Dinosaur Journey Museum

Dinosaur Journey Museum is located at 550 Jurassic Court in Fruita, CO (love the street name). It's one unit of the Museums of Western Colorado, the other two being the Museum of the West and Cross Orchards Historic Site. I highly recommend getting an annual membership so you can visit all three as often as you want. MWC sponsors all kinds of events and trips as well. But I digress.

Dinosaur Journey Museum is all about the geology and paleontology of western Colorado and surrounding regions. This area is dinosaur paradise for all you aspiring paleontologists out there. Dinosaur Journey has an impressive collection of skeletal casts and actual bones of many regional dinosaurs (some discovered right here in Mesa County), as well as geological displays, interactive exhibits, and a dinosaur library. So, without any more hyperbole from me, let's visit the museum.

"Dinomobile"

Dinosaur Journey Museum

Lectures at Dinosaur Journey

Dinosaur Journey Museum has an active research program, and will often invite visiting scientists to present a lecture or two. These lectures are generally free to the public and are VERY interesting.

Lecture Room

The Visible Allosaurus

Lecture at the museum

Once around the Exhibit Hall

Now for a short tour of the exhibit hall. Below are random photos of some of the exhibits. It would take the better part of a day to peruse everything in the museum.

This guy greets you as you enter the exhibit hall

Tyrannosaurus body parts

Velociraptor

Allosaurus fragilis

Big Amphibians display

Juvenile Camarasaurus

Stegosaurus stenops
Our state fossil

Supersaurus shoulder blade

Fossil preparation

Mymoorapelta maysi
Named after Mygatt-Moore quarry

Mezzanine view

Brachiosaurus leg and
pelvis bones

Green River Formation exhibit

Camarasaurus

Exhibit Hall from the mezannine

Special Exhibits

Every once in a while the Museum has a special exhibit. My guess is that these are on loan from other museums, but sometimes maybe they are part of Dinosaur Journey's own vast collection. I was fortunate enough to visit when there was a special exhibit called "Horns and Frills". I actually went for a lecture, and this was a bonus. The exhibit was mainly about ceratopsian dinosaurs (beaked dinosaurs with horns and frills), the most famous of which is Triceratops.

Horns and Frills exhibit

Pachyrhinosaurus skull

Utahceratops gettyi

Bravoceratops

Nasutoceratops

Kosmoceratops

Dinos in the Flesh

The Museum has lots of models of what dionosaurs presumably looked like in real life. Some of them are even action figures (kind of like dino animatronics).

Utahraptor

Up close and personal

Utahraptor in action

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus expectorating

Stegosaurus stenops

Stegosaurus

Fruitadens

Brachiosaurus

Young Rex

Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus

T Rex and Triceratops

Christmas at the Museum

A visit to Dinosaur Journey during the holiday season is an absolute must. Many of the dinosaurs are decked out in their best holiday outfits.

Camarasaurus

"Santa Claws"

No hat, but lots of garland