We spent a fun 3 days in Glen Rose, uncovering the reason why it’s called the Dinosaur Capital of Texas! From hiking trails, swimming holes and the Courthouse Square, you’ll find yourself surrounded with reminders of dinosaurs!
Dinosaur Valley State Park
The most famous attraction in Glen Rose is the dinosaur tracks found in the Paluxy Riverbed, and there are some that are easy to see at Dinosaur Valley State Park! If you’re not a Texas State Park Passholder, the fee is just $7/person for anyone 13 or older, and free for 12 and under.
Get a map of the tracks, and they’ll even tell you the easiest ones to reach!
We like the tracks in the Blue Hole, where you can swim, stand or just hang out right next to them! Just a heads up, there is a deep drop off into the Hole, so bring a life jacket for little kids, but it’s a great place to swim!
There are other tracks all along the river, including the ballroom, where you can see many tracks of both sauropods and theropods, including tracks of young sauropods! Come prepared to hike a ways to see them all!
Be sure to stop in the Interpretive Center at the Front Gate to see the exhibits.
The State Park often has Dino Talks, hikes to see the tracks and other events scheduled. Click HERE to visit their website.
Dinosaur World
For more dinosaur fun, head to Dinosaur World, at the entrance of Dinosaur Valley State Park! Here you can find all sorts of dinosaurs to delight your kids! They also have a dino-dig, gem mining and even digging for fossils! Tickets start at $9.75/child and $12.75/adult. Click HERE to read more!
Creation Evidence Museum
Director Dr. Carl Baugh has accumulated a great assortment of Dinosaur prints, as well as human prints. There’s a lot to see here, and it’s a great visit for open-minded consideration. Dr Baugh offers an open to the public excavation of tracks the along the Paluxy in July of each year, for $10/person. It’s a great, hands-on paleontological experience!
Click HERE for more information.
McFall Mountain Dinosaur Tracks
Operated by the Creation Evidence Museum, the McFall Mountain Dinosaur Tracks are a great place to see both sauropods and Acrocanthosaurus tracks.
Click HERE for more information
Downtown Glen Rose
In Downtown Glen Rose, on the Somervell County Courthouse Square, we found some more fun Dino items, and fossil for sale, at Bone-anza!
We spent a full afternoon hitting up the cute shops and the Shoo Fly Soda Shop!
At the Somervell County Museum, we saw more dinosaur track cast that were found during the construction of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant! Click HERE for more information on visiting this FREE museum.
The Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant Visitors Center offers tour of the center (not the plant) with reservations, and has a nice display on the dinosaur tracks that were uncovered during the construction and in Somervell County. Click HERE to read more.
There’s still more fun to do in Glen Rose, such as Big Rocks Park, Fossil Rim, canoeing the Brazos River and much more!
While there’s not a Dinosaur-themed restaurant in Glen Rose, head up Hwy 67 to the Loco Coyote Grill, where everything is wonderful, including the scenic drive there! Click HERE to visit their website.
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!
Michelle
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