Dinosaur National Monument
Dinosaur National Monument brings out the childlike amazement in even the oldest adults. Inside the main visitor center, Dinosaur Quarry, visitors can see fossils from the world-famous Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry, where approximately 1,500 dinosaur bones are left in place in a cliff wall. The monument, located in northwest Colorado near the Utah border, also has a number of self-guided trails to explore.
Picketwire Canyonlands
Take on gargantuan fossil tracks at Picketwire Canyonlands south of La Junta. Here, visitors can feast their eyes on the nation’s largest collection of fossilized dinosaur footprints, as well as put their own tiny feet right inside them. The area boasts nearly 1,300 dinosaur tracks from as many as 100 different animals, all along just a half-mile stretch of the Purgatoire River.
Dinosaur Ridge
Some of today’s most notorious dinosaurs were first discovered in Dinosaur Ridge near Morrison. Since these first-in-Colorado finds, Dinosaur Ridge has become one of the world’s most famous dinosaur fossil localities. Today, you can take daily self-guided and guided tours of excavation sites and exposed fossils. Keep an eye out for Dinosaur Discovery Days, when you can take guided tours to view the tracks, bones and other spectacular examples of geology and paleontology without the distraction of passing traffic.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
Take a different look at the earth’s prehistoric life at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, just west of Pikes Peak near Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs. Here, enormous petrified redwoods and detailed fossils of ancient insects and plants tell a story of Colorado's past. The enormity of fossils in the area can be credited to gigantic volcanic eruptions that quickly buried the then-lush valley.
Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience
The Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience near Cañon City opened in July 2016, centering around a 16,000-square-foot, custom-built museum. Kids can marvel over the facility's educational and awe-worthy full-scale dinosaur casts, real dinosaur fossils, interactive displays and hands-on exhibits. Outside, animatronic dinosaurs and a multi-story ropes course round out the experience.
Dinosaur Journey Museum
The Dinosaur Journey Museum in Fruita is devoted to hands-on experiences — and even has robotic displays of the beasts that once called this area home. Interact with a stegosaurus, triceratops or T-rex and wander among the displays of real dinosaur bones from these and other thunder lizards.