Fossils and Footprints: The Double Discovery at Mill Canyon

The World’s Oldest Outdoor Museum

Imagine a place where the ground is a giant 150-million-year-old scrapbook! At the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail in Moab, there are two amazing things in one spot: a "bone bed" and a "tracksite." Millions of years ago, this area was a busy, muddy shore near a lake. Huge dinosaurs walked through the gooey mud, leaving behind deep footprints that eventually turned into hard rock. Today, standing exactly where a giant dinosaur once stood and see the shape of its toes still pressed into the earth is a lifetime experience!

A Busy Day at the Lake

The tracksite at Mill Canyon is like a prehistoric traffic jam frozen in time. Scientists have found over 200 tracks here from all kinds of animals. There are massive, round footprints of long-necked Sauropods that looked like giant potholes, and the sharp, three-toed tracks of meat-eating Theropods that were out hunting. There are even tracks presumably from ancient crocodiles sliding into a pond! It’s a special "trace fossil" site that shows us exactly how these animals moved and played together on a single afternoon in the Jurassic period.

Bones Hiding in the Walls

Just a short walk from the footprints, the trail leads to a canyon wall where real dinosaur bones are sticking right out of the rock. Because an ancient river washed these bones into a big pile, giant ribs and leg bones rest in the stone. It is very rare to see footprints and bones so close together.

Photo taken at Mill Canyon, Moab