Dinosaurland: Vernal, Utah & the Dinosaur Diamond

Vernal is at the 'Northern Facet' of a region known as the 'Dinosaur Diamond'. It is also one of the region's bigger towns. (The 'Diamond' extends east to Grand Junction, Co., south to Monticello, Ut. and west to Price, Ut.) Dinosaur quarries and museums are everywhere.

Not interested in Dinosaurs? Well how about wildlife, geology, ancient and modern Native American cultures, petroglyphs, tales of the Old West or just plain old beautiful scenery? This area has it all!

Quick Tips:

Even if you land in Vernal with no idea of how you want to spend your time, it is easy to find lots to see and do. Both our motel and the local grocery store were sources for 'One-Day Self-Guided Tours'. These brochures guide you along scenic routes to areas of interest. They also provide you with local history and other fun facts to know and tell. Using these guides it would be easy to spend a week in Vernal and never see the same thing twice.

Best Way To Get Around:

Although Vernal is a relatively small town, you will need a car to get around. Most scenic spots are a few miles away. Once at your destination, a good pair of hiking boots will get you where you need to go.

Like many of the towns which are gateways to national parks, Vernal is a town of motels. Some are national chains, others are 'mom and pop' establishments. Most are located along Main Street. The Best Western Dinosaur appeared to be among the largest and the nicest.

Since we arrived so late in the season, both the pool and the Coffee Shop were closed. The front desk was staffed by helpful young women who seemed to be on duty all the time. A gift shop adjacent to the front desk offered a wide selection of souvenirs including Indian jewelry, gifts for children, collectables and, of course, T-Shirts.

Our room was pleasant and quiet. The only disappointment was that there was no in room coffee or continental breakfast. The location along main street was great - right next door to the Utah Field House of Natural History. It was no trouble to go a couple of blocks to McDonald's or the grocery store to get our morning meal.

We went to this restaurant on the recommendation of the motel's front desk. We were promised good food in a casual atmosphere. What we found was a western theme restaurant serving 'country comfort food' breakfasts, lunches and dinners to a local crowd at reasonable prices. Wagon wheel chandeliers hung from the ceiling, large western paintings decorated the walls and each table had a cowboy made of horseshoes holding a '7-11' branding iron.

On saturday night, the feature is an all-you-can-eat 'chuckwagon' buffet. It was clearly the choice of most of the patrons. We joined right in, and it gave us the chance to sample all of the most popular offerings, many of which were clearly homemade. We helped ourselves to fresh fruit salad, pasta and potato salads, fried chicken, pinto beans and au gratin potatoes. Worth seconds were the homemade soup (a combination of barley, beans and vegetables so thick it almost merited a fork) barbequed pork chops and small pieces of fried bread called scones (especially good with honey provided at the table). The pork chops and scones were constantly in short supply - the cashier told us that the scones were considered a specialty of the house. For dessert we cut our own slices from a large sheet of chocolate cake. Obviously, if you left this restaurant hungry, it was your own fault!

Many restaurants in Vernal are closed on Sundays. Since we weren't in the mood for fast food or pizza after a long day on the trail, we decided to go for Chinese. We found a brochure for this restaurant in the rack at our motel. It boasted special dinners for two, an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and free delivery to the hotel with a minimum order.

Although it was fairly late, we decided to visit the restaurant itself. Here we found a relatively busy establishment which appeared to be as popular with the locals as it was with tourists.

The menu offered some of our favorite Cantonese and Szechwan dishes, so we made a la carte choices. The egg rolls were crispy, but tasted more like spring rolls. The veggie fried rice was easy on the oil and filled with vegetables (broccoli held at my request). The shredded pork was flavorful and packed with onions and cabbage. The portions were more than adequate for two hungry hikers. If you are looking for a break from Vernal's traditional American fare, Win On is a solid choice.

The Utah Field House is located on Vernal's Main Street in the heart of downtown. It is easy to spot as it has 3 dinosaur sculptures on its front lawn.

Inside, an immense dinosaur skeleton greets you as you buy your ticket. It is flanked by displays of early man in the Uinta Basin. Halls of Geology and Natural Sciences present fossils of beasts from ancient times as well as mounted specimens of the area's present day wildlife. A paleo lab and mineral room complete the indoor displays.

The best part of this museum, however, is not within its walls. You must step outside to view the Dinosaur Garden. Here are 18 life size sculptures of prehistoric creatures in natural settings. Each has been painstakingly created from actual skeletons. (A photographic exhibit tells the story.) Here you can get a close look at the familiar Wooly Mammoth, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus. Pteranodons (flying reptiles) and Meganeuras (large dragonflies) are depicted in flight. A new addition is a model of a Utahraptor. This recently discovered early resident of Utah resembles the raptors from Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

All in all, this museum is a great introduction to the area's history, prehistory and geology. Give yourself at least an hour to tour this museum and its grounds.

Before leaving, pay a visit to the Visitor's Information Center. Here a helpful and enthusiastic woman gave us literature on local parks and scenic spots. (There is more to see and do here than you think!) She also gave us one of our best souvenirs - a Dinosaur Hunting License #I81-U022 signed by Al O'Saurus, Deputy Lizard Warden!

