WELCOME TO JURrr… DINOSAUR VALLEY STATE PARK!
Just 5 minutes outside of Glen Rose, Texas, nestled in a bend on the Paluxy river, sits Dinosaur Valley State Park. Cast against a backdrop of the Texas hill country, populated with abundant wildlife, and covered by cedar, poplar, oak, elm, and sycamore trees. While the title is a bit pitchy, in the early 1900’s this peaceful unassuming park location rocked the scientific community. In 1972 it was made into a Texas state park and today attracts visitors from all over the globe.
Lets Just say the park is quite aware of what its starring attractions are, but it actually manages to not be over-the-top about it. Well maybe a little over the top.
These Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brontosaurus figures are sitting in a field beside the park store as you enter the park. They are not to scale and don’t look like what paleontology today believes they would, but they still wow kids and that is what matters. There is parking here and picnic tables.
DETAILS, DETAILS, WE NEED THE DETAILS!
The park site lists things to do such as “find dinosaur tracks, camp, picnic, hike, mountain bike, swim, fish and paddle in the river, watch for wildlife, look for a geocache, ride your horse, or visit our interpretive center”. I’d add relax in nature and learn a bit about paleontology.
Their signage, while a little dated, is better illustrated than most parks I have been to. A nice detail, as the signs contain useful things to learn, but rarely are designed to catch the attention of a child.
GEOLOGY & PALEONTOLOGY
The park is in the Glen Rose Limestone Formation and is historically significant as the location where footprints of Sauropods where first discovered. Sauropods are the largest of all dinosaurs and largest known land creatures to roam the earth. Popularly known species include the Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus. If you don’t know them by name these are the giant lumbering plant eating dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park movies. The foot prints in the park where deposited during the early Cretaceous Period, approximately 113 million years ago, into a muddy substrate at the edge of a tidal sea and shortly thereafter were covered over by sediment. The Jurassic period mentioned throughout this blog post occurred just prior to the cretaceous and many species of dinosaurs where alive during both periods. If you want further paleontological info see the links at the bottom of the page.
TOO MANY WORDS, BRAIN THING HURTY!
Since its contribution to science is what it’s most famous for, I thought I’d start there, as most people are going to want to know about the “dino” tracks. The good news is they are easily visible. Bad news? You have to cross the Paluxy river to get to them. Prepare to possibly get wet. There are boulders that you can cross on but no bridge and people regularly slip off into the shallow, slow moving water. Me personally, I just bring water shoes or wade across bare-foot as the cool water feels pretty good in my opinion.
Besides dino footprints there are other fossils and/or geological formations. Immediately below is a cave coral (a formation created by dripping and pooling water in a cave that resembles the actual life-form coral) or an actual coral fossil, I did not examine it as neither are unusual for Texas. Followed by a mold of a clam fossil bisected across it’s widest part.
There are other types of fossils in the park of course, much of the typical cretaceous Permian basin fare typically found in Glen Rose limestone. Sea shells and sea life mostly and because they are pervasive in the area no reason to collect in the park. Also, as mentioned in other blog posts, it is illegal to collect rocks in all but specific parks. I’ll link some nearby areas to look at, for the big and the little rock hounds alike, down at the bottom.
LET’S HIKE!
On the park website it says they have around 20 miles of trails and I believe it. Using the map below as reference, my pictures in this post cover the park entrance and then trails beside the river from around the number 2 in the orange circle, up around the bend in the river to almost the track-site by the cedar break outer loop trail crossing. Also, up to the overlook by the circled number 6. Pictured above are just some of the tracks at the orange circled number 2 on the map. As usual I am only trying to show you enough to get you interested in the park and give you some pointers to hopefully have a great time. No spoilers here. (Unless a park sucks.)
Personally, I have been coming to this park since I was a small child. I vividly recall pictures of me as a baby sitting in some of the dinosaur tracks, though I don’t have copies and haven’t seen them in decades, so I can spare myself the embarrassment of having to share them with you. I have, however, been down every trail in the park over the years, and given my geology background, you could bet I know a little bit about this park in particular. Here are my rules for a good day in this park:
Rule #1 Bring plenty of water.
Rule #2 Dress for heat.
