Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway
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| Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway |
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| Length: | 512 mi[1] (824 km) |
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| Formed: | 2002 |
| West end: | Price, Utah |
| East end: | Grand Junction, Colorado |
| Counties: | Utah Carbon Duchesne Grand Emery Colorado Moffat Rio Blanco Garfield Mesa |
| Major cities: | Utah Price Helper Vernal Moab Green River Colorado Dinosaur Rangely Grand Junction Fruita |
The Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway is a 512-mile[1] National Scenic Byway in the U.S. states of Utah and Colorado.[2] The highway forms a diamond shape loop with the vertices at Moab, Helper, Vernal and Grand Junction.
The segment within Utah is known as the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway. The segment within Colorado is known as the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic and Historic Byway.
Notable features surrounding the Dinosaur Diamond include Dinosaur National Monument, the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Colorado National Monument, and several national forests.
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[edit] Route Description
[edit] Colorado
The following Colorado routes are included in the Colorado portion of the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic and Historic Byway:
Interstate 70 between Grand Junction and the Utah state line. (I-70 runs concurrent with U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 50 in this area)
U.S. Highway 40 between Dinosaur and the Utah state line
State Highway 64 between Dinosaur and Rangely
State Highway 139 between Fruita and Rangely
The easternmost starting point of the Dinosaur Diamond (DD) begins in Grand Junction, Colorado on I-70. In the vicinity of Grand Junction are the White River, Uncompahgre, and Grand Mesa National Forests. Other notable features nearby include the Powderhorn Resort, and the geologic features of Book Cliffs and Grand Mesa.
Traveling 35 miles westbound on I-70 will lead to Fruita, a small town within view of the Colorado National Monument, which includes examples of dinosaur fossils and petroglyphs. Fruita is also the home of Mike the headless chicken, which hosts an annual festival in his honor every May. A small statue dedicated to Mike can also be seen in the town.[3]
Just west of Fruita, the byway turns north onto State Highway 139, traveling 77 miles to the next town of Rangely, and traversing the Douglas Pass. Nearby attractions include the Rangely Outdoor Museum and the Canyon Pintado petroglyphs.
The byway continues 18 miles northwest on State Highway 64, to the tiny town of Dinosaur. Nearby Dinosaur is the crown jewel of the DD, the Dinosaur National Monument, which is the most productive Jurassic Period dinosaur quarry in the world.[4] The monument includes a walkway where visitors can view a sandstone wall embedded with over 2,000 dinosaur bones, and watch paleontologists chip away the sandstone to expose the fossilized dinosaur bones. Visitors can also see the preparation laboratory where dinosaur fossils are cleaned and preserved.
Upon leaving Dinosaur, the DD continues west on U.S. Highway 40 and crosses the border into Utah.
[edit] Utah
The Utah portion of the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway is routed along these highways:
- Interstate 70 Between Colorado state line and Cisco, again from Crescent Junction to Green River (I-70 runs concurrent with U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 50 in this area)
U.S. Route 6 from Green River to Helper- U.S. Route 40 from Vernal to Colorado state line
U.S. Route 191 from Moab to Vernal
State Route 128 from Cisco to Moab
Traveling 31 miles west of Dinosaur, Colorado, the Dinosaur Diamond encounters the small city of Vernal, Utah. Vernal borders the western end of the Dinosaur National Monument; other notable attractions nearby include Steinaker State Park, Red Fleet State Park, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, and the Ashley National Forest.
Continuing along the Dinosaur Diamond, U.S. Routes 40 and 191 converge within Vernal, heading west for 30 miles to the city of Roosevelt. Roosevelt is located on the edge of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. Twenty-eight miles to the west is the county seat of Duchesne, located within the reservation. Nearby Duchesne are Starvation State Park and Kings Peak (the highest point in Utah), which is part of the Uinta Mountain range. The Uinta Mountains are one of the few mountain ranges in the contiguous United States which run east-west, and are the highest range to do so.[5]
Within Duchesne, U.S. Routes 40 and 191 diverge, and the DD continues 55 miles south along 191 over another mountain pass to the city of Price. The numerous attractions surrounding Price include Nine Mile Canyon, College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Huntington Lake State Park, the Museum of the San Rafael, and the Buckhorn petroglyphs. Also nearby is the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, a prehistoric mud trap which resulted in the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur fossils in the world.[6]
Traveling 64 miles southeast along U.S. Route 191, the DD encounters the small city of Green River. Notable features surrounding Green River include the San Rafael Reef and Green River State Park. Also nearby is Crystal Geyser, a rare cold water geyser caused by the expansion of carbonized "soda pop" water within. Within Green River, U.S. Route 191 converges with Interstate 70 for a short while and diverges again, south towards the city of Moab.
Just south of the junction of U.S. Route 191 and State Route 128, the city of Moab features a number of nearby attractions. Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Dead Horse Point State Park, Newspaper Rock and Potash Road petroglyphs.
Leaving Moab, the DD continues north along State Route 128 to its terminus with I-70 in Cisco. Traveling east along I-70, passing the Rabbit Valley Dinosaur Quarry, before completing the "diamond" back in Grand Junction, Colorado.
[edit] History
The segment within Colorado was designated the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic and Historic Byway by the Colorado Transportation Commission on October 27, 1997. The segment within Utah was designated the Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway by the Utah State Legislature in 1998. The highway was approved as a National Scenic Byway in 2002.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c About the Scenic Byway. Dinosaurdiamond.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Dinosaur Diamond. Coloradobyways.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Mike, the Headless Chicken Fruita, Colorado. Roadsideamerica.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Dinosaur National Monument. Utah.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Kings Peak, Utah. Peakbagger.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. Utah's Castle Country. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
