Dinosaur Ridge — Attraction in Four Corners States

LOVE dinosaur ridge!!

It's one of my all-time favorite places to visit. Whether going for the dino tracks, exercise , or views, it's an all-around great stop.

With over 250 dino tracks across the ridge, this hike is filled with AWEsome sights and information.

The hike is on a paved road with a pretty good incline to it. (POV: flatlander). It's shared with pedal bikers who have their own lane, runners, and fresh mountain air enthusiasts. Of course, dino enthusiasts, too.

The road is also used by the buses from Dino Ridge, but no thru traffic.

The views from here are pretty special. On one side, you have views of the red rocks and amphitheater. On the other side, you can see for miles across the Denver metro.

There are additional hiking trails (dirt) that are accessible from the ridge. I look forward to indulging in them on the next visit.

There is a shaded bench at the crest of the road, which offers great views while taking a break.

It does get hot! So, start early in the day!

The vibe here on Dino Ridge is playful, welcoming, and grounding. It's humbling to be sharing the same ground the dinosaurs walked/waded. (the area was water filled back in their day)

The views of the red rocks and city scape really place perspective of how you fit into the weave of the collective existence.

Photos copyright 2024 Liz...

What a hidden gem that is actually part of the National Park system. While there is no fee to walk around the ridge there is a fee for a guided tour which we opted to do. Ptaero-Don, our guide (they make everything about dinosaurs!) was a retired high school teacher, was very knowledgeable and informative. There were six (6) of us in our group and we had him all to ourselves. As we drove up the ridge, Don pointed things out and kept up a steady stream of how the are was formed millions of years ago. We made various stops along the way starting with the largest amount of dino footprints in one area in the USA. What was even more interesting was the fact that decades ago people had carved out some of the footprints and fairly recently they had recovered one of them! As we continued around the ridge, we learned that the first part was 100 million years old while the other side was even older. That was because of the way the ground was pushed up as the Rockies were forming. I could get into it more but you really should hear it for yourself. There is an exhibit hall that we did not have time to explore since we had spent time at nearby Red Rocks amphitheater (see separate review) earlier in the day. I hope to someday go back and take more...

Real dinosaur footprints - lots of them! Visiting this site deeply touched the child in me......I am actually a woman "of a certain age". Most visitors we saw were small children with their parents. Such a shame! Everyone should have this experience. It was 95 degrees and my iPhone camera kept overheating. But I still caught a few good shots. We took the tour guide led bus tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgable, fun, and still adores the dino tracks. She did an excellent job of explaining what we were seeing, which included the obvious tracks, some tracks that were much harder to identify, and some embedded fossil dinosaur bones that might easily have been overlooked. Easy to reach, even by Lyft or Uber. Easy parking. A lovely, small visitor center staffed by eager volunteers. A fun gift shop with reasonably priced tee shirts and small fossils. Others can choose to hike up the ridge.....but were glad to have a cool seat and copious water (we each brought 2 bottle) even on the bus. This stop...