Vernal's main drag, US 40, seems to be little more than a string of motels, fast food eateries, various dinosaur promotions and a few old buildings containing its commercial establishments. The Vernal Walking Tour proves that there is more to Dinosaurland than meets the eye. There is history here and a proud Mormon pioneer heritage.

This tour will not require the entire day, but you should allow a few hours to visit some of the museums along the way. You may choose to walk or drive the route, depending upon your time and inclination.

The tour begins with its most interesting spot - the Utah Field House of Natural History. From here, walk down Main Street to the heart of downtown Vernal. Along the way, take time to read the signs describing the various buildings which are noted in the Walking Tour brochure. They provide tidbits of local color and encourage you to imagine this town in days gone by.

Another tour highlight is the Bank of Vernal, an unassuming red brick building with an interesting history. In 1919, the U.S. Postal Service charged only $1.05/lb for parcel post packages. Railroad freight charges were $1.70/lb. The bricks used to construct this building were shipped parcel post from Salt Lake City. The 50-lb. packages were shipped in mailings of no more than 500 lbs to multiple addresses in Vernal to comply with Postal regulations. The packages were carried by rail and horse drawn wagon along a circuitous route to their final destination. The ordeal resulted in a change in Postal regulations.

Just off Main Street, you will notice a tall spire topped with a golden angel. This is Vernal's L.D.S. Temple. The original tabernacle here was dedicated in 1909. It took two years to renovate this site and create the Temple which stands here now. This thoroughly modern building takes up a city block and is clearly the spiritual center of the town.

Small museums can be found throughout the 'Dinosaur Diamond.' Most deal with geology, natural history and early man. The John Wesley Powell River History Museum does not. Instead, it chronicles the exploits of early American river runners, and focuses primarily upon the career of John Wesley Powell.

The town of Green River is in the southern facet of the Dinosaur Diamond. A trip to this museum makes a good day trip from either Moab or Vernal. The museum is situated on the outskirts of town on the banks of the Green River. The exterior features a bas relief of Powell and his crewmen running the rapids in a small wooden boat.

Inside are exhibits about the Colorado and Green Rivers and their respective gorges. There are interactive exhibits about the early explorers of the Colorado Plateau. The most detailed exhibits enable visitors to get to know John Wesley Powell - a military hero who lost an arm at the battle of Shiloh, an explorer of the Green and Colorado Rivers, the first man to run the Colorado through the Grand Canyon, and a government official. Of special interest is a model of his boat, the Emma Dean. (It was named for his wife, who accompanied him on his journeys.) It is hard to imagine that such a boat could survive the rapids of the Colorado.

The museum depicts the evolution of river running boats and pays tribute to the river runners who came both before and after Powell. The River Runner's Hall of Fame describes the accomplishments of others from early to modern days. The bravery and ingenuity of these individuals has made it possible for today's tourists to enjoy these waters and their canyons in comfort and safety.

Allow at least an hour for a tour of this museum and consider combining this with a trip to another nearby attraction.

The western facet of the Dinosaur Diamond is especially rich in dinosaur finds. The Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry has supplied bones to museums all over the world. More recently, sites in the Cedar Mountain Formation have yielded 10 new species of dinosaurs in the past 20 years. Among these, the Utahraptor bears a striking resemblance to the Velociraptor of 'Jurassic Park.'

The CEU Prehistory Museum is packed with information about the area's dinosaur discoveries. Even if you have only a passing interest in dinosaurs, this museum is well worth a visit. There are more dinosaur skeletons displayed here than in most big-city museums.

A self guided tour brochure available at the Information Desk will guide you through the Hall of Dinosaurs. In all, there are 9 skeletons, including an Allosaurus (Utah's State Vertebrate Fossil), a Stegosaurus, a Utahraptor and a Gastonia Burgei (a 'new' armored dinosaur found in the same quarry as the Utahraptor). Full sized displays of dinosaur feet show the types of footprints they created. Especially chilling were fossil dinosaur tracks left by a predator and its prey. Although the trail begins with two sets of tracks, it ends with only one.

The Hall of Man displays artifacts of the Fremont Indian culture which are nearly 1000 years old. There is a replica of a Fremont pithouse and a more modern Ute Indian tipi. A Columbian Mammoth skeleton, found by a construction crew in the nearby mountains in 1998 is posed realistically at one end of the Hall. Nearby is a skeleton of a Giant Sloth.

We spent more than on hour studying the exhibits. On our way out, the CEU students at the Information Desk asked us how we had enjoyed our visit. It was clear that they loved their jobs and their pride in the museum was inspiring. I noticed a basket containing casts of dinosaur tracks. Wanting a small souvenir, I asked 'How much?.' 'They're free, but you have to pass a test,' came the reply. Relying on my new knowledge from the museum visit, I correctly identified it as a plant eater and was able to give a rationale for my answer. Visit this museum and you will be able to pass the test too!

The towns in the Dinosaur Diamond take their dinosaurs and tourism seriously. Some sights, however, didn't fit the mold. Here are some results of our drive-by shootings!