Dinosaur park kicks off 100th anniversary during national parks fee free weekend


14 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT — It's never been difficult to gauge the popularity of this world-famous destination for dinosaur diehards that straddles the Utah-Colorado border.

Simply walk the parking lot west of the Quarry Visitor Center on the Utah side any day of the week. You'll find licenses plates from all over the country. Friday's mix included California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, New York, Utah and Washington state.

Dan Johnson isn't surprised.

"This year our visitation's already up over 58 percent for the first three months over what it was the previous year," said Johnson, the monument's chief of interpretation and visitor services.

Those numbers are expected to get a Brachiosaurus-sized boost this weekend, thanks to a waiver of all entry fees into the monument.

"Saturday and Sunday, all entry fees are waived," Johnson said, "and that's not just at Dinosaur, but at all (national parks) across the country."

The "fee-free weekend" kicks off National Park Week, which includes a host of special events to help people explore and reconnect with the country's 407 national parks.

Though most of the National Park Service's 407 sites are free year-round, the 128 parks that charge a fee — like Yellowstone, Yosemite and Dinosaur — will be free those two days.

For visitors to Dinosaur National Monument, that includes the chance Sunday to see the sun through solar telescopes from 2-4 p.m. Then on April 25, from 10 a.m. to noon, the monument will host National Junior Ranger Day activities with a "Leave No Trace" theme at the Split Mountain boat ramp.

National Park Week, sponsored by the National Park Service and National Park Service Foundation, is celebrated every year. Dinosaur National Monument is using it to kick off a celebration of its own that only happens every 100 years, Johnson said.

The National Parks Service is hosting "fee free weekend" April 18-19, 2015. (Photo: Arches National Park, National Parks Service)
The National Parks Service is hosting "fee free weekend" April 18-19, 2015. (Photo: Arches National Park, National Parks Service)

Paleontologist Earl Douglass first began excavating fossils from the hillsides of the present-day monument in 1909. Six years later, the site received federal protection.

"We were first established — this 80 acres here around the quarry — in 1915," Johnson said. "That's the anniversary we're celebrating: the initial establishment of the monument."

There are already a number of activities planned to celebrate the monument's centennial.

"I'm really excited about September because it's going to be our 'arts in the parks' focus," Johnson said. "A lot of parks have inspired artists throughout time."

All the event information is on the monument's website, and more activities are being added to the list.

"There are a few new things that are coming on all the time as people hear about our centennial and they say, 'Hey, this sounds great. We want to participate in this, too.'"

To find out more about this weekend's activities at America's national parks, visit FindYourPark.com or go to www.nationalparkweek.org for suggested ways to explore the parks. The National Park Service is also asking people to share stories about their experiences at FindYourPark.com with the hashtag #FindYourPark.

Contributing:Katia Hetter, CNN

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

OutdoorsUtahU.S.
Geoff Liesik

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast