Getting there - Lets meet in parking lot at 10am. Lunch after at Anthony's Pizza in Golden
Turn east off of 6th Avenue (Hwy 6) onto 19th Street in Golden. Parking is available by turning right just before the Stevinson Golden Ford on Jones Road.
From the parking area, you must follow the concrete bike path that parallels 6th Ave. for approximately 1/4 mile before reaching the trailhead for the Triceratops Trail. Walk towards 6th Ave. until you encounter the bike path, then turn left (south) and follow the path through the wooded area. You’ll see the trailhead for the Triceratops Trail on your left as you climb the hill from the wooded area.
Dinosaur
This half-mile hiking trail takes you to a time 68 million years ago. You may use this guide with the information on a series of interpretive signs along the route. This guide and the signs will assist you in interpreting the evidence (footprints, traces, and impressions) left by the dinosaurs, birds, mammals, insects, and plants from this very different, very swampy, habitat. At the third stop along this trail (the Geologic Overlook) you can view an interpretation of how the landscape of this area has evolved - from the Age of Dinosaurs (Mesozoic Era) to the present day Front Range you see before you.
All of the fossils that you can see at this site are called "trace fossils". Trace fossils are footprints, impressions and natural casts, not "body fossils" such as bones, teeth, and claws. Trace fossils left by living organisms are very useful in reconstructing the prehistoric world that these plants and animals lived in.
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