Hog Canyon

Distance: 1.6 miles round trip
Elevation: 5,380 ft-5,508 ft
Elevation Gain: 128 ft
Dogs: Not allowed
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes
Tags: #pioneers, #hiking, #dinosaurs
Hikes nearby: Fossil Discovery Trail

Yellow Rabbitbrush as the start of the trail

Hog Canyon is a short trail on the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument. If you are visiting the Quarry and its wall of bones anytime in the spring or summer, then Hog Canyon is a must do. Its pastoral beauty will be a welcome change to the bare sediment of the rest of the monument. 

Entering the canyon

The Hog Canyon Trail wanders along the edge of a large rock wall and slowly up a small slot canyon until it dead ends. This is not a desert hike, however, but a stroll through an oasis that boasts a bubbling brook and a symphony of croaking toads and chirping insects. Toss in some dappled sunshine and grasses waving in a gentle breeze and you have a recipe that could save thousands in psychotherapy fees. That in itself may be worth the very long drive to Dinosaur National Monument.

Lovely summer grasses

Let me warn you however that in the event of a bird flu apocalypse, Hog Canyon is all mine! I intend to load up the car with a years supply of ramen noodles and beat feet to Utah. Not only is there a serviceable cabin on the premises, but a real spring for year round water. There are areas to graze and spots to garden. In fact the previous owner, Josie Bennet, lived there quite contentedly until the 1960s.

The trailhead to Hog Canyon is located 10 miles east of the Quarry Visitors Center at the end of Cub Creek Road.

Trail Through Time

Distance: 1.5 mile loop
Elevation: 4,514 ft
Elevation Gain: 200 ft
Bathroom at Trailhead: Yes
Dogs: Off leash
Tags: #coloradooutdoors, #dinosaurs, #westernslope, #wildflowers, #lizards
Other Trails in the area: Rabbit Ear's Trail, Utah Juniper

Dinosaur bones are visible on the Trail Through Time

Wander in the footsteps of Camarasaurus and Diplodocus on the "Trail through Time" near Fruita, CO. This is short paleontological trail contains visible dinosaur bones and fossilized plants along with modern day lizards and flowering cacti. 

Heading up the hillside

The Dakota Formation

150 million years ago this area was a swamp filled with bus-sized sauropods. Now those swamps are entombed as the Dakota formation, a conglomerate layer of rocks and sand. The trail describes this formation and through a series of interpretive signs, describes the Jurassic landscape.

A lizard basks in the sun

Looking south over the Rabbit Valley. The trail can be seen several hundred feet below.  

Views of the desert abound from the trail, which switchbacks up a small hillside. To the south is the La Sal mountains, which rise sharply out of the desert floor. These mountains are the remains of a "bubble" of hot molten lava that intruded into the thick sediments of the Colorado plateau 29 million years ago. Over the millennia, the surrounding sediments have eroded away, leaving these 12K ft peaks. That is a lot of erosion!

You get to this trail off of I-70 at exit 2. It is a short one mile drive to the trailhead. Brown tourist signs mark the way. This is the same exit as the Rabbit's Ear Trail with its stunning views of the Colorado River.

Claret Cup Cactus and other plants bloom in spring on the Trail Through Time  

Don't linger too long on this trail, however, or you may just join the dinosuars...preserved in rock for all time.

Heading back down