Potash Road Dinosaur Tracks

"Touch Paleontological History "

My son could pronounce “pachycephalosaurus”  perfectly at the age of 3, so I soon learned to seek out anything and everything dinosaur related while travelling.  Therefore, when driving along the Colorado River near Moab and my family sees a sign stating “dinosaur tracks”, we have to stop.  By the way, my son is now 11 and still is happy to stop when dinosaurs are involved.

These dinosaur tracks are located on the Potash Road Scenic Byway, state highway 279.  The junction for the highway can be found on highway 191, approximately 4 miles north of Moab.   The Potash road is beautiful, meandering along the Colorado River with campgrounds, viewpoints, Indian pictographs, and hikes dotted along the road.  I would highly recommend stopping at any of the turn-offs where “Indian Pictograph” signs are located.  Kids will love playing “I Spy” while looking at the red rock cliff face, and the ancient Indian stories demonstrated.

The dinosaur tracks are clearly marked along the Potash Road; just look for the brown signs.  There is a parking area at the trailhead, which is also used for the Poison Spider biking trail.  You can actually see the dinosaur tracks from the parking area – just read the trailhead sign to know what to look for.  However, I would highly suggest taking the kids up the short hike to see the tracks up close.    It’s a short hike with only a couple switchbacks, but be careful with the kiddos as there are some steep drop-offs.  

In all, this is a great short little hike for families to get out and experience paleontological history.  All of my kids, age 3, 7 and 11 were excited to put their little hands in the tracks.   The views are also nice from this vantage point – staring at the Colorado River and desert mesas beyond.