If you find yourself near Moab, try checking out a dinosaur trackway. There are some pretty good dinosaur trails we found in the Moab area: Copper Ridge, Mill Canyon, and Poison Spider. The Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway is only a 200 yard walk to see some large dino tracks. It is a fun stop!
Where is Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway
The Copper Ridge Dinosaur trackway is located 23 miles north of Moab. If you’re heading south from I-70, pass mile-marker 149. Then look for the turnoff that crosses the tracks on the left (east). If you are coming from Moab, travel 23 miles north on Highway 191, then turn right (east) onto BLM143. Two miles down this dirt road, you’ll find the trailhead for the trackway. There is a bathroom (of sorts) and a parking area.
The Trail
The out-and-back trail that leads up to the trackway is a bit of an incline. Luckily, the walk is only about 500 feet according to the sign. Rocks mark the trackway, and small rock circles even mark out many of the footprints. A sign at the bottom states that you can pour water in the tracks, and even sweep them lightly with a broom without causing any damage. We were careful around the tracks. Our almost 2 year-old couldn’t help but sit directly in the huge sauropod track. We hurried and got him out quickly!
The Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway has three different sizes of tracks. There are some type of quadraped (most likely Camarasaurus), large therepod tracks (Allosaurus is the best guess), and smaller therepod tracks (no one even made a guess as to what they might be). We had never seen such huge tracks so it was a fun stop for us. The sign also shows you a few other places you can wander around and find tracks if you want to branch off the main trail. We didn’t branch off since we had little kids with us.
This is a quick stop and perfect for dinosaur lovers if you are in the Moab area. For other ideas on what to do in Moab, visit this post about Things to do in Moab. And if you are a serious dinosaur lover, then you need to check out our post of all the great Dinosaur Destinations in Utah.
Could you provide a map of the approximate location?
Here is a link to the BLM page. It has a map on it! Hope that it helps. http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/more/cultural/Paleontology/utah_paleontology/canyon_country_paleontology/copper_ridge.html
Wow, we need to come down and visit! What monstrous tracks!