Dinosaur State Park

If you want to get a real life feeling of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park you should be in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum at Rocky Hill is spread over 63 acres of land and contains one of the largest Dinosaur Track sites in the country. The park is only 20 minutes from Hartford located at 400 West Street. Tourists come to visit this park from across the United States and also from abroad.

What is so unique about this park is that it contains Jurassic Fossil tracks in sandstone that date back to 200 million years. The first discoveries were made in 1966 by a bulldozer operator who was excavating land for a Government building. The site has become a National landmark from 1968.

At present there are some 500 tracks which are enclosed within an area of 55000 sq. foot. The remaining 1500 tracks are buried for preservation. The site tracks are called as Eubrontes tracks ranging from 10-16 inches in length. The fossil tracks also include Otozoum tracks which have clearly visible skin impressions of the huge land animals that lived millions of years ago.

The park also contains a life size Triassic diorama which is a reconstruction of a geologic formation. In addition there is an auditorium, a children’s discovery room and a gift shop. What intrigues us is the reality that gigantic animals roamed the planet even before our first ancestors were born. If you are on a trip to the United States visiting the Dinosaur State Park at Rocky Hill will be a great idea.