Dinosaur Valley State Park
Dinosaur Valley State Park | |
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dinosaur tracks in Dinosaur Valley State Park | |
Location | Somervell County, Texas |
Nearest city | Glen Rose, Texas |
Coordinates | 32°15′11.7″N 97°49′6.91″W / 32.253250°N 97.8185861°W |
Area | 1,524.72 acres (6.1703 km2) |
Established | 1972 |
Visitors | 243,001 (in 2022)[1] |
Governing body | Texas Parks and Wildlife Department |
Designated | 1968 |
Dinosaur Valley State Park is a state park near Glen Rose, Texas, United States.[2][3]
History
Dinosaur Valley State Park, located just northwest of Glen Rose in Somervell County, Texas, is a 1,524.72-acre (617 ha) scenic park set astride the Paluxy River. The land for the park was acquired from private owners under the State Parks Bonds Program during 1968 and opened to the public in 1972.[4] In addition to being a state park, it is also a National Natural Landmark.[5]
Eastward-dipping limestones, sandstones, and mudstones of the Glen Rose Formation were deposited during the early Cretaceous Period approximately 113 million years ago along the shorelines of an ancient sea, and form the geological setting for the park area. Over the last million years or so, these layered formations have been eroded, 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.[4]
Controversy
Near Dinosaur Valley State Park, in the limestone deposits along the
The family of George Adams, who claimed to have found human footprints in the Glen Rose Formation, later admitted that Adams' and some others' fossil footprints were a hoax.[8] Zana Douglas, the granddaughter of George Adams, explained that during the 1930s' Great Depression her grandfather and other residents of Glen Rose made money by making moonshine and selling "dinosaur fossils".[8] The faux fossils brought $15 to $30 and when the supply ran low, they "just carved more, some with human footprints thrown in."[8]
See also
References
- ^ Christopher Adams. "What is the most visited state park in Texas? Here's the top 10 countdown". KXAN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dinosaur Valley State Park
- List of Texas State Parks
- ^ a b "Texas Parks and Wildlife: Dinosaur Valley State Park". Archived from the original on June 22, 2005. Retrieved July 2, 2005.
- ^ "National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
Year designated: 1968
- ^ Morris, John (May 2013). "Paluxy River: The Tale of the Trails". Acts & Facts. 42 (#5): 12–14.
- ISBN 0-87893-659-9
- ^ a b c Kennedy, Bud (August 10, 2008). "Human footprints beside dinosaur tracks? Let's talk". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. B02.
External links
- Dinosaur Valley State Park, official website
- A guide to the state park by Glen J. Kuban.
- The Texas Dinosaur/"Man Track" Controversy by Glen J. Kuban from talk.origins
- Film footage of Dinosaur Valley State Park from Texas: The Beginnings, Part I on the Texas Archive of the Moving Image