New Moccasin Mountain interpretive signs point visitors to dinosaur tracks

New interpretive signs guide visitors through one of the largest dinosaur track sites in America, near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of BLM-Utah, St. George News

KANAB — The Bureau of Land Management-Utah Kanab Field Office recently installed three new interpretive panels at the Moccasin Mountain Track Site near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. These signs guide visitors through the site, which is one of the most diversified concentrations of prehistoric animal footprints in North America — right in Kanab’s backyard.

New interpretive signs guide visitors through one of the largest dinosaur track sites in America, near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of BLM-Utah, St. George News
New interpretive signs guide visitors through one of the largest dinosaur track sites in America, near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of BLM-Utah, St. George News

The tracks at Moccasin Mountain date from between 180 and 190 million years ago, during the early Jurassic Period. Scientists believe that at that time, this part of Southern Utah was nearer to the equator and much closer to sea level, according to a press release from BLM-Utah. Back then, the area was an oasis where dinosaurs came to drink, leaving their footprints in the wet sand. Over time, those footprints gradually hardened into the tracks we have today.

Getting to the dinosaur track site is relatively easy, but it does require an all-terrain or four-wheel drive vehicle. Before visiting the site, pick up a free brochure and map at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center, 669 S. Highway 89A in Kanab. There is also a free activity sheet specially geared toward school-aged youth as a fun, interactive guide to the site.

For more details, contact the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Kanab Visitor Center at 435-644-1300 or watch this YouTube video.

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