Walk With a Geologist at Triceratops Trail
Walk with a Geologist at Triceratops Trail is a 2-hour walking tour of Triceratops Trail in nearby Golden, Colorado. The 1.5-mile, gravel hiking trail located one block east of 6th Avenue and 19th Street in Golden, winds between vertical walls of sandstone and into reclaimed clay pits. A professional or knowledgeable amateur geologist will lead the tour and highlight the many viewable dinosaur tracks, fossils, and impressions. Participants are responsible for their own transportation. This tour is designed for participants ages 16 and older.
Triceratops Trail has many viewable dinosaur tracks, but none more impressive than the large three-toed Tyrannosaur track and many four-toed Triceratops tracks. The tracks and traces are very different from what can be seen at Dinosaur Ridge, and the fossils are dated to the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, 68 million years ago.
Near the end of the trail at the edge of Hole #13 of the Fossil Trace Golf Course, the vertical sandstone wall is covered with large palm frond impressions, evidence of the Late Cretaceous climate of Colorado. This wet area was covered with palms, magnolia, and sycamore trees, and even low-lying ferns and herbs.
Participants provide their own transportation to Triceratops Trail in Golden, CO.
Tour Specifics
- $20 per person
- Tour is suggested for ages 16 and older
- 2 hours
- Admission to the Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur Ridge Main Visitor Center is included with each ticket
- Tour may be called off for active precipitation, temps below 32 degrees, or lack of registrations
- Appropriate attire: comfortable shoes, sun hats, sunglasses, removable clothing (windbreakers, fleeces, etc.)
- Bring water
- Minimum of 2 and maximum of 19 participants
Meeting Location
6th Avenue and 19th Street in Golden, Colorado
Park in the Colorado School of Mines Parking Lot A (In Google Maps, search for Jones Road Lot-A)
Tour Guides
Al Kleeb has had lifelong interest in both geology and paleontology which brought him to volunteer at Dinosaur Ridge a little over ten years ago. He has worked closely on local scientific projects with such internationally known geologists and paleontologists as Nora Noffke (Old Dominion University) and Martin Lockley (Professor Emeritus, CU Denver). Recently, Al has joined the Preservation Committee and has taken on the task of staining the tracks on the track site and implementing a program to train other volunteers to participate in track-staining, including through use of ropes and rappelling.
Larry Lens is a retired oil and gas geologist with 32 years at Amoco and BP. He has also been working with PetroSkills and continues to do contract teaching. Larry started volunteering with Dinosaur Ridge in 2020 and enjoys inspiring young people to be scientists by leading public tours, school programs and greeting our visitors every Wednesday in the exhibit hall as a docent.
Bob Mason is also retired from the petroleum industry where he worked for 42 years as an exploration geologist and has studied geology all over western US from Alaska to New Mexico, with emphasis on sedimentary rocks. Bob has been leading tours with us since 2019 and says that he “thoroughly enjoys teaching anyone of any age about the geology/paleontology of Dino-Ridge”.
Kermit Shields received his geology degrees and spent his professional career with Mobil Oil in a variety of production and exploration jobs in both domestic and international offices. After retiring, he became an active volunteer at both the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and at Dinosaur Ridge. Kermit was an active Board Director with Friends of Dinosaur Ridge from 2006-2021.
Bill Stone received bachelor and master of science degrees in geology and spent a career in the petroleum industry, exploring for and developing oil and gas reserves in the U.S. Bill began guiding tours at Dinosaur Ridge in 2018 and loves sharing its geological wonders with everyone.