Dinosaur State Park & National Monument, Rock Hill, Connecticut

Location: Rock Hill, Connecticut

Open: (Visitor Center) 9am-4:30pm, Tuesday-Sunday, year-round

Facilities: Bathrooms and picnic areas

Fee: (Visitor Center) $6/$2/free (Trails) Free

Trail Length/Elevation Gain: 2 miles/250′ eg (there are ways to make the hike shorter)

Other: Display gardens, gem mining, reptiles and amphibians. Dogs are not allowed, but we had Sam Dog and there were no issues as long he remained outside.

If you are surprised to hear that there are dinosaur tracks in Connecticut, consider that the tiny state has one of the most impressive sites in our country!

I have shown you plenty of tracks from my hikes in the southwest, but because Barbarian Scientist was never with me on those trips, it seemed like the only thing to do was to ensure we visited here because we would be in the region to see The Curious Therapist.

To say it was a surprise is an understatement. We began our visit by hiking through the trails. The state park is tiny – maybe 40acres? They made the best of the space, intertwining trails to create about 2 miles through swamps and the forest. There are no tracks along the trails, but there is wildlife and a huge variety of plants.

After we wandered the trails, visited the visitor center. The Real Adventure. We did not research prior to coming here, and I am thankful for that because the surprise was incredible!

The visitor center begins with a small gift shop and display of amphibians and reptiles. There are interactive exhibits of dinosaur track molds, which were lame after having seen so many tracks in the wild.

But. I had no idea what was about to happen. THE ENTIRE BUILDING IS BUILT AROUND THOUSANDS OF TRACKS. Thousands.

How clever. 1500 tracks have been reburied so they are better preserved, but the remaining 500 are on clear display and it was so exciting to see so much evidence in one place. In tiny little Connecticut.