Picket Wire Canyonlands in the Comanche National Grasslands. Home to the largest tracksite from dinosaurs in North America!
The canyon descent provides stunning views of the Purgatoire River and the surrounding mesas.
Visitors pass some colorful rock formations along the drive.
On select weekends in the spring and fall, adventurers with a 4WD vehicle can reserve a US Forest Service guided auto tour into the Picket Wire Canyonlands (https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/recreation). Located in the Comanche National Grassland south of La Junta is the largest dinosaur trackway in North America. The Purgatoire River site features more than 1,300 dinosaur tracks from Sauropod (very large, four-footed, herbivorous, with long necks and tails), Theropod (bi-pedal, carnivorous) and Ornithopod (bi-pedal, herbivorous) dinosaurs.
Allosaurus track with representative dinosaur.
US Forest Service Ranger guides provide context to the geology, biology and paleontology of the site.
Visiting the site after a rainstorm helps make the prints stand out across the quarter mile of exposed trackways. Exploring the site with a ranger helps visitors spot the different types of prints and the overlapping trackways. While the dinosaur tracks are the highlight of the Picket Wire tour, visitors also see geological formations, Native American rock art, the remains of the Dolores Mission Church and Cemetery, and the restored Rourke Ranch site.
Brontosaurus trackway accessed by crossing the river on foot.
One of the pictograph sites in the canyon.
Scientists can estimate the dinosaurs’ size by measuring the footprint and the stride length. In this trackway, small and large prints indicate a juvenile walking with an adult.
Intersecting trackways seen from above.
The eight-hour tour takes visitors back 150 million years to glimpse the internationally renowned “Jurassic Park.” Visitors may choose other options to explore the site such as hiking or biking 5.6 miles (11.2 miles round trip) from the Withers Canyon Trailhead. For more information on the site, visit the Forest Service website (https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/destination/picket-wire-trail).
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