Dinosaur Geology of the Colorado Plateau and Uinta Basin

Monday Through Friday - August 5 -9th, 2002

Photo Tour of Route For Course

As the famous saying goes, one picture is worth a thousand words. I want to give you just a flavor of what you will see and do along the route so I have assembled a photographic tour of scenery, quarry sites, outcrops, and museums along the tour. While not covering every aspect I think you will get a good fell of what this tour is about .

Fruita, Colorado Area:
- Dinosaur Hill - Good view of site and surroundings - visit on Sunday as orientation site

Colorado National Monument - overview of the geology of Plateau

View seen from within the monument.
View looking out towards the Colorado River Valley and Fruita
Another view within monument.
Bill and Sandy Hood - field leaders in Fruita and Moab areas.
Additional Views from May 2002 - Taken from Monument and Dinosaur Hill.

Fruita Paleontological Area - Morrison Formation - Dinosaurs and small mammals

Fruita Paleo Area (FPA) - this site is well known for a diverse fauna including Jurassic mammals.
View of typical Morrison Formation in the FPA.
View to right of last photo. Whitish spoil piles from active quarry operations over years near center below outcrops.

Museum of Western Colorado - good collection of Western Colorado dinosaurs
Rabbit Valley Research Natural Area - Active Quarry and trail in Morrison Formation - Dinosaur site

Rabbit Valley Research Natural Area
View from distance. Mygatt- Moore Quarry site and crew trailers.
Closer view. Mygatt- Moore Quarry and trailer.
View of Mygatt- Moore Quarry. In Morrison Formation - Late Jurassic.
View of trailers from quarry. A site for use by crew and staff who live on site during work season.
A view of trail. This trail allows you to tour the research area where exposures of bones and various aspects of the Morrison can be seen.
View of Camarasaurus vertebrae in outcrop.
Another view of Camarasaurus site.
Rabbit Valley Overlook. Good way to see geology of area at a glance.
View seen from Rabbit Valley Overlook.
Partial Diplodocus skeleton along trail.
View of partial Diplodocus bones.
Another view of Diplodocus bones.
Overview of the Morrison in Rabbit Valley.
Another view to left of last one. The Mygatt-Moore Quarry is on left edge of this view.
Some of reptiles in area still alive (grin)
Another view of this colorful lizard
And a final view of another lizard nearby.
More shots from May 2002 visit with Joe Devera and Bill Hood.

Fruita, Colorado to Moab, Utah:

Petroglyphs - examine some ancient native American graffiti

Colorado River Canyon Area - drive along the Colorado River On Utah 128

View of scenery along Colorado River Canyon heading towards Moab

Theropod and Sauropod Tracks near La Sal Mts: - Middle Jurassic - Entrada Sandstone (Moab Tongue Member)

Moab, Utah Area:

Petroglyphs - very good native American site

Arches National Monument - Scenic Tour in late afternoon/evening

Scenic view near entrance of Arches National Monument.
Interesting Rock Formations in Arches. Egyptian Head.
Three Gossips in Arches.
Balanced Rock in Arches NM.
Scenic View
One of the Arches

Moab, Utah to Price, Utah:

Stop 1: Day 2: Mill Canyon Dinosaur Site - Salt Wash Member - Morrison Formation - Upper Jurassic
Optional Stop (not in summer 2002) Dalton Wells Quarry, Cedar Mountain Formation - Lower Cretaceous

View of Quarry (near top)
Views of the nearby Morrison Formation

Stop 2: Day 2: Tracks along the west side of Arches - Sauropod and theropod tracksite in Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (Salt Wash Member). Sauropod is making right turn with theropod tracks coming towards the angle of turn. One could imagine that the theropod was about to attack and sauropod made turn in defense.

View one of sauropod tracks taking right turn.
Another view
View of sauropod tracks with Sandy Hood as scale
Bill Hood near theropod track. Cleaning out plaster people left in this because they had no separator!
More shots of tracks with Joe Devera in May 2002

San Rafael Swell - Geologic Tour along I-70

View from rest area along the east flank of the San Rafael Swell San Rafael Swell is a large, northeast-trending asymmetric anticline, steeply dipping and thrusted on its southeast side, rejuvenated in Eocene time during the Laramide orogeny. The impressive hogback and cockscombs, formed by steeply dipping sandstones of the Jurassic Glen Canyon Group (Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate), are known as the San Rafael Reef. In this picture we see the dipping so-called San Rafael "Reef" made up of Navajo Sandstone.
Another view from the east flank of the swell showing I-70 penetrating the east-dipping strata. The deep road cut through the Glen Canyon Group (Navajo, Kayenta, and Wingate). Highway ascends Spotted Wolf Canyon. This part of 1-70 was constructed in the late 1960s.
Looking east to the valley where I-70 enters swell into Triassic red-beds of the Chinle and Moenkopi Formations. To the left we start to get into some of the oldest strata of the swell, the Kaibab Limestone and Permian Coconino Sandstone.
View of strata near the middle of the San Rafael Swell. This central part of the Swell and the highest elevation reached by 1-70 across the Swell, at about 7,200 ft. The rest area and overlook to the north are on the Kayenta Formation. The view to the northwest from the overlook is down the South Fork of Coal Wash, where Wingate and Chinle are exposed in the canyon. The Navajo Sandstone is exposed as a line of white cliffs along the northwestern flank of the Swell. Castle Valley, formed on Mancos Shale, is in the distance below the Wasatch Plateau. The sandstone knobs to the south (Ghost Rock) and west are in lower Navajo.
Another view of strata near middle of the swell.

