Just east of Red Rocks Park and running parallel to the mountains, the Dakota Hogback rises up out of the landscape like the plated back of a stegosaurus. Part of this formation is called Dinosaur Ridge and includes some amazing dinosaur tracks of mostly iguanodon-like creatures and theropods. This area was an ancient seabed and during the geologic upheavals of the past eons, the footprints of this giants were trapped in time to be found by the modern inhabitants.
The hike itself starts up a closed road that make its way up the side of the ridge. About two-thirds of the way up, a large section of petrified mud contains hundreds of these tracks. It appears that the caretakers have colored in the tracks with charcoal or some other dark substance to make them stand out more against the white stone. As this is an excellent opportunity for youngsters to be exposed to fossils, it makes sense.
Just after this giant panel of prints, the trail leaves the road and turns sharply uphill, climbing to the very top of the spine of the Hogback. From there, the trail continues north along the ridge. It offers some great views of Red Rocks Park to the west and while I continue to look for more tracks or other fossils, I find no others. Perhaps they are they and I just missed them, but the ones I was able to see were enough to make the hike worthwhile. In total, I hiked about 3.3 miles. Definitely worth the trip.
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