Dinosaur National Monument — Attraction in Rangely

The whole point of going to Dinosaur National Monument is to go to the quarry, but there is so much more here, like Harpers Corner. The quarry is where you actually get to see how the fossils are found and extracted. The quarry visitor center is quite nice with informative staff. You can walk up to the quarry from here though the trip on the trolly is nice too. There are a few walks from here if its not too hot. The road to Josie Morris Cabin is worth doing This is about as far as you can get with a 2 wheel drive. After this you NEED a 4WD. The cabin is not much in itself, but there are some lovely walks and you can stop on the way to see the petroglyphs. The drive is fantastic with amazing views. If you have a 4WD you can drive from Josies Cabin to Harpers Corner across the dirt tracks, which is well worth doing, but you need to make sure you have plenty of fuel, water and a proper high clearance 4x4. The roads and views are amazing, but there is NO phone signal. The road at Harpers corner is well worth doing. At the end there is a walk right to the end of the cliff, which is also worth doing. The views are fantastic, you can stand for ages and just look at the landscape. The views down to Green river are amazing. The whole landscape is really unique. It was well worth the drive. We found it quite quiet even in August. There were only a few other cars so we got to enjoy the walks and see the wildlife. This is a Great place to bring a family for a day out, though its better to stay in a hotel overnight and make a full day of it. I would suggest coming to the area Friday evening, spending all day Saturday at the National Monument and then driving...

We are on a 2 week hiking trip and this was our 2nd stop. It was a beautiful park and we enjoyed it so much. We parked by the visitor center which is in a temp trailer as of May 2024. The rangers were so helpful. Hit the portapotty and it might have been the cleanest portapotty I’ve ever been in.

We walked the fossil discovery trail. It was a doable trail, with some uphill sections. I liked the petroglyphs the best. I didn’t spot any fossils along the walk, but I didn’t hunt hard.

The quarry visitor center was amazing. It shows a cross section of a quarry site within a building built around it. So many bones! We walked up from the fossil discovery trail to get here, but if you have kids or mobility issues you can drive up and there’s some limited parking. Maybe 20 spots.

We then drove to other sites. We had lunch by Josie’s cabin which was cool and green. Used a pit toilet at Josie’s cabin and it was easily the best pit toilet I’ve ever used. No smell, very clean.

We took the turnoff to the green river campground and the river view was super cool. So many colors of rocks! If you want a flush toilet apparently they have them in the campground, but I can’t confirm because we didn’t use them.

We were here mid-May. It was beautiful weather. If the forecast says it’s a bit nippy, ignore it and wear shorts. Weather app said it was 68, but it...

West Side of the Park: The visitor center has a gift shop and Jr Ranger booklets. (Most of the activities inside are designed for children, but adults can also earn Jr. Ranger badges. Rangers apprentice it if you are interested and engaged).

There are a limited number of dinosaur fossils in the Quarry Exhibit Hall. (There are lots of bones in the wall, but only a few displayed skeletons.) The unique feature of this park is that the fossils are in situ - they are still embedded in the ground where they were found. Visitors are invited to touch a few specific fossils on the lower level. The exhibit hall is ADA accessible.

There are also many panels of petroglyphs and pictographs left by ancient peoples in the park. From the visitor center, you can drive along Cub Creek Road; there are pull outs along the road with short trails to the petroglyphs/pictographs. A longer drive to McKee Springs yields a longer trail full of petroglyph panels. We also saw a few lizards.

The best way to enjoy the drives through the park is to bring your best friend, who is a geologist, because there are also many rock formations with interesting geological histories.

East Side of the Park: We met the park's former head ranger at our hotel, and he recommended Echo Park Lookout, which boasts...