Rule #3 Wear sun screen, even if you don’t usually burn.
Rule #4 Consider bug spray. They aren’t real bad or anything, but even a few aren’t fun.
Rule #5 bring more water, what you’re bringing for rule #1 won’t be enough.
Rule #6 wear shoes appropriate for rocky and wet terrain.
That’s it for my rules to a good hike in Dinosaur Valley State Park. Enjoy the trails.
See This cliff? The rocky steps between the 2 cedars pictured above are just a small part of the trail going up this and the outlook pictured below is further up the hill out of frame on the left edge of the photo. Also the fish in the river below (pictured in the segment interuptus further down this blog post) is somewhere at the base of that cliff.
This is from the top of said cliff.
I don’t recommend running and jumping activities here.
But the view is pretty sweet.
Hey, let’s just look over this cliff.
Hmmm, Oh hey!
WE INTERRUPT THIS HIKE FOR FISHING INFO…
Fishing is allowed in the park, but I’ve never seen anyone doing it. Certainly fish are present in the river, the squarish rock is several feet wide making those some good sized fish. That said, there aren’t a lot of large deep pools.
BACK UPON THE PATH
Okay so technically that cliff face up there isn’t “on” the path but it appears I am not the only dweeb that wishes to get up close and personal with the geology.
As a geology nerd I am just drawn to rocks. Limestone (which is what this cliff is made of) can look vastly different even in the same area. This limestone is very crumbly but the boulder and cliff said boulder detached from in the pics below is quite solid.
The cedar trees in this part of Texas are quite gnarly and prevalent. (Etymology sidebar; the origin of the word gnarled as used in English refers to twisted wood). In some photos there is smoke visible on the horizon, it is from piles of cedar being burned as a parcel of land east of Glen Rose along highway 67 was being stripped for a housing division.
“I like that boulder. That’s a nice boulder.”
Think I will go over there and stand on that.
Hey, it provides a nice view over the river valley below.
While it is detached from the cliff face. It is deeply embedded in dirt and has tree roots shoring it up. My wife and I have picnicked upon this boulder actually. Additionally it is very stable and the half a clam mold fossil pictured above is in it.
It is only a 40 – 50 foot drop. No worries. Also, toe-shoes.
Tangent non-sponsored footwear advice. Vibram 5 finger toe-shoes (what I am wearing here) while designed for crossfit make great shoes for hiking when your feet are gonna get wet. The only drawbacks are; 1 the soles aren’t very thick so stepping on pointy rocks can be an ouch if it manages to hit your arch just right. 2 they’re not cheap… they are durable though. At least in my experience and I destroy shoes quick.
WATER WATER EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK!
Seriously if you ignore my rules you’re likely to have a bad time. Also, don’t drink the river water, that’s likely to result in a bad time as well.
The river is nice and clear. EPA guidelines, put in place decades ago to protect our water, have resulted in steadily clearer streams, lakes, and rivers. Though in a sediment-heavy environment like 99% of Texas, it’ll never be as crystal clear as a cold mountain stream.
There are many species of water plants I don’t know. This is one of them. Is there a Limnologist in the house?
The water in the photo below looks cloudier. There are 2 reasons; the angle this was taken at, and the fact that the water is much deeper here. It lets you get an idea of what sediment I was referring too.
I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE!
I don’t do drugs, but I do get high. As long as we’re talking elevation… yeah I’m a dork. The view is nice from up here though, that’s for certain.
Oh look a plaque, which of course idiots have defaced. No pun intended concerning the impact unto mr. Bakers likeness.
WILDLIFE
Here we have a Six Lined Racerunner, he was right up by the parking lot. Ran right by me to a puddle to get a drink. Bold of the little guy, but they are also America’s fastest reptile, and my old slow butt won’t be catching any more of these cute speed-demons.
Little guy seemed a little thirsty. Ran within inches of my feet pausing to look up at me to get to that pool. You may need to full screen the video to see it as senility has set in and I forgot to turn my phone sideways to film this.
Some sort of Earless lizard which actually has ears but they are covered. I believe it is a male Texas Earless lizard because it had some blue and green on it’s belly and yellow on it’s sides. The species has a tendency to take on a tone similar to the soil in which it lives.
