Camping in a Land Before Time

WasatchWill

Ready For More
.
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,655
After taking his sisters out for a camping trip the prior month, it was now my son's turn for a camping trip. Since he loves dinosaurs so much, I took him down to the Moab area where we enjoyed a paleontology-themed trip, visiting some dinosaur fossil and track sites, a dinosaur museum and park, in addition to a few other points of interest in the area.

Monday - February 19, 2018

Since I had to work over the weekends in February, I did not get the typical three day weekend for Presidents Day as so many others did. Instead, I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off for the month. So after discussing it over with my wife, we agreed that my son Lennox would be ok to miss a day of kindergarten to come out on a trip with me. He had been so excited to go camping, especially since his sisters got to go the previous month.

On Monday afternoon of Presidents Day, we made the drive down toward Moab where we pulled over just north of town and found a site on some BLM land that appeared to be OK for camping (other spots along nearby roads had camping restrictions). Nobody else was around and we settled in for the night.

The weather had been less than ideal on the drive down and lingered around when we arrived at our campsite. A light frozen rain/snow mix with a lot of blustery wind. Fortunately, not long after pulling in, it lightened up enough for me to get the tent up, where we took shelter playing some games waiting out the rest of the storm to pass on. Not long into the evening it had finally passed and the winds calmed down, allowing us to build a campfire to warm up to and eat some dinner, before calling it a night.




Tuesday - February 20, 2018


We awoke at sunrise and rather than going straight into breakfast, we chose to get our blood going by wandering around our camp a bit to do some exploring. There was supposed to be an arch nearby according to the map, that I think we found, but it wasn't anything dramatic and impressive when compared to so many other more well-known arches through out the Moab area.















We returned to camp to enjoy some hot chocolate and a Mountain House meal of raspberry crumble for breakfast. Once packed up, we drove down to check out the ruins of a nearby old historic pioneer rest stop that was known as Halfway Station.

On the way into it, we drove through a small herd of cattle drinking up at Courthouse Spring.



Halfway Station served as a rest stop for travelers halfway between Moab and the railroad station in the small community of Thompson to the north in the late 1800's into the early 1900's. There were a scattering for old relics at the structure, including some old shoe soles.









After a quick stop at Halfway Station, we carried on over to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail where it makes a short loop passing by a number of fossilized dinosaur bones embedded and exposed in some rocks at the mouth of Mill Canyon. We had actually come here with the rest of the family during a past spring break trip a few years before, but I don't think Lennox was old enough to even walk well then so he certainly had no memory of it. It was as good as new to him.













Along the path, Lennox actually discovered what at first looked like a rock partially embedded in some loose soil on the path itself, only to pick it right up and see that it appeared to be another fossilized bone, or perhaps just a chunk of petrified wood that was smooth and round enough to look a lot like a bone fragment. Nonetheless, he was pretty excited about the find and being able to hold it in his hand to see all around it. As tempting as it would have been to keep it, we did the more ethical thing to do at such a site and placed it back where it was found, doing what we could to make it look it was never removed. Still, because it was sitting right in some looser soil right in the path, it's probably only a matter of time before someone unintentionally kicks it out with their foot if their observant eyes don't find it first.





Just before dropping back down to the wash and closing out the loop, the trail passed by an impressive petrified log buried within the sandstone cliff.



Once back at the car, we broke out a snack and drove back up the road to pull over at another nearby site, the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Track Site. This small site featured an ancient fossilized mud bank where various dinosaur tracks had been preserved.







When studying out the area map the night before, I observed that we were closer to a place called Tusher Tunnel than I had thought. I knew little about it beyond a few pictures I had seen of it on the Internet in the past and only knew that it was popular cave like geological feature that Jeeping and other other off-road enthusiasts liked to visit when recreating in the area. With some time on our side, we put my 4Runner to work and drove the sandy road out to it.





I had no knowledge that it was a true tunnel like feature that went all the way through the rock to a splendid view. It felt like we walked through a portal into another world. Needless to say, we were both very impressed by it. For those who recreate in the area during the hotter summer months, I'm sure this site sees far more people seeking a refuge from the searing sun. I'm sure it also sees plentiful crowds during Spring and Fall Breaks and weekends.









We surveyed the faces of the rock on the other side for any good rock art, but nothing noteworthy of the prehistoric variety was observed. Just a lot of the contemporary variety, aka, graffiti. Back out to the other side we returned.



From Tusher Tunnel, we made our way back out to the highway and followed it for a few miles to the relatively new Moab Giants Dinosaur Park and Museum for a break from our backcountry-ish adventures. It charges quite a bit for admission which would make it pretty expensive for a large family, but since it was just the two of us on this trip, I splurged for us to have some educational fun there. We had lunch at their cafe and then made some good memories exploring all the outdoor exhibits before moving on with all the technology enhanced indoor exhibits. I took plenty of pictures outdoors but didn't bother to take many photos of anything indoors, mostly because much of the features relied on 3D screens.









The outdoor exhibits, particularly the Dinosaur Trail featuring literally dozens upon dozens of life-size replications of various dinosaur species that have been found in the greater Moab area and throughout the Colorado Plateau, were pretty impressive in their detail and lifelike appearances. Between the cost it must have been to produce all the figures in addition to the high-tech indoor exhibits and displays, it's no wonder the admission to get in cost so much. It was obvious that quite an investment was made into the development and construction of the place.



























With the afternoon now mostly spent, we had just enough time to slip out to Willow Springs Road where we tracked down one more dinosaur track site.



