On the Hunt for Dinosaurs

Can’t get enough of all things Jurassic and Cretaceous? Or perhaps you have a little one who is dinosaur-obsessed? If so, check out the following recommendations to learn about some of the best places to see dinosaur fossils, models and murals.

Best Western Denver Southwest

Lakewood, Colo.

A statue of a Stegosaurus and a Pteranodon sternbergi weather vane greet guests at the entry of this AAA Three Diamond hotel, and the dinosaur theme carries throughout. The sitting area has a museum feel with dark wood and dinosaur skulls on display, while the breakfast area has replica fossils overhead. Murals of various dinosaurs and mammoths are painted in interior stairwells and on exterior walls. Your budding paleontologist will love the Jurassic dig pit where kids can identify fossils.

Dinosaur State Park

Rock Hill, Conn.

Under the geodesic dome at Dinosaur State Park are preserved dinosaur tracks believed to have been made by the Dilophosaurus, which measured about 20-feet long and resembled a Velociraptor. In the dome are also models and murals of dinosaurs from the Triassic and Jurassic periods, and in the Discovery Room young dinosaur enthusiasts can view several specimens. If you love unique souvenirs, bring supplies to make a cast of a footprint. When done at the dome, explore more than two miles of trails in the arboretum.

T-Rex Café

Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

If you are hanging out at Disney World and find that there simply are not enough dinosaurs in your life, head over to Disney Springs and have a meal at T-Rex Cafe, that will satiate your Jurassic cravings with options like “mastodon stuffed chicken,” “paleo shrimp” and “chocolate extinction.” Dine with pterodactyls, Triceratops and dinosaur skeletons or with a giant octopus and jellyfish at the under-the-sea bar. The Tyrannosaurus rex and woolly mammoth get lively during the regularly scheduled meteor showers.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Atlanta, Ga.

Travel back in time at the Giants of Mesozoic exhibit, set in Patagonia, Argentina. Skeletal casts of the four-legged, long-necked Argentinosaurus, the largest known dinosaur measuring at 123-feet long, and a Giganotaurus, the largest known meat-eating dinosaur which stood on two feet at a mere 47-feet long, are locked in battle while Pterodaustros and Anhangueras fly overhead. The Dinosaur Gallery has life-sized models and murals of the ancient reptiles that once roamed what is now Georgia, and outside at Dinosaur Plaza are bronze statues depicting a family of Laphorhothon atopus which look similar to Ducky in the Land Before Time cartoons.