Moenave Dinosaur Tracks!

What are the Moenave Dinosaur Tracks?

This is a vast collection of Jurassic-era dinosaur footprints preserved in Moenave sandstone!

What Makes Them Historical?

There are four types of sandstone that make up the Glen Canyon Group—Navajo, Kayenta, Moenave, and Wingate—all dating back to the early Jurassic Period! Here in the Moenave Formation near Tuba City, there are hundreds of dinosaur footprints preserved in what was once probably a wet, sandy floodplain or lake!

Did you know that tracks come with their own names when they’re not easily matched to a dinosaur? This is called an ichnogenus! Some of the smaller ones are called Grallator and might have belonged to light predators like Coelophysis or Megapnosaurus! The larger ones here are called Eubrontes and were most likely left by the 23-foot Dilophosaurus! After all, a Dilophosaurus skeleton was found here in 1940 by Tuba City local, Jesse William, and taken to the museum at UC Berkeley! These have all been mixed in with fish, pterosaur, and crocodile fossils, lending more evidence to this being a shallow water environment! What were they all doing here, and why were most of the tracks left by carnivores? We may never know for sure!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Pay your guide to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!