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Morrison Formation
INTRO:
Named for the Colorado town close to where it was discovered, the Morrison Formation is comprised of layers of sediments that were formed 150 million years ago. In those Late Jurassic deposits were found the first evidence of dinosaurs in the Western United States, as well as several specimens that were the first of their kind of ever discovered.
FOSSILS:
Since its original discovery in the late 1800's, the Morrison Formation has been found to cover a large area of the western states (1.5 millions square miles), with thousands of bones of many hundreds of individual dinosaurs being revealed. There have also been a variety of other reptiles, amphibians, fishes and small mammals found. The center of this activity historically was the Dinosaur Ridge, which has been home to dozens of excavations that have provided many high-quality dinosaur displays for museums around the world. However, there have been many digs of the formation at Bone Cabin, Wyoming; Canon City, Colorado; Cleveland-Lord Quarry, Utah; Como Bluff, Wyoming; Dry Mesa Quarry, Colorado and Dinosaur National Monument, Utah.
ACTIVITIES:
The diminutive Morrison Natural History Museum recounts the 1877 dinosaur discoveries on nearby Dinosaur Ridge and gives one the chance to learn about reclaiming fossils from rock. East of the Ridge, you can see Dinosaur Tracks (from the species Iguanodontid), while on the west side is the Dinosaur Bone Quarry. The Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center is at the bottom of the ridge, and they offer guided tours. Known as the 'Dinosaur Graveyard,' Como Bluff is probably the most famous of the Morrison Formation sites next to the Dinosaur National Monument (at least partially because of the 'war' fought between two fossil collectors). And while the site is largely empty and closed to the public, the Como Bluff Fossil Cabin Museum has a great collection of fossils and artifacts, and in fact is constructed entirely of dinosaur bones.
LODGING AND RESTAURANTS:
The town of Morrison (five minutes south of the Dinosaur Ridge) has several sit-down restaurants, the refurbished Red Rocks and the large and exotic Fort Restaurant being the most notable. There is a Doubletree Inn and Hampton Hotel close by as well. A few miles from Como Bluff, Medicine Bow National Forest has a number of campgrounds, and the Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow offers warm beds.
PLAN YOUR VISIT:
The Morrison Natural History Museum is open from 10:00am and to 5:00pm in the summer, but it closes an hour earlier the rest of the year. It is closed on Sunday and Monday. The guided tours of Dinosaur Ridge are offered year round, though call a few weeks in advance ((303) 697-3466) and expect to put down a deposit for groups of up to 12. The Como Bluff Fossil Cabin Museum is only open during the summer.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Who discovered the Morrison Formation? In 1877, Arthur Lakes discovered a stunningly large 33-inch vertebra near Morrison, Colorado. Shortly thereafter dinosaur fossils were found in Canon City and at Como Bluff, and then 30 years later the remains that would turn into the Dinosaur National Monument were found near Vernal, Utah.
Where can I get more information and facts about the Morrison Formation? The Morrison Natural History Museum (http://town.morrison.co.us/mnhm/) and the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge (http://www.dinoridge.org/) both have web sites.
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