Follow in the Footsteps of Arizona’s First Natives

Arizona has long been a popular place to live, even before it was what it is today. To see some of its earliest inhabitants like early dinosaur species Poposaurs, Aetosaurs and Phytosaurs, follow their footprints in Tuba City (map) on the Navajo Reservation.

Dating back 245 million years, more recent types of dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus rex, Plesiosaurs and Dilophosaurus Wetherilli, the types featured in the movie “Jurassic Park” roamed the area.

It might seem as if all traces of these formidable former inhabitants are gone, but they’ve left their mark throughout the state in the form of dinosaur fossils in places such as Bisbee, Tombstone and Northern Arizona. There are so many fossils, in fact, that people who aren’t even looking for them find them. A student from the University of Arizona found the first-ever Sonorasaurus fossil while hiking in a remote canyon in Southeastern Arizona.

You can find an active “Dino dig” at almost any place in the state. And lucky for us Arizona museums are now making it a priority to keep the state’s fossil finds for local museums.  Visit the Arizona Museum of Natural History to learn about architechtural digs that are scheduled around the Southwest.

One of the best places to learn about Arizona’s dinosaur inhabitants is five miles outside Tuba City.  Follow in the footsteps of hundreds of three-toed tracks belonging to the horse-sized, plant-munching dilophosaurus preserved in the desert floor.

At one particular spot, evidence of a prehistoric struggle has been preserved. The ancient tracks tell of a dilophosaurus family meeting a T. rex. Judging from the fossilized evidence, the T. rex caused quite a bit of damage.  You’ll find fossilized smashed dilophosaurus eggs jutting out of the earth as well as the fossil of a downed adult dilophosaurus.  By the looks of the area, you’ll realize when looking closely at the sandstone a five-inch claw that the T. rex didn’t mean to leave behind.

At the Tuba City Trading Post (map) you can find a guide to the tracks as well as other ruins in the area. Whether with a guide or not, keep in mind that you are the guest of the Navajo and Hopi nations when in this area. There are specific rules as a tourist that need to be followed when you are on the reservation.

Here’s a chance to walk where dinosaurs once walked, by putting your feet in their prehistoric prints one step at a time.

Directions to trail: From Flagstaff, drive north of US89. Pass Cameron, and continue to the junction with US160. Turn right and climb the mesa. There will be a sign announcing the turn for Moenave, and a hand-painted sign for the Dinosaur Tracks. It’s about 4.9 miles between US89 and the turnoff for the dinosaur tracks. Turn left (north) onto the dirt tracks, BIA23. Park near the vending signs.

Photo courtesy of flickr