Dinosaur Ridge - an inexpensive family adventure

We arrived in Denver to stay with family and did normal family stuff, like learn to fly fish in the back yard and work out.

The next morning my cousin suggested we check out Dinosaur Ridge just outside Denver in Morrison CO, to see real fossils. We did, and it was such a blast for the kids (and us). Dinosaur Ridge has a small exhibit hall, gift shop, tours, and outdoor area. The whole place is great for kids because it’s very interactive. And a great place for parents because it’s so inexpensive.
We got to The Ridge in the afternoon and ate a picnic lunch at the entrance area and played around big giant dinosaurs.

The outside area has lots of {FREE} hands-on activities like digging for fossils and life sized dinosaur tracks in the concrete. Along with a few information plaques which my little scholar had me read. Every single one!

reading about dinos

But the highlight for us was most definitely the guided shuttle bus tour. It’s $5 a person (4 years old & younger are free) and takes you up the ridge on a 40 minute tour to see the fossils, with a few stops along the way. We called our bus the Stegosaur-bus and suggested they put Stegosaurs plates across the top. Wouldn’t that be fun!?!?
Fun Fact: Stegosaurs is the state fossil of Colorado because it was first found in their great state.

We learned about what the area looked like long ago, and our tour guide, Matt, showed us dino tracks and taught us how to recognize real fossils.

…and we thought every rock was a fossil.
Except for Cy…

One of the stops was their famous Dinosaur Tracksite. The hillside has hundreds of fossilized dinosaur footprints imbedded in the rock.
Cousin pic… (Tessa’s “cheese” face here kills me!)

After the Stegosaur-bus tour we hit up the small exhibit hall. My favorite part was seeing what the USA looked like a gazillion years ago. The kids liked it all.

Things to know, if you go:

The entry area is a great place for a picnic lunch.
Spend some time doing the free hands-on outside activities.
Do the shuttle bus tour ($5 for everyone 5+) and don’t forget a lil’ tip for the driver.
They have a great gift shop with real fossil for as little as $4. We purchased a dinosaur book with a compilation of stories for $8.
If you have older children consider hiking the 1.5 mile Triceratops Trail.