A sandy trail lined by stones winding through desert shrubs among rugged hills.

Fossil Discovery Trail: A Journey Through Time

Dinosaur National Monument

  • 30 - 60 minutes
  • 6 tour stops

Hike through millions of years of geologic time on the Fossil Discovery Trail. Each rocker layer shows evidence of former ecosystems and extinct plant and animals that lived in landscapes quite different from what we see today. Long ago, dynamic forces pushed and tilted these layers upward. Then erosion exposed the layers as colorful mounds and ridges, full of signs of ancient life.

Start this tour in the NPS App

Don't have the NPS App yet?

More Tours at This Park

Harpers Corner Trail: Tour of the Canyons

17 tour stops • 30 - 120 minutes
A large reddish sandstone canyon with pine trees dotted throughout.

Harpers Corner Driving Tour

11 tour stops • 60 - 120 minutes
A paced two-lane road winding through a rugged plateau area.

Sound of Silence Trail: Tilted Landscapes

17 tour stops • 2 - 3 minutes
Sandstone cliffs winding downwards on a gentle slope with juniper trees growing amongst them..

Passage to the Gates of Lodore

18 tour stops • 45 - 90 minutes
A large, steep walled canyon with a river cutting its way inside with shrubs growing along the side.

Tour of the Tilted Rocks: Cub Creek Road

17 tour stops • 1 - 3 minutes
Orange colored sandstone bluffs rising above desert shrubs under a partly cloudy blue sky.

Tour of the Indigenous Past: Petroglyphs and Pictographs

5 tour stops • 3 - 6 minutes
A dark orange, brown rock with human shaped carvings left by ancestral Native American peoples.

QR Code

Download QR code