Dinosaur State Park — Attraction in Rocky Hill

Dinosaur State Park is the location of fossilized dinosaur footprints discovered in the 1960s during a highway development project. It has since been named a state park and a national treasure for its historical and biological significance. It documents the presence of dinosaurs in the Connecticut River Valley. Furthermore, the nature of some footprints provides the only known evidence for the ability of dinosaurs to swim; the scratching of the claws suggests to scientists the dinosaurs were paddling around in water.

The park is located in Rocky Hill and is well integrated into the natural wooded habitat of the area. The grounds retain much natural vegetation, swamps, and outcroppings of sedimentary rocks. It has a museum, picnic tables, and hiking trails throughout 60 acres if the preserve.

In my recent visit I planned a picnic and a hike on the trails. The outdoor park grounds are free to the public. Tickets are needed for the museum. There was plenty of parking even for a busy summer afternoon. My visit began with a walk up to the museum area along a granite carved timeline embedded in the sidewalk. It illustrates the timescale of the earth's history and emphasizes human presence has been relatively short compared to the billions of years the planet existed. We see the rise of the various kingdoms of life.

There is a curated garden to the right, with a gravel path and various plaques with the pages of a children's story book. The book can be read by following the path. There are also informational plaques such as one pointing out layers in sedimentary rock. One should note that beyond the treeline is a major road and no fence. Thus it is important to keep young children under close watch. I saw a few families enjoying picnics on a blanket in the grass. Lovely way to spend the afternoon!

I had a quick snack myself, making use of the picnic tables out back. They are limited in number so it may be hard to get one on very busy days. There are pavilions which seem to be portable canopy tops over some, which can be rented such as for a children's birthday party. My visit was past lunch time, and had I been earlier I may have been out of luck for a table. A blanket is a good backup plan.

This is near to a dinosaur footprint casting area. Guests must bring supplies to do their cast, and staff will assist. You will mix up 10 lbs of plaster of Paris and place it over genuine dinosaur fossils in a form. This will then set during your visit. The activity runs seasonally approximately May to September and in good weather only.

In this area there is also a sluice for examining and collecting minerals in the sediment. This was popular among the children. A kit is sold in the gift shop.

I then went for a short hike. The trails are well marked with blazes. There are many branch points so it is important to check the posted map before going into the woods. I took a picture with my phone for reference which I found helpful. Many trails have boardwalks but others are more challenging. A complete description of the trails is at the trailhead noting which are stroller friendly.

I noted a few things about the park that one should know before visiting. First, they close at 4:30 and say they will block the entrance with the gate. To me this seems early especially in summer when it is light out until after 8. One must therefore note time carefully. The hiking trails close at 4PM. Again its important to plan accordingly with good maps. Take care not to get lost on the trails and get your vehicle stuck in the park. In such event I suppose one would need to call a taxi, and retrieve the vehicle the next day.

The entrance and exit is marked with the brown CT state park sign but could be overlooked. The drive is narrow with one lane in each direction. Keep a sharp lookout. Google maps was ok with navigation.

Overall this is a terrific park experience well suited for children of all ages and for adults. It is family friendly and would be a terrific field trip for school and...

I wanted to LOVE this place. The fossils are so cool and a real treasure, but the displays are very dated and aren't cohesive.

If anyone from the museum reads this, here are a few simple suggestions:

The poster that shows the individual dinosaur footprints would be MUCH clearer if the footprints were filled in solid, rather than a thin outline. It was very difficult to see/follow.

The diorama that separates the late Triassic from the Jurassic is separated by a tree in the middle, which you only know if you read the full description. A line on the glass and labels for the periods would make this understandable at a glance.

If the model of the dinosaur were on the floor (in or near) the footprints, it would assist with understanding scale.

...and in the movie when it's trying to explain timescales, they use a penny to represent 75 years. Why, 75 years? Ok, it's an average human lifespan. I get that even though it's a weird number. But then why conclude the measurement saying the stack of pennies would be 7 miles high, rather than the #of lifetimes? There is a correlation established in the beginning with a human lifetime that isn't completed or explained.

I hope one day that the rest of the fossils will be uncovered. It would be fantastic to be able to walk through them and get up close.

I did love the idea that by being in this space visitors are exactly in the same place these dinosaurs walked, separated only by (lots of) time. I thought that this was established well, but that this really important point could be driven home more/better throughout...

My wife and I took our 3 & 4 year old son and daughter to the Dinosaur State Park for some educational fun.

Upon leaving the parking lot, you aren't immediately directed to the main entrance. Make sure you walk to the second door. The first door is a classroom.

Entrance fee was moderate and my kids qualified for free entrance.

Once we were able to pull them away from the gift counter, we went on a walk around the footprint circle. For my little ones, it was way cool, but in my opinion, there could have been a little more interactivity and eye candy for such a large space. If it was a web page, I would say that it had a lot of white space.

We then sat in on a film in a dated viewing room for which my kids had no patience. We left about 5 minutes into the film.

Next on the agenda was the classroom. Our kids got to play with dinosaur toys, rocks, and various fossils. The attendant made papier mache butterflies with the kids. They liked it.

Lastly, we went on a short hike through their red trail and to tell the truth, it was just right for my little ones. There was a more difficult trail that we passed on.

We didn't participate in making plaster castings of dinosaur prints (you have to bring your own plaster (we didn't know)).

Summary:

►The Dinosaur State Park is a nice little outing if you have young children. ►My two older kids (13 & 16) would have been bored. ►It gave me a chance to teach my little ones about a topic that I've...