Saturday, September 22, 2018

Triceratops Trail (Jefferson County, Colorado)


A few miles up the road from Dinosaur Ridge, another footprint-oriented fossil bed was discovered many years ago when clay was being mined in the area. 68-million years ago, this area was part of a semi-tropical swamp on the shores of the ancient inland sea and dinosaurs such as triceratops, edmontosaurus, and tyrannosaurs roamed the land. As the eons passed, their tracks in the muddy bog were preserved as the mud turned to stone and later, thanks to geologic forces, the stone surface was turned vertically, before being found by humans.


The trail itself is short and sweet. It starts along a bike trail before entering a golf course and weaving around the fairways. There are essentially two sections of interest. The first requires walking down a number of stair-stepped switchbacks into a narrow gulch. The wall eastern wall of this gulch contains three prominent foot prints, one of which may be that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but paleontologists are positive.

Continuing up the ridge, the next section is another long white clay wall, which contains a number of obvious triceratop footprints, along with the fossilized impressions of palm leaves, and ancient bird and mammal footprints. It's quite amazing to seem them so well preserved here. Hopefully, they will remain preserved for many future generations to stare it in awe and wonder.

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