50 YEARS OF GARDEN PARK FOSSIL AREA NATIONAL NATURAL LANDMARK: SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF COLORADO’S HIDDEN PALEONTOLOGICAL GEM

Garden Park Fossil Area, located just north of Cañon City, Colorado, is a historic and paleontologically significant area that goes largely unnoticed by the public. The area is home to some of the earliest dinosaur excavation sites in the western United States of which were a part of the infamous “Bone Wars.” This region is also the location of where two of the most complete and significant Stegosaurus stenops skeletons, the first and most complete Ceratosaurus nasicornis, as well as the holotype Haplocanthosaurus delfsi were discovered.

With the upcoming 50^th anniversary of the designation of Garden Park as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service; the Bureau of Land Management and Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center are partnering to create a publicly available educational video series.

This includes filming at historic fossil sites within Garden Park, highlighting the exceptional fossil discoveries that are now in museums across the United States. The videos will also comprise of interviews with persons and professionals who have first-hand experiences of the excavations and events throughout the area’s history. These videos will showcase the history and scientific contributions of not just Garden Park but also the surrounding Royal Gorge region. Other fossil sites within the region will also be featured in the video series due to their scientific significance including Indian Springs Trace Fossil National Natural Landmark and the Skyline Drive dinosaur trackway.

In addition to creating an educational video series, the project includes migrating and updating the “Hands-On-The-Land” website, which covers the history of and information about Garden Park to a new online host. The overall goal of this project is to maintain this data repository and to continue to increase the public awareness and appreciation of a historically significant area that many people may not have previously known for its paleontological influence and magnitude.