carolgscrapper

Has anybody been to Dinsoaur Valley State Park? It is near Glen Rose, Tx which is about 1 hour southwest of Ft Worth...it took us two hours to drive there from Dallas, Texas. The campsites are very shaded and the bathroom and shower facilities were extremely clean. The park ranger did a good job of keeping the noise to a minimum. We got to see the preserved dinosaur tracks that are in the river bed of the Paluxy River. We also drove about 5 minutes of the highway to Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve where they keep many endangered species of animals. You get to drive through and feed them from the car. It is a great place to go camping with children!

Cube

Howdy,

Thanks for the first hand report. This is one of the great things about this board.

I'll have to make some plans for this park, that's about 2 hours north for us.

Adios,

Shannon

Yes, thank you for sharing your recent experience at Dinosaur Valley!

First-hand reports like these are the lifeblood of our goal to help folks get out, explore and enjoy the beauty and diversity Texas parks have to offer.

I've found it helpful to keep a folder on my hard drive and email inbox named "Places to Explore" which includes other folks' first-hand experiences at other parks (or the URL to their website or article), as well as suggestions about "You really out to go check out x...." It's great for feeding my daydreams when I can't get out and explore, and it's perfect trip-planning info when I do!

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- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com

toejam

A little more about this park. It's been listed by Backpacker mag as a backpacking destination recently. I only guess that this is due to there being so few backpacking destinations in this part of the country. The designated backcountry camp sites are patches of dirt beneath cedar trees immediately adjacent trails used mostly by mountain bikers. It's not my idea of a backpacking destination.

This park is a nice day hike location. There is always a large crowd on the river near the tracks, but most don't get back in the woods. Mountain biking on the trails is popular. The improved campground is very nice but the sites are often reserved well in advance.

A few years ago there were "primative" campsites under real trees with nearby water and trash cans, some had picnic tables. The sites along the river in the southwest part of the park were very nice. All these sites were done away with the last time the entrance fee was forcibly reduced by the state.

It's a nice little park if you've never been before, but as a local I can't help feeling ripped off when I go.

carolgscrapper

I still stand by my recommendation for DVSP as a car camping site. I don't think that the hiking would be all that great, but the non primitive sites for car camping are very nice. The primitive sites are at least a one mile hike in from the road. Not a valid option if you are car camping...which is what we have to do with a 6 year old wearing a leg brace. I like the camp sites because they are well shaded and they have fire pits and grills. Again...I have to say that they park rangers did a fabulous job. They are adamant about making sure that everybody follows the rules so that the park is not damaged unneccesarily.