Last weekend was our oldest son’s fall break from kindergarten. On a bit of a whim, we decided to take a quick trip to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah/Colorado. We’re on a super tight budget these days (yeah...that house thing), but after discovering we could stay in Vernal, Utah for only $70 a night (at a pretty decent place with a pool and free breakfast) we decided to make the quick trip.

Vernal, Utah is about a 4.5 hour drive from Frisco, but still feels like a world away. The landscape and geology is totally different than the snow capped peak views that we’ve grown to appreciate even more since moving here.

We were inspired by a family we follow on Instagram - American Fieldtrip. They’ve visited all 57 National Parks and are now working their way through all 417 NPS monuments and historic sites! Their kids are about the same age as our boys too! They had a great blog post about some of their favorite places in Dinosaur National Monument and spoke so highly of their time there.

So, off we went on our mini dinosaur themed vacation!

We arrived in Utah around 4pm on Friday and hightailed it to the Monument Visitor Center so we could have a plan for Saturday. The boys got their junior ranger booklets and the Park Rangers suggested some of the best places to visit.

On Saturday morning the boys ate every waffle and sugary cereal they could find (it was vacation right?!). After packing up some food and water (and another waffle) we were pulling up to the Quarry Exhibit Hall right when it opened. This building houses more than 1,500 visible dinosaur fossils and is simply incredible. The site was discovered in the early 1900s and the person who discovered the first fossils encouraged the government to create a space where everyone could come to learn about the dinosaurs. So cool! And the icing on the cake, we had the place to ourselves! In the summer they see more than 3,000 visitors each day, so we felt pretty lucky to have the run of the place.

Camarasaurous femur vs. our littlest dino explorer.

After spending some time at the Quarry, we headed to the end of the main road in the park to do two of the canyon hikes, Hog Canyon and Box Canyon. Both were perfect for the boys. Hog Canyon was a 1.5 mile out and back hike and Box Canyon was only .5 mile round trip. They got the biggest kick of hearing their voices echo and playing in the sandy trail. There is also an old cabin between those two sites where a woman lived alone for nearly 50 years. She used to keep her cattle and pigs in the two canyons. Pretty smart to only need to build small amount of fence at the end! When we were packing up, we met an older gentleman (probably almost 90) who said he had met Josie Morris when he was helping his Grandfather move some sheep when he was about 7 years old.

Box Canyon Trail. They played in the sandy trail for at least 15 minutes.

We had hoped to do one more hike, the Desert Voices Trail, but our youngest fell asleep before we could get started, so we figured for the sake of everyone we should let the little explorer get some rest.

On the way back into Vernal (only a 20ish minute drive from the monument), we were driving past the Utah Field House of Natural History and our oldest begged us to stop. We had heard great things about it, so figured we would check it out. Pro tip - kids 5 and under are free. We were genuinely impressed with the Field House. It had an awesome kids area, really well done exhibits and this really rad outdoor dinosaur garden with scale models of the dinosaurs found in Utah. If you’re in the Vernal area it is totally worth the trip!

After packing up on Sunday morning, we headed to the Colorado side of the Monument. The Utah and Colorado sides aren’t connected, sadly. So, if you want to get the Colorado side, you drive about 45 minutes past the Utah entrance. The Utah side is definitely more easily accessible and that’s where you can find all of the dinosaur fossils. But, the Colorado side has some amazing hikes and views that made the drive worth it! We drove all the way to the end of the road which felt like it would never end (seriously it was the whole length of the Lion King soundtrack). But once we got to Harpers Corner Trail (about 2 miles roundtrip) I was so happy we did the drive. The trail featured sweeping panoramic views to the east and west. And views of the Yampa and Green Rivers more than 2,500 feet below. Stunning. And, once again, we hardly saw any people.

This is how our little guy feels about family selfies…ha!

We were going to call it a day and start heading for home, but Kelsey really wanted to drive down to the base of the canyon to an area called Echo Park. I had wanted to get heading home, but man he was right. This was the best decision of the day. The drive was a bit rough in spots. They have signs to not take any passenger cars with low clearance down the road. We were in our Outback and didn’t have any trouble, but if the road was wet or the streams were running high, it would have been more challenging, or maybe impassable.

You do have to drive 14 miles all downhill, but once you are there it is the most serene and beautiful place. You have an awesome view of Steamboat Rock which is the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers and the most beautiful big trees. I think it is always a good day when you can feel small in our world and this place hit that mark. And, we could see the hike where we had been at the top of the canyon earlier in the day. So cool!

Overall, it was a great weekend and we’d certainly recommend Dinosaur National Monument, especially in the late fall to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and fewer crowds.

If you go, let us know!

Happy Trails,

Cory