Dinosaur tracks and Corona Arch make for a rocking vacation

After a hike in Arches National Park two days before that was four times as long, it was nice to give our feet a rest on Sunday with a short, three-mile roundtrip hike at Corona Arch outside of Moab, Utah. 

That was after we stopped to climb Potash Road Dinosaur Rocks and Petroglyphs to view dinosaur tracks from the Early Jurassic Period - about 190 million years ago. The tracks we saw were on a rock slab that had fallen from higher up. The part where the dinosaurs left tracks - about 10 animals in total - had been preserved by other rock covering it until it fell and split open. The larger tracks on the slab were from a dinosaur that was about twice as big as a human, while the smaller tracks were from ones about the size of a turkey. The dinosaurs were moving about 3 mph when they left the markings. 

Also along this stretch on Utah Highway 279, we stopped to view rock art right alongside the road, where many people also just park their vehicles to get out and climb (although not on the preserved rock art). The art was created by Native Americans between 6000 B.C. and 1300 A.D.

I really loved and recommend the hike to Corona Arch on Bureau of Land Management land. Formerly known as Little Rainbow Bridge, the Arch got a reputation on YouTube as a place where people would swing from a rope they would attach to the massive arch. That seems terrifying to me because where I took that photo above from, it was very windy and there was a straight, very long drop down to the Colorado River and train tracks below. In 2013, a man miscalculated his rope swing and smashed to his death. Now, rope swinging from the arch is prohibited, at least for now.

We finished our vacation with a night in Grand Junction, Colorado, which has a lovely downtown with lots of shops, restaurants, and funky statues. It's the home of Colorado Mesa University. Then we flew back home out of tiny Montrose/Telluride airport.