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

  
Here’s the scoop. From still active dig sites near Fruita and cool hallways in Denver where giant skeletons loom to fascinating exhibits which display the most recent theories on dinosaurs, Colorado offers plenty of ways to create a dino trip. From the dusty digs sites near the Four Corners to awesome fossils at Dinosaur National Monument, dinosaur lovers and their families have a chance to get up close and personal with prehistoric history and the world when dinosaurs roamed. Assembled below are a few of the best places to vacation with dinosaurs in Colorado. Additional dinosaur places in the Rocky Mountain States of Utah, Wyoming and Montana are posted on a separate page. 

Denver - Travel through time-starting 3.5 billion years ago.  The Museum of Natural History features an impressive timeline connecting the science of life with creative dioramas, and displays of ancient mammals with prehistoric man. See skeletons of Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, Coelophysis, and Lambeosaurus and learn how they fit into the evolution of the planet. It is also possible to watch paleontologists at work as they prepare fossils using modern technology to decipher and establish origins and timelines. Bonus points: Touch carts allow visitors to touch and feel a variety of fossils and the cart keepers are prepared to answer questions. (2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80205. (303) 322-7009 or toll-free 1-800-925-2250 or www.dmnh.org)

 
Fruita - Dig for dinosaurs. The Museum of Western Colorado's Dinosaur Journey is at the heart of Colorado’s dinosaur country. The museum hands-on, interactive museum focuses on the history of life in western Colorado and surrounding area and houses a collection of authentic fossils, cast skeletons, and robotic reconstructions of dinosaurs. The working laboratory onsite prepares bones and fossils for the exhibition and scientists study dinosaurs and other animals. Kids enjoy the simulated earthquake ride and the hand-on sandbox. Lids are encouraged to make their own dinosaur tracks and comb through the “quarry site” to uncover Jurassic dinosaur bones. Bonus points: The museum conducts day digs well suited to adventurous families as well as three and five day excursions to quarry sites in Colorado and Utah. Wait for it! Each September the museum hosts Dinosaur Days with engaging activities which effortlessly combine fun and learning. (550 Jurassic Court, Fruita Colorado 81521. (970) 858-7282 or Dinosaur Journey Museum)

 
Dinosaur - See the best old bones ever. Dinosaur National Monument is the location of one of the richest dinosaur bone beds ever uncovered. The Dinosaur Quarry Exhibit Hall features more than 1,500 dinosaur fossils still encased in the rock including the remains of Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodicus, and Stegosaurus bones. During the summer months it is possible to drive into the world-famous Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry to see even more specimens. The 80-foot long mural reveals the story of the area during the late Jurassic period. Bonus points: Park staff offer talks, walks, and junior ranger programs as well as conducting evening and night sky viewing programs. Wait for it! There are several places where it is possible to touch 149 million-year-old dinosaur fossils. (4545 E. Highway 40, Dinosaur, CO 81610-9724. (970) 374-3000 or www.nps.gov/dino)