Dinosaur Valley State Park

With a beautiful saturday forecast in store (low 70's, sun, no humidity), we decided to get the hell out of Dallas and ventured about an hour and a half southwest of DFW to a place called Dinosaur Valley State Park. Before heading out, we pondered whether to check the park's website to see if we might be disappointed, but figured 'what do we have to lose?'

The biggest surprise regarding our little adventure was how much of a difference in terrain and ecosystems there are just 90 min. from Dallas. By the time we got to the park, you'd have thought that we had ventured to New Mexico or Arizona. There was an overabundance of ugly, short, brush-like vegetation, and one could tell that the weather was probably less humid here than in Dallas on an average day. Oh yea, and there were hills! Not giant hills, but hills nonetheless (hey, we'll take what we can get).

So upon entering the park we immediately searched for the trail head. There was some stuff in the brochure about there being some dinosaur tracks or something like that...but it seemed to be swarmed with young families, so we opted for the trail from the start. We hit the trail, and within 5 minutes of starting our hike, Emily decided she needs to go the bathroom (typical female). Bathroom-break aside, we ended up hiking ~5 miles, and even managed to get some color while doing it. Not the prettiest of hikes in the history of hikes, but for us it was great just to get out of the city and get some fresh air into the lungs.

The highlight of the hike was in the first mile, in which the trail necessitates a river crossing (luckily there were some strategically placed rocks, some sturdier than others, to help us across).

Emily makes her way across the river

The rest of the trail meandered through some wooded areas, mostly a collection of dead trees and shrubbery, half dead trees and shrubbery, and just plain ugly, yet fully alive trees and shrubbery.

Upon leaving the park, we had two good laughs. The first was due to the obvious tourist trap/dinosaur museum that was right outside the exit. With all the young families we saw at the park, we couldn't help but wonder how many parents would be swindled into stopping there after leaving the state park. The second laugh was due to the obvious attempt by the locals to disprove the fossil record with the Creation Evidence Museum less than a mile away. If you dare, click on the link to this museum and read how humans and dinosaurs co-habitated! Such is the reality of life in north Texas. All in all, a decent hike on a beautiful day. Next weekend...the Creation Evidence Museum!

Next weekend's destination