A Texas Dinosaur Adventure for Three Generations. Our most recent North Texas dinosaur adventure took place at Dinosaur World near Glen Rose. It was led by and energetic three-year-old with two of his older and more knowledgeable companions as aids. 

Glen Rose is a sleepy town south of Fort Worth but it offers a surprising number of terrific, screen-free activities for families including Dinosaur Valley State Park, Fossil Rim Wildlife Refuge and Dinosaur World. Add to the trio roadside stops for rock hounds, trail rides, and rodeo events. Pie Peddler at the center of town sells the most scrumptious pies including classic buttermilk, cocoanut caramel, and their famous pecan. The best stop for lunch is Storybook Café home of the dinosaur sandwich and of course delicious soups, wraps plus books, book, books. 

Here’s the scoop on dinosaurs. For young dinosaur lovers, Dinosaur World is heaven. Nestled among mesquite trees along paved, stroller friendly walkways there are dozens of replicas of dinosaurs, more than 150 in total hidden within the 20-acre complex. Like its Florida location the settings are distinctive allowing young minds to imagine using basic facts as a starting point. 

For example we discovered Rosie the Dinosaur lives in the park. The fact was confirmed to us by a young dinosaur expert and dad whom we met on the trail. And though we did not see any official Dinosaur World sign confirming Rosie’s presence, pictures on mobile devices have confirmed her location. (FYI: Rosie’s picture appears just above this paragraph.)  It was later explained to me that it was a secret so perhaps sharing it will cut me out of the loop.  

In addition to the dinosaur trail one of the most enjoyable activities of our day occurred at the interactive boneyard a sheltered place where scraping and sweeping always yields to discoveries.  It was the best activity for our three-year-old leader. Later in the morning we joined the official Fossil Dig a 15-minute staff led activity sand to find fossils and to choose three to keep. Possibilities for discovery include shark’s teeth and gastropods, stingray barbs and Mosasaur teeth. It was the perfect activity for our seven-year-old dinosaur experts. With choices in hand the attendant helped identify them for the each child patiently answering the same question more than once. 

We had an Excavation Pass so we also tried our luck at gem mining. The actual the sluicing is done from tables with sections of running water. Depending on the bag selection the results will be different but the possibility exists to find real minerals, arrowheads, and gems all of which the miner gets to keep. For older kids and adults this activity is definitely worth doing if just for the element of surprise as the gravel slides away and the gems appear.

  
At the end of our adventure after one more run along the dinosaur trail we took a peak at the collection of prehistoric dinosaur eggs, raptor claws and gems in the museum which serves as the entry way to Dinosaur World’s animatronic dinosaurs.  In the dimly lit room we saw Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus, Pteranodon, and Triceratops come alive. It was the scariest and most exciting part of the day for my young companions.

There is no food service available within the park but there are picnic tables adjacent to a small dinosaur themed play area so organizing a picnic or snack time is easy and I learned from a staff member that pizza delivery is available.

Like its Florida sister location the gift shop is a terrific spot for all things dinosaur plus fossils, minerals, castings of old bones and jewelry. I found staff members not just patient and helpful but also knowledgeable - a refreshing combination. For us it was an easy paced dinosaur adventure for three generations. 

Location on the planet. 1058 Park Road 59 Glen Rose, TX 76043.  

Make it happen. (254) 898-1526 or go to Dinosaur World Texas