What is Dinosaur National Monument?
Obsession for dinosaurs is a time-honored tradition among children. Of all my own childhood journeys through the West, it is not Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, or the Grand Canyon that holds the most nostalgia (although the La Brea Tar Pits come close). It is the dusty Utah town of Vernal, its Utah Field House of Natural History, and the neighboring Dinosaur National Monument. Forever warm in my mind is the awe-inspiring image of a hillside cut away to expose thousands of fossils and then enclosed in a glass building—a massive excavation frozen in progress. If any child lacked aspirations for paleontology, he or she need look no farther for inspiration. But although this dinosaur quarry is certainly the most famous attraction of the namesake national monument, the park actually covers a vast territory, offering opportunities for hiking, camping, and whitewater rafting along the Green and Yampa Rivers, which cut impressively through the desert mountains, carving canyons as grand as an
