Moab Giants Dinosaur Park is for Kids of All Ages.

Moab Giants Dinosaur Park

112 W, SR 313
Junction of Route 191 and 313
Moab, Utah, 84535

Email: E-mail: darek@moabgiants.com

Website: http://moabgiants.com/

Hours of Operation: 
Seven Days a Week
10am to 6pm

The Moab area, in fact all of Grand County, is famous for the Paleolithic discoveries within the many levels of sandstone formations, as well as the desert sands.  A long time coming to Moab is a museum dedicated to these finds; also a research facility to house artifacts and aid those who study them. 

Well, that time has finally arrived, welcome to Moab Giants Dinosaur Park!  The 44-acre park includes outdoor walking paths with life-size dinosaur replicas, a museum, two theaters, a café, and storage facility for artifacts. It will also act as a facility for researchers, and promote the preservation of paleo artifacts and findings.  Moab Giants is the dream child of Polish paleontologist Gerard Gierlinski, and is part of the Paleo-Safari project, an organization that is dedicated to the study and preservation of dinosaur tracks throughout the world. Paleo-Safari has already constructed several similar parks around the world which have become highly successful. Moab Giants also has the support of the Polish Geological Institute, several international paleontological organizations and the University of Colorado.

Pre-opening day was Tuesday, September 1, 2015; the Grand Opening will be March 1, 2016; I and a friend were lucky indeed to get there for the pre-opening.  The large parking lot was already half full by the time we arrived at 12 Noon.  Walking through the gates, friendly staff members were there to answer questions and direct you.  Now all of the exhibit areas are not ready, but they will be opened up to the public upon completion.

Looking out over the park, it's hard to resist not immediately going to play; but to the museum we wandered.  The Tracks Museum is an interactive museum with many examples of fossilized discoveries, detailed informational plaques, and computerized consoles.  There is also a game area for one to two players, depending on the game chosen.

Watch Out!

After the museum, it's recommended you see the short film at the Gateway Theater which is a 3D theater.  The Paleo-Aquarium is a 5D experience where aquatic creatures of the paleo eras will be seen up close and personal; it was not ready for viewing at the pre-opening.

Now comes the truly fun part, the Dinosaur Trail and "Dig It Out" sand pits.  Feast your eyes (no touching allowed) on life sized recreations of dinosaurs that lived throughout the various eras.  The informational boards are outstanding, giving details galore on each creature.  This trail was a half mile loop, but as the other trail sections are developed, there will be longer walks with many other surprises around every bend.  The "Dig It Out" sand pits have recreated bones and plates from various species for you to uncover, touch and hold; this is the only touching area along the walking trails.

Y'all Come Back Now, Y'hear.

Dig It Out sand pits.

Dinosaur Replicas Created by Dino-
Products of Poland

A Living Descendant - A Dragonfly.

To exit the park, go through the gift shop (with hard to resist good things to buy), or step into the café for a cold drink, or light meal.

Wow, this was an awesomely fun experience; wait till the Grand Opening in March 2016; it's going to be stupendous!!

Mary Cokenour

The Shafer Trail - Canyonlands to White Rim Junction - Part One

Route 313, eleven miles north of Moab, leads you to places that, well simply take your breath away.  Merrimac and Monitor Butte are an eyeful of wonderful.  There is Dead Horse State Park known for its famous "gooseneck", and where the Grand Canyon scene from the movie "Thelma and Louise" was actually filmed. Then there is Canyonlands National Park - Islands in the Sky", and it is absolutely one of the most gorgeous areas to visit. Part of Islands is the overlook of Shafer Canyon and the Shafer Trail; but you can also drive the Shafer Trail to either Potash Road (Route 279), slightly north of Moab; or venture deeper into the canyons via the White Rim Trail.

Merrimac and Monitor Butte

This is going to be a three part write up; Part One - the start in Canyonlands to the Potash Road/White Rim Trail junction; Part Two will be from the junction to Potash Road; Part Three will be the White Rim Trail up to Musselman Arch.

Lets go with a little warning first; 4 wheel drive is a must!  While the road from Canyonlands to the junction is well maintained; afterwards, yeah, not so much.  There are rocks, rutted spots, pieces of missing road, and a riverbed or two you need to drive on, not cross, but into and along until you reach a trail again.  We did see a couple of cars start from the other entrance via Potash Road and wished them a lot of luck; I bet the owners were driving rentals, or had really good auto mechanics.  By the way, it even states on the information boards that 4 wheel drive is a must; so I'm not making this all up to scare you off.  What visitors to Grand and San Juan Counties don't understand, or want to understand I feel sometimes, is that the roads were made around the landscape; the landscape was not changed to make the roads convenient.


History of Shafer Trail from Information Board

Alright then, after showing our annual park passes at the guardhouse, a quick rest stop at the Visitors Center, and onto the Shafer Trail we drove.  When you get that first sight of the vista ahead of you; stopping and staring is a given.  The day we did this adventure, a storm was moving in from the southwest; funny, when we did Canyonlands for the first time last year, a storm from the southwest was coming in.  Anyway...

For the most part, the road is smooth dirt and wide for two vehicles to pass each other; there are pull in spots when the road narrows to allow one vehicle to go, while the other waits.  Basically being polite and patient when other vehicles are around will make for a safer and happier ride; really folks, leave the road hogging/raging at home.  We knew this was going to be an all day adventure, so took our time to explore our surroundings.




Halogeton (Goosefoot family)

Waves carved into walls by wind and water.

Now Roy and I usually take picnics with us when it's an all day trip; this time we were in the mood for Burger King...it happens, get over it!  Being the characters that we are, we decided to take a photo of our hands holding our sandwiches with Shafer Canyon as our backdrop.  I did send the photo to the Burger King head office, but still have not heard from them; most probably won't.  There is a large pull in area at this curve in the road, so plenty of room to picnic and enjoy the outstanding view.




















We could see the overlook up above us, so knew what was in store once we began driving again.  See, when you first begin traveling the Shafer Trail, you don't feel as if you're traveling downward very much until you turn a corner and see how far below the walls you are.  As you pass under the overlook though, there is no doubting you're going down, down, down...to Goblin Town; well not really.  Lovers of the movie, "Labyrinth" will get the reference.  I don't know about you, but I love the descents; that's when my adrenaline really gets pumping!

Before you know it, you're at the bottom, looking back up, and saying, "Holy sh*t, I can't believe we just did that!!!" 

Then you look ahead and wonder about what's next.



Looking towards the White Rim Trail

Shafer Trail to Potash Road, Moab

The junction; straight ahead takes us down the White Rim Trail; to the left, the Shafer Trail continues until it reaches Potash Road, Moab.


One last look at where we had come from before moving onward.

Part Two will be the Shafer Trail to Potash Road; but that's not exactly what we did.  We did a portion of the White Rim Trail, but I'm going to make you wait for that.  Yes, I can be evil, very evil.  Muhahahaha.

Mary Cokenour