Dinosaur State Park offers one of the largest dinosaur track collections on the East Coast

Connecticut's Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill is home to one of the largest collections of best-preserved dinosaur tracks on the East Coast.

News 12 Staff

Jul 15, 2021, 5:21 PM

Updated 1,240 days ago

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Connecticut's Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill is home to one of the largest collections of best-preserved dinosaur tracks on the East Coast.
The park lies just a mile east of I-91 and was created after dinosaur tracks were found in the area in 1966.
Originally, there was a plan to have a state laboratory on site. As excavation was underway in the '60s, excavator operators Ed McCarthy flipped over a piece of rock and found a very intact dinosaur track.
All construction was stopped, and the area was designated a state park.
Over the years, over 2,600 tracks have been discovered at Dinosaur State Park.
Inside the exhibit center are 750 tracks that detail individual dinosaurs as they walk along from one location to another.
There is also a reconstruction of a track likely made by a dilophosaurus.
Officials estimate that the tracks were laid down about 200 million years ago.
The park has over 60 acres of property and over 2 1/2 miles of trails that go through a red maple swamp.
Outside of the exhibit center is an arboretum with over 250 species of Jurassic era plants or plants that represent flora that would be around during the Jurassic period.
The state park also features a butterfly garden and native wildflower garden.