Dinosaur Valley

I’ve been to a lot of national and state parks across these United States, from the large and well-known, like Yellowstone, to the smaller and less heralded, like Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, TX.  Some are clean, some crowded; some feature breathtaking scenery and incredibly unique features, but all of them should be recognized for the treasures they are and well…  visited more often.

As for Dinosaur Valley, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (for the most part).

See, they do have trees in Texas!

Now for the dinosaur tracks...

An acrocanthus came this way some 110 million years ago!

Up stream...

Down stream...  the tracks above were located on the "shelf" submerged in about a foot and a half of water (lower right hand corner of the picture).

They even have BIG trees in Texas!

And "the road goes ever on"...

... to more tracks!!!   The tracks that aren't submerged, or aren't as well submerged are more eroded, the edges less clear.

The print above was just across this shallow portion of the Paluxy river.  I nearly fell in, trying to negotiate the boulders.

Another shot of the Paluxy river, this one very near the spot where the semi-famous theropod, sauropod "track" (aka the Glen Rose track) was removed and taken to a museum in New York.

Yes, the water really is that clear, here probably about 4 - 5 feet deep and slightly green, reflecting the tree line above.  The only other place I've seen water this clear was in St. Marten.



Looking down into the river...

Then turning in the immediately opposite direction...  the dinosaur tracks are literally located just down a short hill in the middle of a beautiful pastoral valley.  

The scenery is rugged, yet peaceful, remarkable but relatively unadorned.  Just a field, among rolling hills, with a quiet river slipping by...   I can't wait to go back!