Dinosaur National Monument & Fantasy Canyon

[IntrepidXJ]

Saturday, October 24, 2009

On Saturday monring, Amanda and I set off early and headed north through the Book Cliffs. Our destination this weekend was Dinosaur national Monument. This area has been on our to-do list for quite a while, but after visiting the park it makes me wonder why we didn't head up there sooner. We will definitely be spending more time up there in the future

After a quick stop in Rangely to top off my tank, we made our way to the Colorado Visitors Center just outside of Dinosaur, CO. We looked around and got an official map (I can never have enough maps) of the park before heading further east on US 40 to our starting point off the pavement.

We took a left onto Wolf Creek Road and made our way into Dinosaur National Monument.

we followed the road across the Yampa Bench until we reached the spur to Wagon Wheel Point. This point offered great views down into the Yampa River canyon.

Our next stop was the Harding Hole Overlook

This overlook had a great view over gooseneck of the Yampa with the river winding it's way into the distance.

Along the Yampa Bench Road

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Castle Park Overlook was the final overlook along this stretch of road.

Soon we reached the turnoff to Echo Park and made our way down the canyon to the Yampa.

Amanda spotted the Picaso Face

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Then we stopped to check out the very cool Whispering Cave that sat at the base of a sheer cliff face.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Finally we reached Echo Park (Pats Hole) and Steamboat Rock.

We stopped at the old Chew Ranch on our way back to the Yampa Bench Road

After we made it back to the Yampa Bench Road, we continued on until we reached the paved Harpers Corner Drive. We took this road out to Harpers Corner where we took the short hike at the end. On the way back we stopped at a few of the overlooks along the way. We took a right onto the gravel Blue Mountain Road and headed southwest into Utah where we eventually met up with US 40 again.

Our next stop was at the Utah 'temporary' Visitors Center where we actually got to see a few read dinosaur bones. We had a nice chat with the ranger there, who gave us a lot of great information for future trips this way. We were thinking about hiking to some more dinosaur bones near the closed Dinosaur Quarry, but the weather got worse and it started to rain, so we cancelled that idea. Instead, we took the paved auto tour though this part of the park that lies to the south of Split Mountain.

It was starting to get late and we were hungry by the time we finished the auto tour, so we made our way to Vernal for the evening, where we had hotel reservations for the night.

To be continued....

 

[dsw4x4]

Very cool pictures I love that area last memorial day we we took the shelf road into the park it was solid mud 6 to 12 inches deep the entire way to climb out away from the campground we were in four low with the powerstroke redlining using the whole road to climb out of there. It was rather spooky. when we got up to the pavement the park rangers were not letting anyone down there. Very pretty area thanks for the pics.
Derek

 

[Lichen]

Randy. I still truly believe that with your photographic skills and excellent write-ups, you could put together a great trail guide. Even if you had to put it together yourself and make copies at Kinko's, a lot of people here, including myself would jump at the chance to buy it.
Marcus

 

[Richie]

Good stuff. I had never heard of either park before this.. Now I know.:costumed-smiley-007 I'll have to look them up.

 

[suntinez]

Really great photos, stunning scenery, and nice writeup. I didn't know about this area either! That's why I like these trip reports so much. Thanks for sharing ...

 

[Haggis]

Another great report! That's one cool, otherworldly spot of the country. I find myself searching for the IntrepidXJ tag in the Completed Adventures section because of the fine job you do sharing your travels with us. Where you taking us next? :elkgrin:

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Where you taking us next? :elkgrin:

Probably sticking closer to home for the next few weekends....Moab area and maybe the Swell :sombrero:

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Good stuff. I had never heard of either park before this.. Now I know.:costumed-smiley-007 I'll have to look them up.

That's the nice thing about this area......not many crowds :victory:

 

[IntrepidXJ]

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday morning after some breakfast, we headed northeast out of Vernal on the Jones Hole Road. After a few miles we turned off to follow the Island Park Road to Rainbow Park and Island Park.

Shortly after entering Dinosaur National Monument again, we stopped near McKee Spring to check out a number of petroglyph panels along the road.

The first panel we spotted

A few more hundred feet down the road we hiked up to rock face above the road here. There were a number of petroglyphs here.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

After checking out all the petroglyphs, we continued on down the road to Rainbow Park, just to the north of Split Mountain.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

We then headed down to Island Park.

Ruple Ranch

Afterwards we headed back back to Vernal to top off my tank before starting on our way back home. On our way back, we did stop at Fantasy Canyon, but I still need to go through those photos, so you'll have to wait a little longer for the rest of this trip report!

 

[PHXtaco]

Enjoying so far, keep them coming!