Again some sort of Earless lizard, and again I believe it is a Texas Earless lizard, though this time a female as it had no bright colors for showing off. Note though it is kinda reddish like the soil here.
PLANT LIFE
Below is a elm tree (cedar elm I think) with a type of tree “cancer” called a burl. These result when a tree’s metabolism is attacked by fungus’s, bacteria, or viruses. They are prized by woodworkers for their chaotic beauty and are used in furniture, cabinetry, and decorative wood pieces.
I love moss. It is so soft and carpet-like.
Pictured below: Prickly Pear cactus (aka low lying stab-plant) is common in this part of Texas. Other cacti in the park, however, include the Nylon Hedgehog Barrel Cactus. (I’m not kidding, that’s its name.)
This is a Rock cedar. It is the apex predator of the tree world. Rock Cedars suck all the moisture out of the ground they grow in meaning they grow where other trees can’t and other trees don’t do well where they are.
MUSHROOM, MUSHROOM, MUSHROOM…
Don’t feel bad if you don’t get the obscure internet reference above, I just end every wildlife portion of my blog with a fungus. This appears to be a member of the shelf mushroom family.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Dinosaur Valley State Park is a nice park to visit, be it for a day excursion or camping. There is a playground in each one of the picnicking and camping areas and they are right beside some very nice clean restrooms. Way out down the trails there are multiple primitive campsites that you can hike out to if that your thing as well.
EXTERNAL LINKS
Standardized disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the links below or the park above that this blog post is about. Nobody paid me to do this, I didn’t ask permission, and I don’t intend to ever do so. This blog post is all my own opinion. I am just a random crazy person who loves to explore and enjoys sharing his adventures with others.
Dinosaur Valley State Park Website Track-sites of the Paluxy River ValleyThe park is about an half hour to 45 minute drive from the DFW metroplex, due in part to locales who are in absolutely no hurry whatsoever and so drive 10-25 mph under the speed limit. <- For travel reference.
There are many things do in the area with the metroplex being so close, so I am really going to narrow the field to about a 20 mile radius around the park.
LOCAL ATTRACTIONS, ACCOMMODATIONS, & AMENITIES
In Glen Rose itself there are several large nice hotels if camping isn’t your thing. While Glen Rose isn’t a large town it does offer some dining options. If you need more dining/shopping options Granbury or Cleburne are just few minutes down the road.
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In the general area you will find Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a sort of drive-through zoo that allows you to feed some of the animals. It is very nice and honestly, I will probably give it it’s own post eventually. I definitely recommend it.
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In Glen Rose itself is Big Rocks Park, which is a winding maze of large knobs of limestone that border the river. A good place to swim and play, but little else.
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Within Glen Rose again, is Barnard’s Mill and Art Museum, a location with a lot of history. Today though it is mostly an art museum and event center.
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North of town and east of Dinosaur Valley is Wheeler Branch park a county park that offers picnicking, fishing, hiking, bird-watching, and swimming.
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Further out towards Cleburne you will find Cleburne State Park which will also get its own post here soon.
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On the edge of lake Pat, just before the split to loop around downtown Cleburne or head into it, Is a sort of cross between a museum and outdoor experience theme park. The Chisholm Trail outdoor Museum; Big Bear Native American Museum claims to be world famous and ranked #1 in something or other. Lots of hype on their website. Never been there myself so I can’t render an opinion. I hope it works right for you, but for me it was unusable on any browser.
ROCKHOUNDS INSIDE SCOOP
Right, so you want to collect some fossils, but you don’t want to break any laws? I got you fam. For family friendly locations, along the edge of lake pat in Clebune, especially at the base of the small cliff portion near the spill way you can collect fossil sea urchins, ammonites, clams, other bivalves, snails, and occasionally crab fossils. There are multiple river crossings on the Paluxy, all of these provide access and you can of course wade and find fossils of the types listed above. Non-family friendly locations; any road-cut. There is a chance you might sweet talk one of the quarries into letting you in to rock hunt but I wouldn’t bank on it. Many pieces of private property have great places to hunt but, again, you’ll need to talk to the owner.
LASTLY
Be sure to hit up the comments below, our social media, or via our contact form if there are any questions you have or anything I can answer further.
