Dinosaur National Monument Tours
Yampa River rafting in Colorado through Dinosaur National Monument Learn more >>
Outdoor Adventures in Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado offers everything you could want in an ideal, fun-filled adventure vacation. Hike, raft and explore where dinosaurs once roamed. Submerge yourself in a canyon surrounded by red rock cliffs. Explore side canyons and oases in a mini-Grand Canyon like setting. Explore Dinosaur's ancient Indian rock art including petroglyphs and pictographs. And learn about the canyon’s geologic history as you delve deeper into the canyon along the Yampa and the Green rivers.
Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Utah-Colorado border in the northwest corner of Colorado. Paleontologist Earl Douglass and his crew discovered dinosaur fossil beds in 1909, and they excavated thousands of fossils, shipping them to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pennsylvania for study and display. The findings created a great deal of interest, sending all sorts of visitors to the area. Douglass wrote to President Woodrow Wilson requesting the area be protected (against professional fossil looters and homesteaders looking to make a quick buck). Wilson proclaimed the area as a national monument in 1915.
Where Dinosaurs Once Roamed
Ten different kinds of dinosaurs were discovered in what is now Dinosaur National Monument. Four of them were long-necked, long-tailed plant-eating sauropods, some of the largest land-dwelling creatures to have ever lived on Earth. More recent findings include virtually a complete skeleton of an entirely new kind of dinosaur—Allosaurus Jimmadsenii.
An O.A.R.S. whitewater rafting trip through Dinosaur National Monument on the Green or the Yampa River in Colorado includes paddling through fun, splashy rapids, camping on big sandy beaches, enjoying hearty, healthy meals, and a night sky like you’ve never experienced before.
