Dinosaur Ridge
Dinosaur Ridge
4
Historic SitesAmusement & Theme ParksPoints of Interest & Landmarks
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
This gem is the site of numerous dinosaur tracks and fossils from the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. Explore the outdoor museum where fossils remain in situ, visit the indoor exhibition hall, and treat children to free fossil replica digging in two play areas at the Main Visitor Center. The guided bus tour is highly recommended; or walk and read interpretive signs, download an audio tour, or schedule an in-depth guided walking tour with a geologist. A well-stocked Gift Shop offers fun souvenirs for all ages. Plan for outdoor weather with comfortable walking shoes and drinking water.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Heidi W
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania106 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great walking tour if you are interested in dinosaurs
    This was a fascinating walking tour, with many dinosaur footprints visible. I downloaded the audio walking tour, which was enjoyable, but probably not essential as the signage was very good. If you are interested in dinosaurs, I highly recommend Dinosaur Ridge. If you aren’t, this may be boring to you because the majority of the sights are dinosaur related.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 6 October 2023
  • 906UPEh
    Detroit, Michigan60 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth a quick stop if you're already in the area
    We were already at Red Rocks, so we walked down the main parkway and stopped at Dinosaur Ridge before leaving. We Ubered otherwise we would have drove down and parked at the visitors center. It looks like a long, steep walk around the ridge, but it wasn't that bad even though we were tired from hiking Red Rocks. The path is paved and there are stops along the way with a couple of dinosaur tracks. However, if we'd drove, we likely would start at the Discovery Center and walk a short way up to the main wall of tracks and call it good. That's the main attraction which is on the back side of the hill from Red Rocks. I'm glad we stopped though. It was interesting and we were already so close.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 24 October 2023
  • John M
    New York City, New York796 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth a visit
    Who doesn't love dinosaurs? This is a cool spot to observe preserved dinosaur tracks just outside of Denver. There is not much to it, so it is best done jointly with something else - maybe a trip to Red Rocks.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 23 June 2024
  • desifoto
    Ashland, Wisconsin1,042 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    So cool
    If you want to see dinosaur tracks this place is cool. It’s free if you walk the whole trail. It’s all on a road. You can take a shuttle tour of you wanted that you have to pay for. The have a visitor center and gift shop. There are picnic tables at the visitor center.
    Visited July 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 3 July 2024
  • muzique1960
    Woodridge, Illinois1,066 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Historical and amazing place to see! Lots to learn! Great tour guides!
    Amazing, historic place. Great for kids, adults, school groups - bring friends and have a birthday party, learning about the dinosaurs. There are picnic tables and great tour guides for a tour of Dinosaur Ridge and to explain what is in the Exhibition Hall. Fabulous place - I learned so much! The tours are not meant for young children - they need to be able to listen and learn.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written 15 August 2024
  • dean o
    Castle Rock, Colorado14 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Interesting for Dino lovers.
    This was a place we thought the grandkids would like as they are 2 & 4 YO and they are into dinosaurs in a big way. I would say they were a bit too young to appreciate this exhibit. They were expecting to see more dinosaurs, real or fake, and the real attraction is all the dinosaur footprints on the ground. I thought it was pretty interesting and I think older kids might like it more if they are into dinosaurs. It's free, so you can't complain too much about it and I think it is worth seeing once,, if you are into things like that. The girl at the desk, in the main building, was on her phone the whole time we were there and she didn't say a word to us about the exhibit or what things there were to see, so we just walked around and found our way to everything on our own. Things aren't very well maked so you have to snoop around to see things,
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 18 August 2024
  • FromThe352
    Jacksonville, Florida48 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth checking out
    We took the bus tour and it was worth the money. The ridge trail is pretty steep and longer than you think, because there are two sides. Be aware that the tracks are no longer darkened. This makes them harder to see than you would think from looking at photos online. The Exhibit Hall was very cool. The staff took a lot of time to discuss the history of the area and answer questions.
    Visited September 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 17 September 2024
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AshBernadette88
Huntsville, AL1,575 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2020
Walking the trail at Dinosaur Ridge is free to guests! Admission costs $3 per person to visit the exhibit hall.

The paved trail forms a horseshoe shape around the ridge and rises gradually (not very strenuous). Along the route, several placards describe the geologic wonders on the ridge. Some of these wonders included the trails of ancient tube worms that existed when Denver was at the bottom of an ocean! Of course, the dinosaur tracks were the most exciting part! The placards are well-maintained and provide lots of good information.

About halfway up the horseshoe, guests can take a gravel trail up to the ridge and hike the ridge itself. This trail is very well-maintained and easy to follow...great views of the Red Rocks to the west! Watch out for snakes; we saw a huge bull snake right in the middle of the path! Know how to identify a rattle snake...we didn't see any, but there were warning signs at the beginning of the trail.

Great hike, hoping to return again soon!
Written 19 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JessiMags
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2020 • Couples
We had such a fun time at Dinosaur Ridge! My fiancé and I were visiting red Rock and saw the signs for dinosaur ridge, and on a whim checked it out. We did a bus tour ($15 per person super reasonable!) and our tour guide Jody was fabulous! She was super friendly and knowledgeable and made sure that we had a good time. She was really good at keeping our group social distanced from others that were walking in the same areas. We had a great time- highly recommend to anyone looking to spend an hour or 2 doing something fun
Written 25 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Roadtripz101
West Henrietta, NY228 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021 • Family
If you’re into dinosaurs great place. Young kids especially were excited. They have a small exhibit with some fossils and reading material. Their gift shop has a decent amount of items and limited amount of cold drinks if you need to quench your thirst.

