Dinosaur Ridge

Dinosaur Ridge is one of the most important fossil sites in North America and an easy add-on to any Red Rocks visit, sitting on the hogback ridge just east of the amphitheatre near Morrison. In 1877 a geologist named Arthur Lakes found giant bones here that turned out to include some of the first known Stegosaurus and giant sauropod specimens, launching a fossil rush across the American West. Today the site is a National Natural Landmark run by a nonprofit, and the experience is built around a paved outdoor route over the ridge where you can see dinosaur bones still embedded in the Jurassic rock on one side and, on the other, a sandstone slab covered in hundreds of tracks left by plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs on an ancient shoreline. Interpretive signs explain what you are seeing, and the road cut doubles as a vivid geology lesson in how the Rockies rose. Two visitor centers support the visit: the Main Visitor Center on the Morrison side handles tickets, exhibits and tour departures, and the Martin G. Lockley Discovery Center at the Red Rocks entrance houses the immersive Deep Time Detour exhibition. One admission covers both indoor exhibit areas, parking at both is free, and guided bus and walking tours add expert commentary. The site is open daily. It is not a polished theme park; the magic is in seeing the real thing in the rock, which is why it rewards curious kids, geology fans and anyone combining it with Red Rocks.

The geology explains the dinosaurs. The ridge is a tilted slab of sedimentary rock pushed up when the Rockies formed, and walking over it takes you through millions of years of Earth history in a few hundred yards. The older Morrison Formation on one side preserves the Jurassic world of giant sauropods and the predators that hunted them, while the younger Dakota sandstone on the other side records a Cretaceous coastline where dinosaurs walked across wet sand, leaving footprints that hardened into stone. Ripple marks and other features in the same rock make the scene easy to imagine, and the site's guides are excellent at helping kids find the tracks.

Plan your visit by starting at the Main Visitor Center for orientation and tickets, then either take a guided bus tour, which is the efficient choice with young children or limited mobility, or walk the route yourself. The walk is on pavement but climbs over the ridge, and there is no shade or water along the way, so carry plenty in summer and avoid the hottest part of the day. Dogs are allowed on the outdoor trail areas but not on the buses. Finish at the Discovery Center for the Deep Time Detour exhibition, which brings the prehistoric Colorado landscape to life, before driving the few minutes to Red Rocks.

Dinosaur Ridge pairs naturally with Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre and lunch in Morrison, and together they make an ideal family half-day from Denver, about thirty minutes away. The site also runs special programs, camps and talks, so check the calendar if your dates are flexible. For a deeper dinosaur day, follow it with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, whose fossil halls show what the animals whose bones and tracks you saw here looked like in full. Honest expectation-setting helps: the bones and tracks are real but weathered, and some take a guide or a sign to pick out, so younger children enjoy it most when an adult turns the walk into a treasure hunt.