Exposures on road to Moore Utah, off I-70 - Triassic to Cretaceous Geology

Exposures of the Morrison Formation - Late Jurassic
Another exposure of Morrison Formation along the road.
Cedar Mountain Formation in lower foreground (lower Cretaceous) and Mancos Shale in distant cliffs (Late Cretaceous)
Approaching bluffs of Mancos Shale with Ferron Sandstone Member capping (Late Cretaceous)

Stop 3: Day 2: Ferron Sandstone Member of Mancos Shale - Late Cretaceous - dinosaur tracks on the delta
- Bluff of Mancos Shale with capping Ferron Sandstone Member. Note large block on slope -- it has dinosaur tracks fell from above!
- Bluff of Mancos with capping Ferron Sandstone. Block at base of photo has many dinosaur tracks
- View one of fallen Ferron Sandstone block with dinosaur tracks
- A closer view of block with tracks
- Closeup of better tracks on the block of Ferron Sandstone.
Museum of San Rafael - Castle Dale, Utah - Possible Stop - formerly the Emery County Museum

Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry - BLM - Famous Theropod site in Morrison

Price, Utah Area:

College of Eastern Utah, Prehistoric Museum - Collection of Jurassic and lower Cretaceous Dinosaurs

Photos from my Summer 2000 Visit
Photos from summer 2001
- Allosaurus on main floor of CEU museum.
- View of Allosaurus and other Morrison skeletons from second floor balcony.
- Large Brachiosaurid from Cedar Mountain Formation (late Cretaceous)
- Gastonia - ankylosaurid from Cedar Mountain.
- Utahraptor - large raptor from the Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Another view of Utahraptor
- Chasmosaurus.
- Chasmosaurus manus
- Chasmosaurus pes
- Hadrosaur footprint
- Hadrosaur skeleton
- Albertosaurus and Chasmosaurus tracks from Mesa Verde Group
- Deinonychus track from Mesa Verde
- Prosaurolophus track from Mesa Verde
- Chart of typical tracks from the Mesa Verde Coal Mines
- Prosaurolophus foot
- NEXT BONES ARE FROM CEDAR MOUNTAIN FM.
- Large Ankylosaurid left side of case.
- Large Ankylosaurid right side of case - both from Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Large brachiosaurid dorsal - Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Large brachiosaurid tibia and fibia - Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Large brachiosaurid cervical vertebrae - Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Sketch of the brachiosaurid based on these above bones.
- Nodosaur armor - Cedar Mountain Formation.
- Nodosaur, various bones - Cedar Mountain Formation
- John Bird - in charge of the Preparation lab for the CEU Prehistoric Museum
- Sauropod scapula in preparation lab.
- Ankylosaurid skull in preparation lab.
- Preparation lab - several sauropod bones in prep.
- Another view of Ankylosaurid skull in preparation lab.
- View of Gastonia humerous (left) by the giant humerous of larger Ankylosaurid
- Hadrosaur bones
- Large collection of Gastonia scutes.
- A very large Gastonia scute

Mesa Verde Group Dinosaur Tracks - Possible stop

View of outcrops near Helper of Mesa Verde Group (sandstones, shales and alternating coals)
A fold formed from slumping along a ancient paleochannel overlying coals and shales.
A small track in base of sandstone overlying a coal.
A loose track from base of one sandstone.
Another track weathered lose.
Two tracks, one loose and others in a large block.
Track and sandstone overlying a coal
Closer view of track in place over a coal.
Distant view of track in place over coal bed.
Close view of this track.
Palm fronds in block of sandstone.

Price, Utah to Vernal, Utah:

Vernal, Utah Area:

Drive Through Time - Wrapup view of Mesozoic Geology associated with Dinosaurs
Redfleet Reservoir Tracksite - Triassic dinosaur tracks

Photos from 2000 Visit
Dino Russ at Tracksite - May 2002

Dinosaur National Monument - Quarry and other dinosaur sites

Photo collection from 2000 Field Program
Photos from Salt Wash Member, Morrison work - 2001

Trip back to Fruita from Vernal:
- Canyon Pintado (Painted Canyon).
  - View Fremont Culture pictographs that are visible on the sandstone face
  - Discuss nearby site where carbonized plants, turtles, crocodiles, large and small carnivorous dinosaurs, garfish, duckbill dinosaur bone fragments, and ceratopsian bones occur in the upper Mesaverde Group.
  - Douglas Pass -Collecting trip to famous Eocene Green River Formation (bonus - optional)
    - View of pass and cuts up to collecting area
    - View of cuts on way and those we will collect near Radar Station at 9500 ft.

Return to DINO RUSS's LAIR

Last Updated:5/19/05 RJJ