UTAH Summer Fossil Dig

JUNE 27, 28, 29 2010

 3-Day Family Tour

Unbelievable fossil hunting, huge geodes to find and keep, topaz gemstone hunting, plus lots more! Call for details!!

Contact us at 1-800-411-DINO (3466) for more info.

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Check out the photos below from last summer
DINOSAURS ROCK Fossil Hunt & Dig
& Gemstone Hunt in UTAH
 

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Dear Neil, Leslie and the gang,

I wanted to thank you for the amazing time that we had. We have not yet stopped talking about it. The kids keep asking if we can go again next year!

Our box of wonderful keepsakes arrived last week and they are as beautiful to us as they were when we found them. We have great memories of the trip and hope to see you all again sometime. Thank you again for everything. You are a wonderful family and we are glad to have taken part in the Dinosaurs Rock experience!

Thanks for everything. We can only imagine how much work went into putting the trip together.

 Your friends,
 
Gayle, Mike, Julia and Jason 

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Jurassic Dinosaurs of Utah

The Morrison Formation

Day 1 started out with a drive through the most beautiful country and
through 6 miles of dirt road to reach our Dinosaur Dig - here we are before we start.

Walking and searching the ground for Dinosaur Bones.

DAY 2
HUNTING TRILOBITES

All the kids made friends very easily and worked together
to find some great fossils to keep and take home.

 
Parents had a great time discovering Trilobites as well.

DAY 3
TOPAZ GEMSTONES
GEODES
WONDERSTONE

Topaz and other minerals found at Topaz Mountain, Juab County

Topaz Mountain

Geologic Information: Topaz, Utah's state gem, is a semiprecious gemstone that occurs as very hard, transparent crystals in a variety of colors.

The topaz crystals at Topaz Mountain are naturally amber colored, but become colorless after exposure to sunlight. The crystals formed within cavities of the Topaz Mountain Rhyolite, a volcanic rock which erupted approximately six to seven million years ago (Tertiary Period) from volcanic vents along faults in the area.

Other minerals that can be found at Topaz Mountain are red beryl, amethyst, garnet, pseudobrookite, bixbyite, opal, and hematite.

These rocks didn't give up their cool gemstones easily!

Close up view of a geode embedded in the soft earth. 

Everyone was successful at finding really cool geodes
to keep and take home. 

Wonderstone in the Vernon Hills, Tooele County
 

Wonderstone found at Vernon Hills.

 

A striking feature of Vernon Hills wonderstone is its intricately folded bands that create colorful designs in cream, yellow-brown, and multiple shades of maroon.

Geologic information: The Vernon Hills wonderstone is a welded-vitric tuff (vitric means glassy) of rhyolitic composition. It is a volcanic rock composed predominantly of volcanic glass particles which have been welded or stuck together by heat and compacted by the weight of overlying material. Alteration of the rock by circulating ground water produced the colorful banding. The maroon and yellow-brown colors are due to the presence of iron oxides.
 

 

Sarah and I both had a marvelous time on the trip. The geology and scenery, especially on the first (mars-like) day, were so spectacular that they would have made the trip worthwhile even without the fossils. However, finding that femur, rib bone, etc. positioned to suggest a whole giant skeleton under the surface was a thrill of a lifetime! The trilobites, topaz, wonderstone, and geodes were also fantastic, as were all the little extras: the ancient amphibian tracks, the abandoned mars rover training site, the unexpected picnic by the lake. Sarah was delighted with everything -- including your prize raffles, the motel, and all the other children. In fact, she loved everything so much that she can't decide on any single favorite moment after the femur, and wants to go back again next year. Three days of adventure traveling with a child and not a single bad moment must be some kind of record. For me, I think the most fascinating thing was probably seeing the geodes embedded in the rock as round stone bubbles in their natural state. I learned a great deal on this trip, and even the flat tire we got on one of the unpaved roads on Day 2 turned out to be virtually painless, as the guides, the two of you, and all the members of the group were all so wonderfully kind and helpful. So thank you once again for designing and organizing this great experience, and I look forward to meeting again some time. All the best, Maude and Sarah

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 If you come with us on our next Dinosaurs Rock Fossil Dig in Utah, why not extend your time either before or after the dig with the following fun activities:

 
Thanks for traveling with us.