-->

Navajo Dinosaur Trackway

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 0.4 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation: 4597 - 4600 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Dinosaur Tracks
Fee: none
Attractions: Dinosaur tracks, fossils, coprolite




The Navajo Dinosaur Trackway is located along Highway 160 on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Tuba City in northern Arizona. This site has one of the most extensive sets of dinosaur tracks in the world. Friendly Navajos offer personal tours of the site for no charge, although it is both customary and polite to leave an appreciative tip. Navajo artists and craftsmen display their wares and offer them at the lowest prices that we have seen anywhere in the southwest.



The site is located about 5 miles west of Tuba City on the north side of Highway 160. The parking area is about 100 feet from the highway. Our guide greeted us once we got out of our vehicle.


The number of tracks found here is mind blowing. We have gone to great lengths in the past to locate sites with only a single track and here we find so many tracks that there are tracks on top of tracks.


Our guide was careful to make sure we didn't miss anything. Here he pointed out a set of tracks of an adult dinosaur with a baby that was almost under foot.


In several places there were casts of fossils. One of them showed a skull with an eerie looking eye socket.


The tracks cover the entire area in this photo plus a lot more. Our guide told us that as the wind blows deposits of sand away even more tracks are revealed.


This picture is of an area that had large droppings of coprolite which in this case is fossilized dinosaur feces or dung.


The ground in another area was covered with fragments of dinosaur bones.


Browsing through the various crafts at each of the stands was almost as fun as the dinosaur tracks.


These are a few of the items that we purchased. The jewelry was crafted from turquoise, opal, hematite, jasper from the Grand Canyon, and various other semi precious stones.


The Navajo Dinosaur Tracks are easy to pass by. There isn't a big sign marking the turnoff and if you aren't watching for it you might be driving too fast to stop in time. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable so we thought he merited a $10 dollar tip. We were so impressed with the site that we are looking forward to stopping again the next time we are passing through the area. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.