Everybody in the world knows that Dinosaurs lived, walked and thrived on earth some millions of years ago. But there is very little evidence to prove their era. Few skeletons here and there, few fossilized remains in various museums across the world. But, ever heard of a place where one can actually see fossilized Dinosaur footprints and find fossils of creatures that lived 250 million years ago!

Hidden away deep within the countryside of the wild western state of Texas, US is this small town known as Glen Rose, on the outskirts of which is sited the Dinosaur Valley State Park. A lucky coincidence enabled me to visit, explore and enjoy the location.

Glen Rose is a pleasant aberration from the flat as pancake Texan landscape. It is mountainous, there are hills, valleys and a crystal clear river running through the valley. It is in this valley that Dinosaurs raomed arond 250 million years ago. According to the state park findings, two varieties of the giant beasts thrived in this area: the 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex and the 70-foot Apatosaurus.

The state park administration is highly proactive, in that they have marked trails so people wont get lost in the 1,500 plus acres of thick forest. As we pulled into the gates of the park the courtesy staff of the park welcomed us with beaming smiles and handed a highly informative map.

In a bid to follow the map we made a beeline to the first location in the map which said Track one. A board explained to us where to look for and how to identify dinosaur footprints which are located on rocks below the water surface. We walked on a rough trail through tall trees and soon came to the river Paluxy. Full of crystal clear water and embedded with big rocks, flanked by tall mountains flanking, Paluxy looks beautiful.

We walked along the river looking for dinosaur tracks and lo, there they were: three toed gigantic prints on the rock face. The giant footprints originally imprinted on soft soil were ultimately fossilised due to changes in the earths climate and now after 250 million years they are available for us to see, explore, enjoy and feel awed.

Comparing our feet with the size of footprints is a humbling experience, my feet felt as if it would fit into half of one flange of the dinosaur’s footprint. It is about 2ft in length and 1.5 ft width. The three sharp ends reveal the kind of razor sharp claws that these creatures might have had.

Further along the river, the scenery is simply panoramic and soul soothing. We enjoyed the tranquility, marveling at the scenery. After sometime we arrived at a spot where we could cross the river and explore the mountains on the other side. Here the river is shallow, only about a 2-3 ft deep and thanks to park arthorities who have placed huge boulders across the river so hikers can walk across easily without getting their shoes wet.

But due to several people walking on the boulders, they have become smooth and slippery and it was dicey to walk on them across the river. We gingerly stepped from one boulder to the other and crossed over and began walking through the forest.

After walking about 0.5 mile through the forest we arrived at a small stream and decided to follow the stream and reach the river. This was a unique experience, walking on a semi-dry river bed flanked by two tall mountains. After walking about 45 mins we reached the river. It was shallow and we decided to cross the river. One step into the water, sent shivers through our body, the water was icy cold but soon our bodies acclamatised and we were on our way across.

The rocky river bed was fully covered by algae and we had to be extra careful as we put one step after another towards the other bank. But as we neared the opposite bank we were surprised to see several giant dinosaur foot prints. This time there were two varieties of them... one belonging to the 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex and another to the 70-foot Apatosaurus.

People who come to US from India, visit the Niagara falls, Liberty statue, Golden Gate bridge, Grand Canyon etc... but then those are known across the world and one has to just tune into National Geographic or Discovery Channel to see them.

But Glen Rose is something one doesn’t get to see or hear in the TV. It is only coincidences and explorations in the backyards help us know about these unique places.

Source: Bangalore Outings Blog