Dinosaur Valley State Park

by Yaozheng Zhang

Dinosaur Valley State Park is located northwest of Glen Rose, Somervell County—a two-and-a-half-hour drive from downtown Dallas. It is a big scenic state park along the Paluxy River. Stones along the shorelines of an ancient sea from over 113 million years ago form the geological setting for the park area. According to the history of Dinosaur Valley State Park, "over the last million years or so, these layered formations have been dissected and sculpted by the Paluxy River which, in many places, has cut down to resistant beds and planed off sizable exposures of rock in the river bottom.” If you need more information about the park, check the official website at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/dinosaur.

Since I first heard about the history of Dinosaur Valley State Park, and that it has some of the best-preserved dinosaur tracks in the world, going to this park is what I have always wanted to do. On a sunny day of July 2006, finally, my friend and I went camping at Dinosaur State Park. We spent the next day for our trip. Dinosaur State Park is a good place for camping. I was there the night before and camped there, watched the stars in the sky, sang songs along grilled barbecue and enjoyed time with nature. In the next morning, we woke up early and spent the whole morning exploring the areas of Dinosaur Park. There are two sculptures of different kinds of dinosaurs standing in front of the entrance, as shown in the pictures. I cannot tell the name of them, but I can tell they lived in different time periods. Next to the admission office, there is a small museum about dinosaur. We saw pictures of a variety of dinosaurs and a brief history of the dinosaurs too. As we continue walking, there is the famous Paluxy River. We crossed the river in order to observe the tracks of dinosaurs. The dinosaur tracks are located in the riverbed, if you want to observe all the views of the dinosaur track, you have to check on river conditions in order to see them clearly. Some of the tracks are underneath the river; some of them are obvious by the riverside. Some tracks are deep; you can tell which kind of dinosaurs they are. Two fiberglass models are "a 70-foot Apatosaurus" and a "45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex", as we can see from one of the pictures I took. From those tracks, we could not explain what kind of dinosaur they are since I am not an expert. From my visualized track, I tried to imagine what environment ancient dinosaurs lived in. Some tracks proved dinosaurs were fighting, running, and chasing each other.

I was hiking for four hours after observing dinosaur tracks; there are some beautiful sites along my hiking trip, The Paluxy River runs through the area, and there are natural plants all around. Plants like Ashe Juniper, Live Oak, Texas Red Oak, Texas Ash and Mesquite, and various grasses and shrubs decorate the ground. Tree species found in the area mainly include American Elm, Cedar Elm, Texas Sugarberry, Burr Oak, and Green Ash. In well-watered zones along the river, the woodlands are made up of pecan, walnut, cottonwood, sycamore, black willow, and several kinds of shrubs and vines. There are a lot of cacti on the ground. What amused me is cactus with flower on the ground. I liked it so much so that I can not help to take pictures of it.(there is a picture showed)  The are also many species of both resident and migrant birds, including the endangered Golden-Cheek Warbler and the Black-Capped Vireo, along with wild turkeys. Waterfowl are sometimes seen near ponds and slack water pools. Mammals wandering the park include white-tailed deer, coyote, bobcat, raccoon, beaver, skunk, opossum, armadillo, fox squirrel, rabbit, and small rodents. I saw a deer that was running. He seemed not scare human. When I was staring him, he stared at me same time. I guess he already made friends with humans. (There is a picture attached) There are also several kinds of lizards and snakes, with a variety of fish living in suitable portions of the river. I truly enjoyed the beauty of nature as I walked past a variety of trees, heard the singing of birds when they were flying over the sky, and enjoyed the spectacular view upon the hill of the trail that I hiked. They offer many trials for hiking, but I am glad I chose the uphill climb, for the reward was unforgettably beautiful. I can see the all the trees, roads and the river the same time. What a beautiful view!

Dallas and Fort Worth areas are really a modern city view, it is rare we can enjoy the natural beauty scene, see dinosaur tracks, and observe some interesting history of dinosaurs. Dinosaur State Park is a good getaway travel site and it also attracts a lot of people who love nature and history. Let us gather together and explore the Dinosaur State Park and have a wonderful adventure of a dinosaur trip!

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