News Release

Single Vehicle Accident Results in Fatality on Harpers Corner Road

Date: June 30, 2018
Contact: Sonya Popelka, 970.629.8488

Dinosaur, Colorado – Eighteen year old Maria Blakley from Dinosaur, CO was found deceased at the scene of a single vehicle accident along Harpers Corner Road in Dinosaur National Monument.
 
Blakley was last seen at approximately 9:00 pm on Friday, June 29. Shortly after 7:00 am on Saturday, June 30, a passerby called 911 to report a vehicle off the road approximately 3 miles north of Hwy 40 along the Harpers Corner Road scenic drive. 

The Artesia Fire Department was first on scene. The National Park Service and Colorado State Patrol are jointly investigating the accident. The Harpers Corner Road was temporarily closed from Monument Headquarters to the junction with County Road 16 for the accident investigation and until the scene was cleared. The road was re-opened at 1:00 pm.

Additional background information:
The Harpers Corner Road is a 31-mile (each way) scenic drive that accesses the canyon country of Dinosaur National Monument. The road begins approximately 3 miles east of the town of Dinosaur, CO.  

Dinosaur National Monument consists of over 210, 000 acres in both Colorado and Utah. While the monument is best known for the dinosaur quarry and the fossils preserved there, the monument also contains canyons along the Green and Yampa rivers.