Rocky Mountain States Best Places to Vacation with Dinosaurs and Kids. Add a dimension of time travel to your family vacation with a creative connection to the Jurassic and Cretaceous complete with skeletons, fossils and awesome dig sites.

  
Here’s the scoop. From still active dig sites to cool hallways in which immense skeletons loom, to fascinating exhibits which display the most recent theories on lifestyle this list sums them all up. From sunny Utah with its ageless beauty to dusty digs in Montana awesome spots in Wyoming, dinosaur lovers and their families have a chance to get up close and personal with natural history. Assembled below are a few of the best places to vacation with dinosaurs in Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. The best Colorado dinosaur locations have been posted on a separate page. 

Wyoming: Thermopolis – See Jimbo, a Supersaurus.  The Dinosaur Center complex includes a world-class museum, dinosaur dig sites, a preparation laboratory and an incredible gift shop. See the evolution of ancient life, from the most primitive forms to the birth of dinosaurs. In the Hall of Dinosaurs lies "The Thermopolis Specimen" the only Archaeopteryx in North America, "Jimbo" a Supersaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs ever mounted, "Stan" a 35-foot T-Rex and a mounted Triceratops. Browse among more than 30 mounted skeletons including Allosaurus, a very rare Archaeopteryx, a fossil fish from Scotland, flying reptiles from Brazil, dinosaurs from China and marine reptiles from several continents. Take a bus to the 500-acre dig site and watch paleontologists unearthing dinosaur bones. Bonus points: When weather cooperates the “Dig for a Day” program is offered seven days a week from late May to October. Wait for it! The Wyoming Dinosaur Center was chosen as one of Life Book "Dream Destinations - 100 of the World's Best Vacations." (110 Carter Ranch Road, Thermopolis, WY 82443. (307) 864-2997 or www.wyodino.org/)

Montana: Bozeman - Meet Big Mike the T. rex.  The Museum of the Rockies is also a world-renowned as a dinosaur research center and home to the most T. rex specimens anywhere in the world as well as many other one-of-a-kind dinosaur bone specimens. Dinosaur fossils in the collection were found in Montana rocks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Some of the most popular dinosaurs in the world including Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Deinonychus (very similar to Velociraptor) are on display. Bonus points: To make the museum experience more interesting for youngsters a Kidspace logo identifies touchable fossils. (600 W. Kagy Blvd., Bozeman, MT. (406) 994-DINO, (406) 994-2251 or www.museumoftherockies.org)

Montana: Glendive - Vacation where dinosaurs roamed. If an authentic dig experience makes sense for your family then Baisch’s Dinosaur Digs is definitely and option. They conduct dig excursions from April through October on private ranch land near Makoshika State Park. The eroded gumbo of the Hell Creek geological formations are fossil rich so any summer trip will be hot and dusty but rewarding.  Experienced guides provide instructions for success and show participants how to excavate, prepare and cast exceptional finds. Tools and supplies for collecting are supplied. Bonus points: With some exceptions, participants are allowed to keep the fossils found during their dig. Here’s the deal! Children younger than 12 years of age may hunt for free. (Baisch Ranch Glendive, Montana. (406) 365-4133 or www.dailydinosaurdigs.com) 

Utah: Salt Lake City, See dinosaurs only found in Utah. The Museum of Natural History’s Past Worlds exhibition has a diverse fossil collection including the largest number of specimens from the world-famous Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. More than 30 skeletal castings are on display including Allosaurus, Barosaurus, Catosaurus and Stegosaurus in full skeletal mounts plus Gryposaurus (duck-billed) dinosaur made of original fossil material, and the world’s only display of 14 Ceratopsian (horned) dinosaur skulls. Visitors are encouraged to become a part of Utah’s Late Cretaceous and Eocene and viewing life in displays that capture plant and animal diversity, sights, sounds, and smells of the time. Visitors are encouraged to solve mysteries; be a paleontologist for a day in our dinosaur dig; be a guest at an Ice Age dinner party. Bonus points: Find your own way through the galleries, using your smartphone as your guide. Wait for it! Access to the University of Utah portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is outside the Museum's front doors. (301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108.  (801) 581-6927 or UMNH Past Worlds  

Utah: Blanding – Feathered dinosaurs, really? The theme of the Dinosaur Museum in Blanding is global. The specimens and sculptures onsite span the globe and include a Herrerasaurus from Argentina and a Plateosaurus from Germany. The museum presents a history of the world of the dinosaurs through skeletons, fossilized skin, eggs, footprints, state-of-the-art graphics, and realistic sculptures.  View the results of the latest in dinosaur skin research; see dinosaur eggs from around the world, and the baby Protoceratops and Maiasaura sculptures. Bonus points: View the dinosaur connection in popular movies and see the changes made over the decades. (754 South 200 West Mohab, Utah 85411. (435) 678 – 3454 or www.dinosaur-museum.org)

 
Images contributed by the Museum of the Rockies and Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis. Text researched and compiled by Nancy Nelson-Duac, Curator of the Good Stuff for the family Travel Files.com.  Copyright updated 2017.