It’s time to start dreaming of your next family trip. Here’s some destination inspiration for you. Take a visual journey through these U.S. fossil sites and museums with us.
On the border between Colorado and Utah, Dinosaur National Monument contains more than 800 paleontological sites, with fossils of various dinosaurs, including a Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. The area also features petroglyphs from the Fremont peoples, who inhabited the region between 200 and 1300. © Jarcosa | Dreamstime.com
The American Museum of Natural History in New York City teems with exhibitions across various studies, from rocks and minerals to fossils to plants and animals. The museum’s fossil halls include the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex fossil in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, as well as fossils of primitive and advanced mammals. © Anastassiya Bornstein | Dreamstime.com
Located in North Carolina, Aurora Fossil Museum showcases fossil collections recovered from the nearby phosphate museum, as well as donated fossils from around the world. Displayed fossils from the local mine date to about 18–22 and 2.5–5 million years old, with an especially impressive display of the teeth of an extinct great white shark species. © Tracey Cullen
Within Badlands National Park lie the fossilized remains of many Oreodonts, an extinct herbivorous mammal closely related to camels and pigs. These creatures roamed about 35 million years ago, and they are one of the most common fossil finds in this park. © Tamifreed | Dreamstime.com
Did you know trees can become fossils, too? At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado, you’ll witness both plant and insect fossils. Research indicates the area was once a lake environment, and these fossilized remains date to the Eocene period around 34 million years ago. Large, petrified tree stumps are often an extinct sequoia tree species. © Mkopka | Dreamstime.com
La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in Los Angeles. For thousands of years, natural asphalt bubbled up from the ground, trapping and preserving bones of animals. Excavated remains found in the pits include a saber-toothed cat, dire wolves, a giant ground sloth and even a Columbian mammoth (on display in George C. Page Museum). © Sunburntblogger | Dreamstime.com
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