Dinosaur National Monument

Sign outside the temporary visitor center in 2010

I actually worked here for six months. The park is great as far as national parks go, the dinosaur aspect has been closed since 2006 but a new museum is going to open in October 2011. It’s going to be fantastic. There will be two new museums, one at the bottom of the hill about other aspects of the monument and one at the top of the hill about the Dinosaurs. I can’t wait to visit it again.

I was a kid, so keep that in mind when you wonder why I say it wasn’t worth visiting. I was a kid who isn’t interested in dinosaurs, hated the heat, hated dirt … Other people may find it very worthwhile.

Pretty.

There’s a campground on the canyon floor where the Colorado & the Arizona rivers converge. Cliff faces taller than skyscrapers shelter the riverbeds. In the morning, it takes the sun an extra hour to reach the canyon floor. Rafters, kayakers and tubers float by below. Many glyphs left hundreds of years ago by the native Americans can be found within an easy walk. I ruined a good pair of leather sandals in the river.

The road down is only a mile long or so, but it’s steepness and curves require an hour to conquer.