Dinosaur Valley

South of Dallas is a state park with fossil dinosaur prints in a riverbed.  These were made 113 million years ago by two types of dinosaurs.  One is similar to a tyrannosaurus and has three claws.  The other is similar to a brachiosaurus and has a large oblong back foot and a curved hoof type of front foot.  The tracks here were the first ever found for these type of dinosaurs (sauropods).  The tracks were used to determine speed and other habits of these creatures.

I was surprised how much of an adventure it was to find the tracks.  Some spots had no paths to reach them.  Perhaps in the summer you can walk in the river to get to them, but the water was way too cold for it now.  Other places had paths, but it required climbing up and around large boulders.  Some of the footprints were well marked, most were not.  It was exciting to find the tracks, both for the difficulty in getting there and the knowledge of their age.

  

The park also had dinosaur models from the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City.  Apparently they aren’t accurate (there’s a long but good story about rivalries involved), but they are fun.  Plus, John caught this picture of deer in the area.