Dinosaur National Monument — First Stop

A Mythical Place

Last year my husband and I set a goal to go to all the National Park Services in Utah. Our First Stop was a outside a tiny town, near Vernal UT, called Dinosaur National Monument. When Wes chose that, I truly thought he was joking and had made up that name. I’d never heard of it before.

The only reason we chose Dino NP was because it was the closest in driving distance from our home in Provo and it was such a beautiful trip! I am well-acquainted with the trek through Southern Utah via the I-15 but going North East through the Uinta National Forest was a highlight of the trip I didn’t foresee. It felt like a beautiful backroad the entire way. Through winds in the road and gorgeous forestation we drove, listening all the way to track 03 on the Moana soundtrack. On repeat. For one hour straight. (Our 9 month old cried anytime the music was paused or we chose a different song. We were able to memorize every single word.)

Before we get into any additional details, I’ll briefly recount the history of the park and some fun facts.

A wonder & a spectacle.

Originally inhabited by Native Americans — the rock formations are covered with petroglyphs and pictographs revealing beliefs, religion, priorities, and daily life for the Shoshone, Ute, and Fremont Indians.

The reason for the popularity of this monument is because of the amazing fossils found all over the region. Due to the geographic makeup of the area an incredible amount of fossils traveled through a river wash and were preserved beneath what later became the dusty desert of the Utah — Colorado border. In 1909 Earl Douglass found the first 8 dinosaur tailbones protruding from a sandstone hill near Vernal, UT.

Commissioned by the Carnegie Museum of Pennsylvania, Douglas was eager to explore the West and bring these wondrous remnants of history back to Pennsylvania. The bones that were excavated were the most complete and productive quarries ever discovered of the Jurassic era. They sent back some of the findings — but the majority of the fossils were too precious to remove fully from the rock so they preserved it and created and phenomenal way for visitors to experience the wonder of these foreign giants.

Camping with babies

This is a subject I’ll probably mention a lot in this series. Camping with babies is SO do-able and I wish more people knew how fun and memorable these trips are with kids. Wes and I were nervous at first and brought enough blankets to keep 10 families warm.. but we ended up all sleeping great. We put Isaac to bed right when the sun went down, after we had all eaten a delicious campfire dinner and then got to enjoy spending quality time with our best friends around the campfire. We went with another family who also had a little 9 month old baby so it was a blast to put the kids to sleep and then just chat and enjoy being at the beautiful campground just outside of the Monument.

The campground we stayed at was the Green River Campground (1 of 6 sites) and reservations are accepted but we were able to just show up and get a spot. We arrived around 3pm and there were plenty of available campsites. That was one thing I loved about this specific campground / monument. It really isn’t that popular so we weren’t fighting crowds. We were able to hike in the morning and visit the visitor’s center without having to worry about timing the rush of visitors / babies naps, etc. It was such a leisurely trip and we did whatever we wanted as we felt up to it.

*Don’t Forget the Mosquito Repellent*

I mean, it wasn’t miserable — but there were definitely too many bugs for my liking. I wouldn’t consider myself a super outdoorsy person prior to our whim to take on the National Parks, so this being our first family trip I was not excited about the mosquitos. Granted we were camping right next to the river so we could have chosen a better location. But what I remember made this trip successful was

• Bug spray
• Portable crib, extra sleeping bag, etc. We put Isaac in the pack n play bc we’re pretty strict on our “No co-sleeping policy” and he did well sleeping through the night, it was a warm weekend. However, when temperatures are not in our favor I usually make an exception and we allow babies in our sleeping bags for the sake of warmth.
• A hiking backpack — rented from BYU Outdoor’s Unlimited ($8/day)
• We prepped all the food beforehand. Chicken, veggies, desert. We brought baby food squeezy packs, water bottles and soda cans. And we brought a ton of candy. We did dinner and the Leonard’s did breakfast which was an easy pancake mix with fun syrups and toppings, fruit, and eggs.
• We brought cards — but I wish we had more games or other fun things to do around the campfire with a group of 4.

I would definitely do this type of a trip again! I don’t feel an urgency to go back to this particular National Monument. I feel like it’s a “must-see” while in UT — but I don’t need to go back again any time soon. I bet Isaac will LOVE it when he’s 4 and he knows what’s going on and he gets to see all the dinosaur bones. It will be fun to take our family back when our kids are a little bit older. It was a really fascinating exhibit and so worthy of being added to the list of U.S National Monuments. The quarry was certainly a highlight for me, and I was able recognize what an incredible feat it was for archaeological advancement.