Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackways (Grand County, Utah)

 

A new day dawns on southeastern Utah and on my adventure with my friend, Nick, exploring some interesting sites in the area. After a hearty breakfast at a cafe in Moab, we head out for our first stop, which will takes us to some Jurassic Period dinosaur tracks. Copper Ridge is a few miles north of Moab and on our way to our next stop. 

Some rough gravel roads, complete with significant wash-boarding, lead us a few miles off the highway and to the site. From the parking area, we follow a gravel trail up the ridge about a quarter of a mile before arriving at the first set of tracks, which belonged to a large sauropod. These tracks are unique for two reasons, they were the first sauropod tracks discovered in Utah. This is also the only example ever discovered of one of the large plant-eaters making an abrupt turn in their path. The tracks themselves appear as generally circular depressions in the stone. Very interesting.

Further up the hillside, we encounter the next set of tracks. This track way was created by a large theropods, probably an allosaurus walking through what was at the time simply mud. The information sign indicates that the placement of the foot prints show that the animal was probably injured and walking with a limp, but still managing to move at an impressive 4.5 mph. It's interesting to consider that this arid environment was wet enough to have a muddy path here millions of years ago. In fact, this area was quite different in eons past and was probably covered with early forests. As for Nick and I, we're off to our next stop and what I expect will be one of the highlights of the whole trip.