Quarry Visitor Center — Attraction in Vernal

I've been to at least 70-80 NPS sites, so I think I have an idea about the quality of the parks and monuments. This ranks toward the bottom of my list.

Kids love dinosaurs. We took our children to Dinosaur National Monument expecting to see exhibits with dinosaurs. Although there are actual fossils, there are practically no ways for kids to interact with them. There are very few exhibits in the visitor center, and the store was overpriced. More on that in a minute. Even as an adult, having studied paleontology, I was bored and incredibly disappointed.

Last year, we took our autistic son to Dinosaur. The rangers made an accommodation to let him hold representations of some of the fossils. However, when other kids went to look (they were pretty cool hands-on objects), they were turned away. Isn't the point of a place like this to teach? Shouldn't kids be encouraged? Not a good moment.

We went yesterday, and mentioned he was autistic, but this time they didn't seem to care. We went through the exhibit, seeing the giant fossil rock wall, but that was really all there was, beside a few representations of dinosaurs.

The visitor center seems to primarily focus on their store. The items were severely overpriced compared with other NPS sites. It was blatant, too; a shirt/hat combination was $39.99, even though the price tag tried to cover up the original, printed tag of $26.99.

I came away disenchanted and a bit angry. We hoped that a second year would be better, but it was the same or worse. There are so many better sites. Fossil Butte National Monument immediately comes to mind, with significantly fewer financial resources and yet better exhibits than many actual science museums that have dinosaur exhibits. Even the town seemed to care more about dinosaurs than Dinosaur National Monument.

Suggestion: take route 44 north of town to Flaming Gorge, then if you have the time, visit Fossil Butte. You will have a...

I do not understand why this visitor center is open right now, as the road leading there and the entire parking lot are active construction sites. The NPS website does alert visitors to the fact that the Quarry Exhibit Hall, which is a little further up the road, is closed due to constuction, but does not mention that 2+ miles of the road from US 40 is one lane only (with two-way traffic), and that the visitor center parking lot is actively being repaved.

We were stopped for over half an hour in a long line of cars, waiting for our turn on the one open lane. Ten minutes of this time was spent stopped directly next to equipment pouring and smoothing fresh asphalt. The pavement in the parking lot is entirely dug up, and is just dirt and gravel. We were directed to park next to actively in-use steamrollers and other heavy equipment, and had to walk around this equipment to get to the visitor center. On the way out, we were also stopped for over twenty minutes waiting for the road to be cleared to leave.

This construction is not scheduled to last until later than late October. Just close the visitors center until then! It is not just unpleasant and inconvenient to get to right now, it is potentially dangerous to allow a bunch of tourists unrestricted access to an active...

So, the Misses wanted took a spontaneous roadtrip over the memorial day weekend and the Dino national monument quarry was part of our trip. The entrance fee is $25 a private vehicle. But you have the opportunity to purchase an annual pass for $80. The annual pass is good for two different signers to use the pass at any and all National parks. Visiting the Dinosaur national monument was great! Neither of us were aware how many fossils would be on display. Plus, learning a little more is always a fun experience. There is a shuttle service that drops you off at the quarry and picks you up to take you to the gift shop. You can walk up to the quarry if you want also. The gift slash information station has some free info about different trails you can take in the area. There are a couple Campgrounds that you can setup for a longer visit. We bought a couple shirts that came with hats and a National Geographic pocket book for less than I expected to pay. We're planning another trip and we definitely recommend this location for your next...