There are large painted stegosaurs around the area for some pics. You can either hike the 1.25 mile ridge that has moderate elevation as you progress or take a tour.

I recommend the tour at $15 to have a bus drive you to each sight. You will get the benefit of the tour guides stories and educational tidbits while saving you the hike. Masks are require on bus. Because of the stop and go the bus A/C just starts to make you feel comfortable and then you stop so it’s ok temp wise.

Biggest tip sit on the right side of the bus for best pics and view. You will see it on the way down if you’re on the left but it is quick as they don’t stop and talk like they do in way up.

If you’re walking you will park at start of ridge and begin hike. There is a single porta potty at half way point.

Nice diversion and about two hours max including tour.
Written 25 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Krishnatina
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
It all started with ashleigh selling us tickets and demanding I wear those disposable masks that end up in landfills or the ocean instead of my scarf , making it a point to radio her friend to make sure I was harassed even more until we got off the bus and left . They’re super unprofessional and rude and don’t know how to speak to anyone. Meanwhile the guy at the museum is super professional and chill .
Written 3 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

stijntailly
Waregem, Belgium298 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2019
Nice little area near Denver with a couple of hiking and biking trails, and more importantly - and probably your main reason for coming here in the first place - lots of dinosaur history and dinosaur tracks for your enjoyment. There's a small, but rather uninteresting gift shop and possibly interesting (didn't visit) museum with a bunch of of fiberglass dinosaurs in the yard. The main drag along the ridgeline is an easy and paved path (it's actually a paved road for cars) along some plaques with info on what happened there a couple dozen million years ago. You can spy the Red Rocks area from this path. Locals that are into hiking can probably spend the better part of their day here, especially when connecting with the Red Rocks trails but occasional visitors should allot about one to two hours.
Written 21 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ruthk191
Westlake, FL120 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2022
What a hidden gem that is actually part of the National Park system. While there is no fee to walk around the ridge there is a fee for a guided tour which we opted to do. Ptaero-Don, our guide (they make everything about dinosaurs!) was a retired high school teacher, was very knowledgeable and informative. There were six (6) of us in our group and we had him all to ourselves.
As we drove up the ridge, Don pointed things out and kept up a steady stream of how the are was formed millions of years ago. We made various stops along the way starting with the largest amount of dino footprints in one area in the USA. What was even more interesting was the fact that decades ago people had carved out some of the footprints and fairly recently they had recovered one of them!
As we continued around the ridge, we learned that the first part was 100 million years old while the other side was even older. That was because of the way the ground was pushed up as the Rockies were forming. I could get into it more but you really should hear it for yourself.
There is an exhibit hall that we did not have time to explore since we had spent time at nearby Red Rocks amphitheater (see separate review) earlier in the day.
I hope to someday go back and take more time to explore.
Written 5 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

chicag009
Chicago141 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
This was a great spot to do some self exploring into the world of dinosaurs! The discovery center is very small and although it doesn't have much it does have some interesting items. Fascinating place! Great for families/kids. You can walk around for free. Tours are paid for (bus and walking tours) but are reasonably priced. You can also download a self guided tour (for a price) on your phone.
Written 29 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mike_in_CO
Lakewood, CO212 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
We had a great time, especially the kids. We live near by and have been here many times, but went on the bus tour as a special field trip with grandkids. The seven-month-old didn’t learn much, but both of the three year olds and the five year old were fascinated. Alice the tour guide was great with the kids, listened and answered patiently to all their questions (including “when do we get back on the bus?”). Toward the end the five year told told me “this was a great idea!” All three stops had something interesting. The small museum display was worth a few minutes, with a large fossilized bone kids can touch.
Written 18 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

126Robert
Park Ridge, NJ132 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021
Pack up some bottled water, apply sunscreen and head over to Dinosaur Ridge for a fascinating experience. Located next to Red Rocks state park and only 20 minutes from downtown Denver, you can explore these dinosaur tracks and fossils by foot for a $15 guided bus tour. I took the bus tour and my tour guide was Michelle. Her enthusiasm and conversational nature kept young and old engaged. Her knowledge of dinosaurs and geology was impressive. After the tour, visit the Discovery Center to see more artifacts. BONUS: there is a colony of Prairie Dogs on the premises that the kids will enjoy watching and you may see some Elk passing through.
Written 28 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rosie G
Colorado Springs, CO13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020 • Family
We did a bus tour with our 3yo and had a great time. Diane was a very knowledgeable guide. It was very hot the day we came so the bus tour was perfect as it’s a long walk for little ones up the ridge in hot weather. You can see more and at your pace walking but the bus tour afforded us comfort and kept our kid’s attention. Also fits in great if your kid is obsessed with Disney’s Dinosaur the movie as the tracks are Iguanadon like the key dino’s in that movie.
Written 7 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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DINOSAUR RIDGE (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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