If you are looking for a non-toy gift to give this Christmas I highly recommend going to Glen Rose, TX to hunt for fossils and dinosaur tracks. We have some dinosaur loving friends who invited us along on their reoccurring adventure to Dinosaur Valley State Park and had an amazing time during Thanksgiving break. I went to Dinosaur Valley in high school but don’t remember having this much fun hence the truth behind this…
We arrived Sunday evening and stayed until Tuesday afternoon. Here is our trip and a few packing recommendations for your trip to Dinosaur Valley.
Sunday evening: We arrived around 5pm and checked in for our dinosaur ‘glamping’ adventure. We absolutely adored staying at Anderson Creek Cabins. These four cabins are situated along a creek that has a 25 foot waterfall and it was just plain beautiful and relaxing. The cabins house 4-5 people comfortably and have a place for your own campfire, a fully stocked kitchen, a propane grill, and most importantly for glamping – a hot shower!
This is what we did the first evening – explored the waterfall, creek, and looked for fossils. 
Here is a small cave that is tucked away in the wall of the creek bed. It’s quite amazing to see the layer upon layer of sedimentary rock that makes up the creek.
That evening we warmed up next to a campfire and had a crock pot chili dinner and s’mores for dessert.
Make sure to pack: rain boots or water shoes, extra clothes, towels, lint for starting the campfire, warm waterproof jackets or swimsuit (if its summer), s’mores fixings, headlamps for night exploring, $10 change for firewood, hot chocolate, and flashlights
(Photo cred: Dinosaur Valley State Park)
Monday: Our main reason to go to Glen Rose was to find dinosaur tracks at Dinosaur Valley State Park. I don’t know how I managed to not get a picture of the park entrance but we were all so excited! I do recommend calling ahead to make sure tracks are visible along the riverbed. Depending on rainfall many of the tracks may not be visible. There is an option to get a guided tour, but we opted to check it out with our friends who were our very own park experts. 😉
The tracks at Dinosaur Valley are saurapod and therapod tracks. The therapod (three-toed) were originally discovered in 1908 by a 9 year old! And the saurapod tracks were the first to prove that the giant dinosaur walked on land. Standing there you can just imagine at one time the therapod may have been chasing the saurapod through the valley. It was mind boggling that here in present day Texas dinosaurs once roamed the earth!
We did a shallow (shin-deep) river crossing to get to these tracks and when the kids found one of the main track sites they couldn’t resist themselves and walked into the chilly water. Allie is standing in the giant sauropod track!
You can see the therapod tracks at the middle right of the picture above.
The water was a bit too deep and chilly for our three year old dinosaur tracker but she enjoyed being carried along the hiking trail.
There are several places in the park that have steps down to the riverbed. She enjoyed walking when she could and especially climbing up and down the stairs. Hold on to those little ones tight though – some areas can be a bit steep.
After we hiked the Valley we stopped and had our packed lunch at a playground in the park. By that point we were all as hungry as a sauropod! (Pun intended!)
Make sure to bring: A backpack, water, rainboots (preferably knee high for adults crossing the river – I found this out the hard way!), towels, change of clothes for the kiddos, hand warmers, small plastic bags to store wet clothes, and a packed lunch.
After a quick trip to a nearby grocery store, we went back to the cabins to explore Anderson Creek and hang out with our friends. We ended up grilling hamburgers and having a fire baked apple cobbler for dessert… hmmm… glamping!
Tuesday morning: Of course I took a few trips down to the creek by myself to commune with nature, drink my morning coffee, look for fossils, and relax.
Allie enjoyed finding fossils and heart shaped rocks along the creek bed.
Andrew enjoyed moving rocks to make a bridge across the creek.
We even found a giant crawfish!
Don’t forget to bring hot chocolate ’cause baby it was cold outside!
The kids enjoyed our cabin so much that they took their own pictures to remember it by.
We finished our trip in Glen Rose by enjoying hamburgers at The Green Pickle in town and would have walked around town more to window shop but we were headed south for Thanksgiving.
We are already planning our next trip and will try and visit the other attractions like Fossil Rim , Dinosaur World,and go on a short drive to Waco to see the Mammoth Museum.
We had an unforgettable time and I highly recommend giving this as a gift for yourself and your kids this Christmas! Call Anderson Creek Cabins.. book it now.. you’ll thank me later!
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