150 million years ago a herd of Apatosaurus (aka Brontosaurus) meandered along a muddy shoreline of a massive inland lake in southeast Colorado, munching on prehistoric plants along the way, they were oblivious to the deep footprints they were leaving behind that would endure the test of time and one day allow me to walk this same path in a distant future they couldn’t begin to imagine. This is Dinosaur Lake, the largest collection of dinosaur tracks in North America. With some 2000 footprints of Apatosaurus, Allosaurus and others, there are over 200 individual tracks to behold in this quarter mile area some 5 miles from the nearest trailhead.
Just south of La Junta, the dried lake shoreline straddles the Purgatoire River through Picket Wire Canyon in the Comanche National Grasslands. Accessed via the Picket Wire Trailhead, while this is an 11.2 mile round trip, the canyon itself along with the many historic artifacts along the way are worth the trip.
From these tracks uniquely it was learned that the herbivore sauropods traveled in herds including family groups, traveling in a line westward along the lake. The meat-eater Allosaurus likely came through at different times stalking them, but being smaller at 4 tons and 25 feet long, they may have had their tiny hands full trying to bring down the 33 ton, 70 foot long Apatosaurus, some getting as big as 98 feet and 40 tons! Their tracks dart in and out as if they were chasing prey. Long before the uplift of the Rocky Mountains, these Jurassic dinosaurs roamed the massive shallow brackish lake which was surrounded by a conifer forest with ferns along the shoreline.
Near the tracks lies a replica of an Apatosaurus shoulder bone that was unearthed in a nearby quarry in 2008. About half of the full skeleton was found in that quarry.
Dinosaur tracks alone make this trek worth it, but there are some fascinating historical sites to see along the 5 mile journey. This canyon was once settled in the 1870’s through1890’s by several Hispanic families trying to make a go of ranching and farming the valley over a couple generations. Remnants of this past include old fence post lines and stone walls marking boundaries between the ranches, old corrals, wells, and house foundations of adobe of rock.
But even more telltale of the rough lives these settlers had is a small catholic cemetery and one room Delores Mission whose property it sits on was sold to the Catholic Church in 1889 for $1 (later it was donated back to the US Forest Service). The cemetery tells the story of three young children who died between 1895-1900, their hand-etched gravestones still standing.
Behind the cemetery, the rock walls of the mission still stand with a handmade wooden cross laying against the back wall.
Up the hill from this location is something rather geologically amazing, a natural stone amphitheater made from an eroded rock, perfectly turned on end to function as a clamshell to project a speaker’s voice out to the surrounding field. I can only imagine that once a preacher delivered his sermon or a eulogy here to a congregation sitting in the natural rock-walled field in front of it.
So it may be quite a long hike, or bike, for a person to take, but seeing this canyon in all of its natural and historic (and prehistoric!) beauty is well worth putting on your bucket list of places to see. Happy hiking!
One reply on “Dinosaur Lake, Picket Wire Canyon, La Junta, Co.”
Thanks for taking me on a wonderful and stark journey through history and prehistoric times. I wonder if those dinos were upset at having muddied their feet?