Yabba Dabba Doo: 1000's of years and 1000's of feet.

Many people have never heard of Vernal, Utah.  I don't blame them, for the most part.  Of course, most people haven't even heard of Utah!  Recently a friend introduced me to the Vernal area and I realized just how much of a hidden gem this location is.

Vernal Utah is over 3 hours drive east of Salt Lake City,  Utah. The drive is easy and uneventful.  There are several things to do in the area, more in fact, than I realized! We hit two main areas:  Dinosaur National Monument and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Dinosaur National Monument - 1000's of years
The actual monument area is one of a kind.  Not many people realize that Utah is one of the world's hotbeds for dinosaur bones and in prehistoric days Utah was the place to be - really!  I know it isn't now but things were different back then.  As a result, there are lots of fossil beds and areas with visible dinosaur bones.  I never imagined growing up that one day I could go somewhere and actually touch a real dinosaur bone which was just sticking out of the ground!

At the Quarry Exhibit Hall they have over 1500 bones visible and on display in their natural fossil bed area.  In addition they have lots of information on being an archaeologist and other types of scientists.  Its a ton of fun and makes Jurassic Park seem much closer to reality (well, okay, maybe not).  It didn't take longer than an hour to view this area but it was well worth it.

There are several hikes where you can see fossils as well as remnants of ancient civilizations in addition to settlers of the wild west.  I felt like the Flintstones were just around the corner, or at least the remains of Dino.  Doh!

The area is a wealth of history across literally eons of ages.

Flaming Gorge - 1000's of feet
North of Vernal, Utah about an hour is Flaming Gorge.  A dam was built in a deep ravine which created a beautiful 91 mile long lake in Utah and Wyoming.  The ledge of the canyon is 1400 feet above the water level at the Red Canyon overlook area.  There are several hikes which take off from this location which allow you to serpentine along the edge of the canyon peering down into the gorge just like you were a high soaring eagle.  It is an easy, level walk and you just go for as long as you want. We stopped along the way on a beautiful bend and just gazed down at the vista.  It is a spectacular vista.

All in all, this area has much more to see than anyone expects and in a way, that's great because there aren't any crowds and it really allows you to get away.  I just wish I had more time...I guess I saved some things for next time!

If you want to see additional pictures I've taken please visit my photo album at TrekkingTrego Public Gallery. All pictures are available for purchase.