Great Cycling in Dinosaur National Monument

We were delighted to find how good the cycling is in Dinosaur National Monument -- at least the Utah section near Jensen where we stayed in Green River Campground (see our blog post).  The paved road through this part of the park is smooth, with large shoulders, and while a bit of climbing is involved, the worst of it was just pedaling up out of the campground, which is in a deep river valley.  Once we got onto the main road, things got a lot easier. 

And the scenery made any huffing and puffing totally worth it.  Traffic was light too!  

Once we climbed out of the campground, there is an overlook from which we could see the river and the campground.  Great views from way up here!  It was also a good place for me to catch my breath and let my heart rate get back to semi-normal.  Ha!

The campground is way down on the lower right of this photo, as seen from the overlook, along with a great view of the Green River and Split Mountain beyond.

Continuing on, the Quarry Visitor's Center is just five miles from the campground on this smooth, nearly deserted road.  I am sure it's much busier mid-summer, but after Labor Day was a great time to be here and avoid the masses of tourists.

We stopped in at the visitor's center to buy a magnet for our board, inquire about hiking trails, and to take the usual tourist shot in front of the Stegosaurus statue.  Needless to say, we were the only ones here on bicycles!

And of course we had to pedal back to the entrance to nab a self-timer photo in front of the main entrance sign!

And another pose with a dinosaur!

On our first road ride, we ventured just a little outside of the park and down Brush Creek Road, which I'd seen on the map. It was a gorgeous area to ride, but got pretty hilly after a few miles of farmland.

Heading back into the park, we were lucky enough to spot this awesome Bald Eagle across the river.

Barry got a shot of me riding down the hill into the campground.  It's hard to tell how steep this is from a photo.  The speed limit is 15 mph, and there always seemed to be a Park Ranger in his truck at the bottom, so I had to apply the brakes as I zipped down.

Barry just loved riding here -- check out the smile!  But really, who wouldn't?

This is Turtle Rock.  See his head poking out at the top right?  

We'll have more coming up from incredibly photogenic DNM, so stay tuned!