Walk with a Geologist at Triceratops Trail is a 2-hour walking tour of Triceratops Trail in nearby Golden, Colorado. The 1.5-mile, gravel hiking trail located one block east of 6th Avenue and 19th Street in Golden, winds between vertical walls of sandstone and into reclaimed clay pits. A professional or knowledgeable amateur geologist will lead the tour and highlight the many viewable dinosaur tracks, fossils, and impressions. Participants are responsible for their own transportation. This tour is designed for participants ages 16 and older.
Triceratops Trail has many viewable dinosaur tracks, but none more impressive than the large three-toed Tyrannosaur track and many four-toed Triceratops tracks. The tracks and traces are very different from what can be seen at Dinosaur Ridge, and the fossils are dated to the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, 68 million years ago.
Near the end of the trail at the edge of Hole #13 of the Fossil Trace Golf Course, the vertical sandstone wall is covered with large palm frond impressions, evidence of the Late Cretaceous climate of Colorado. This wet area was covered with palms, magnolia, and sycamore trees, and even low-lying ferns and herbs.
Participants provide their own transportation to Triceratops Trail in Golden, CO.
- $20 per person
- Tour is suggested for ages 16 and older
- 2 hours
- Admission to the Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur Ridge Main Visitor Center is included with each ticket
- Tour may be called off for active precipitation, temps below 32 degrees, or lack of registrations
- Appropriate attire: comfortable shoes, sun hats, sunglasses, removable clothing (windbreakers, fleeces, etc.)
- Bring water
- Minimum of 2 and maximum of 19 participants
