Dinosaur Ridge in the foothills west of Denver offers students an extraordinary journey into paleontology and earth science. This outdoor interpretive site contains actual dinosaur fossils and footprints embedded in the landscape, granting young explorers a vivid glimpse of prehistory. Walking the Dinosaur Ridge Trail reveals tracks of massive plant-eaters like Apatosaurus and footprints of meat-eaters such as Allosaurus, all set against signage that interprets life during the Mesozoic era.
Guided tours, customized for different grade levels, delve into the discovery and preservation of fossils, exploring methods used by paleontologists to understand ancient life. Younger learners can engage in the “Dinosaur Discovery” program, working with fossil casts and rubbings, while older students tackle more advanced topics—like stratigraphy and ecosystem evolution—through the “Advanced Paleontology” program. For those unable to visit, remote field trips offer virtual fossil explorations and interactive learning sessions with on-site educators. Teachers can enrich lessons with downloadable materials, activity sheets, and multimedia content aligned with science standards. A visit to Dinosaur Ridge sparks scientific curiosity, inviting students to see how geological processes have recorded Earth’s distant past and the remarkable creatures that once wandered these Colorado hills.
