Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dinosaur Valley National Park

Last weekend, my Janine and I took our day off to go to one of the other local parks near exciting Glen Rose, Texas. Dinosaur Valley National Park (DVNP) is a few minutes from Glen Rose in the middle of this gorgeous countryside (blackland prairies). The park is named for the various fossilized dinosaur footprints that have been preserved within the Paluxy River.

This is one of the two "life" size dinosaur statues here on the park. Of course, this is a Tyranasuarus Rex (which never lived in this area) and this is an old statue (the tail is dragging on the ground).

One of the great things about this park is that you can swim in the Paluxy. Since the hiking trails follow the river and it's estuaries, this is a really great thing in the summer (I imagine). Unfortunately, there are no life guards; that's what the jugs are for.

As this area has gone through a bunch of different environmental phases, there are some pretty interesting rock formations. On our hike, Janine and I spotted this cool rock formation that looked like a giant diving board. GIANT. The photo doesn't really show you how long it sticks out, but it stuck out a good 30 feet from the cliff.

This isn't a very good picture, but it shows a couple really great things I like about this area. The water is so clear, it's amazing. Also, the land is real flat so you can see miles in the distance, but there are always beautiful trees and soft hills decorating the view. I'm not very good with words, so I'll leave it at that.

2 comments:

TallE said...

That is truly a terrifying face you are making in the picture with the tyrannosaurus. I'm sure it would be more afraid of you than you of it.

genny w/ a "g" said...

Yeah, that face comes in pretty hand a lot. It also serves as my no-you-really-don't-have-to-buy-me-a-drink face at bars and my you-stuck-what-where face for uncomfortable encounters.