permian Basin might somehow be a connection to the old waterway buried under that prairie full of sand. There are two other sights in New Mexico where you can see the pathways, but this one is so close to the waterway and so clearly marks their migration…it is a must see! Be sure and check the old volcano that guards the entrance to the State Park!
Next on this journey is the National Dinosaur Monument. On your way to the northern corner of Colorado, you can drive thru the Dinosaur Ridgeway just outside of Denver. When you get to the monument itself, the Quarry exhibit hall is a great place to see the bones still in the ground from the comfort of a shaded building. It is a great collection of my favorite kind of dinosaurs, the Sauropods. They have a Diplodocus, Allosaurus, and the Apatosaurus which used to be called the Brontosaurus. There are a few therapods as well, but this seemed to be a primary spot for the Sauropods. The rest of the park has several campgrounds with scenic views such as Echo Park and the Whispering cave.
Moving on down the road, there is the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. This is more of a hands on place where you could chose between a morning or afternoon dig or even a whole day if you want to. If you are just passing through, there is also a one hour tour that gives the highlights. I love places like these where you can get your hands in the dirt and help dig these up. Of course, you can’t keep anything…but you do get your name on the display stating that you contributed. That’s pretty cool.
The last stop on this journey will be the Dickinson Museum Center. They also have a volunteer program but are looking for more of a two week to all summer commitment. They have a display of an Albertosaurus which is a little known relative of the T-Rex that we are all familiar with. They are also setting up a Egg to Dinosaur exhibit that shows the various stages of a young dinosaur from egg to out of the shell. I look forward to seeing more that exhibit with the recent discoveries they have made on dinosaur eggs.
The most important thing to come out of Dickinson is the fragment of asteroid found in the fish in amber at a site nearby. This is the one thing that more important then the K-P Boundary found along the way here. While the K-P boundary clearly shows the layer of ash, this find is considered to be an actual fragment of the asteroid. Think of it, a huge hurdling ball of calcium headed for a large ocean…it’s a recipe for disaster on any planet. This fragment is supposedly from the day of the asteroid and could give real insight into that moment in time. It’s when all of this came to an end and with so much more force than any of those volcanos I passed thru in New Mexico.
There are many more sites along the way that give great sources of information, Natural history museums that contain exhibits, and fossil beds along the way to be seen. I just couldn’t cover all of them in this article. If you would like to learn more about the dinosaur pathways along the Seaway, check out my ebook that is coming out on the Kindle entitled In the Path of the Dinosaurs by Jennifer Allen. It will be available for sale on September 2, 2022 and will cover many more sites along the seaway. It is more of a hands on guide to the dinosaur sites of the western United States.