Dinosaur Valley State Park
On an overcast day in February, we finally made it out to Dinosaur Valley. This park is about an hour an a half south west of Dallas in Glen Rose, TX, so perfect for a day trip.
The Tracks
Obviously, the main points of interest here are the dinosaur tracks, and our first order of business was to find them! There are 4 open track sites. Unfortunately, most of them were under water this time of year, but we did see one really clearly:
Theropod tracks!
The tracks were formed by two different types of dinosaurs. These are described in different ways depending on where you read, but here's what I gathered:
They were formed by sauropods and theropods, which are names of clades of dinosaurs
Clades are any group containing a common ancestor and all of its descendants
The specific sauropod is Sauroposeidon. (This actually still isn't a species name, but a genus, one level higher than a species.)
The Sauroposeidon have large, "elephant-like" tracks
The theropod is Acrocanthosaurus, who has a three-toe pattern. (That must have been the one we saw!)
The tracks are from ~113 million years ago.
The dinosaurs at the entrance are models of Tyranosaurus Rex and Apatosaurus, so NOT the same guys! They were a gift from the 1964 World's Fair to the park, which opened in 1972
Hiking
After seeing the tracks at Dinosaur Valley, we continued us to the Limestone Ledge Trail, Overlook, and Black-capped Vireo Trail, which made a nice 3-4 mile loop.
Important note! To get to the Limestone Ledge Trail, follow the signs and go south from the dinosaur tracks. Do not follow your hiking buddy who insists the path that goes along the river “looks like a trail.” It’s not!
(You can also use our app, and you don’t have worry about getting lost at all =)
There were nice views of the river from the Overlook Trail (ignore the parking lot).
Paluxy River View
After finishing the black-capped vireo trail , we crossed the Paluxy River on the east side of the bend (technically part of the Cedar Brake Outer Loop), had lunch, then crossed BACK to do parts of the Rocky Ridge and Buckeye Trails.
This river crossing was a bit trickier than the one on the west side! There are rocks you can step on to get across with minimally damp socks, but its very easy to step on a wobbly one and fall off. We recommend bringing athletic sandals for this crossing. A hiking stick can help too!
Crossing the River was kinda precarious (but fun!)
Dinosaur Valley made for a nice day trip. The dinosaur tracks are cool, but underwhelming when they’re underwater. The park updates their Facebook page frequently with track visibility status, so be sure to check that if seeing them clearly is important to you!
The trails were nice, but typical for the area. I would definitely go back for another day trip, but wouldn’t make this a “destination” if you’re more than few hours away. Still, overall, a great way to spend a day!