I also let Lennox test out a toy I spoiled him with from the gift shop back at the museum in some nearby loose soil for a short time.



And with that, it was time to wrap up our trip and get back on the road for the three hour drive back home.

Video
 
Last edited:
I'll bet Lennox is still talking about this trip! Thanks for sharing.
 
Last edited:
Fantastic. Viewing this brought back a lot of memories of when @Scott Chandler was young. I took him to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden a couple times. Then there were all the times I threw him in the car, before he was old enough to cringe when I would start to throw him into the car.
----Self Portrait----
scan0068vSelfPortrait.JPG

Being a guide.
scan0091bDinoPark.JPG

You would think I propped him up to keep this gate open on the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands.
scan0024hScottFence.JPG

Thank you Will
 
I thought of something else......regarding the tunnel you walked thru. Who remembers the computer game "Amazon Trail"? In it you regularly go through a Dramatic "portal to another time and place". There was such a tunnel we had to drive through when going to Phoenix from our place in Whiteriver, AZ. I use to do the dramatic introduction every time we went through that tunnel. That trip from the White Mountains to the scorching valley of Phoenix was literally a "portal to another time and place. Anywho..........a parents memory of childhood.
 
Oooow I love The Land Before Time...
Amazing trip report! I am not a huge dinosaur fan, but that Dinosaur Trail looks amazing!!
Hopefully, he ended up not minding walking 'more than a mile'. Haha
He will remember that trip forever. :)
 
Cool to see the feathers on the dinosaurs. So many places seem to resist the latest science because of we used to think dinosaurs looked like.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
Parma Camping with a double high air mattress? General Discussion 2
Jackson What does "car camping" mean, in your opinion? General Discussion 33
dhertbag Camping at Cottonwood Cove - Coyote Buttes South Trip Planning 11
norwegianxplorer Backpacking SAREK NATIONAL PARK, Arctic Sweden, Camping Above RAPADALEN delta. Backpacking 7
Rockskipper Car Camping Tent Suggestions Gear 37
norwegianxplorer Winter storms, camping in Norway Trip Reports 0
Dreamer Sublette County backroads fly fishing and truck camping On The Water 7
G Dispersed camping near Zion? Trip Planning 5
IlVagabondo Yellowstone Camping Question General Discussion 13
swmalone Camping suggestions for Escalante in May Trip Planning 2
TeamJenkins17 Wyoming winter camping Trip Planning 4
TrektheWorld Family Camping Vehicle & Camper with bikes and an HOA Gear 13
swmalone Yellowstone Camping Trip - August 18-20, 2020 Hiking & Camping 21
kwc Northern Adirondack car camping On The Water 0
Happyidiot Looking for camping spot close to Denver. General Discussion 2
kwc Wiliam C. Whitney Wilderness canoe camping (Adirondacks) On The Water 10
A Virginia/Delaware Camping Trip Planning 4
Miya Snow Camping = Frozen Face? Resource Discussions 17
Outdoors24 Your car camping cooking setup General Discussion 39
Titans Permits car camping Grand Staircase Escalante NM? Trip Planning 6
S Backcountry camping tips for Wind Rivers - upper Green River valley via canoe Trip Planning 5
Stephanie B Camping/Off-Roading Gear for Sale Gear 0
balzaccom Car camping the Navajo Rez and Mojave Hiking & Camping 6
Mikjik86 Video Hiking/Camping San Rafael Swell/Goblin Valley/Horseshoe Canyon - Feb 2019 Hiking & Camping 2
JBPHXAZ Needles District Car Camping Suggestions Trip Planning 3
Mikjik86 Good car camping? Stuff to do near Goblin Valley area Feb 24,25,26? Trip Planning 15
C Camping at Beaver Falls, Havasupai Trip Planning 1
swmalone GSENM Camping Question Trip Planning 37
NorthwestWanderer A Year Camping in the PNW Photography 3
TrektheWorld Need help with Uintas trip - camping Trip Planning 8
F Quick Lake Blanche (Utah) camping Q? Trip Planning 9
powderglut Camping By the Henry Mts, Slots, and Cedar Mesa Ruins Hiking & Camping 9
P Any Quiet Camping Suggestions? Trip Planning 2
Vegan.Hiker Car Camping Window Screens Gear 11
Jimmy Hole in the Rock Car Camping Trip Planning 0
Wanderlust073 Winter camping at Lake Helene, RMNP Backpacking 14
D April backpacking/car-camping trip Trip Planning 16
Angeles Explorer Camping Trip to Frog Meadow in the Sequoia National Forest Hiking & Camping 4
J Camping outside East entrance of Zion NP General Discussion 2
Ian Camping on the Tour of Mont Blanc Backpacking 2
DrNed Camping In Yellowstone Basin Trip Planning 17
BryanG Camping in Yellowstone - Part 1 Hiking & Camping 9
Rockskipper You know you need to go camping when... General Discussion 3
Brian Skibbe Camping/hiking teton wilderness 06/24-06/29 Meet Up (Members Only) 3
Mike Jones Smithsonian Butte Road Utah BLM camping? Trip Planning 5
Georgia Yankee Utah camping/hiking in June--suggestions? General Discussion 9
T Havuspai Camping permits General Discussion 0
D Canoe or Kayak Camping Trip Planning 3
natylka Grand Teton Camping Trip Planning 18
kimbur96 stupid noob questions about winter camping General Discussion 16

Similar threads

Back
Top