By Shannon Lukens. Courtesy photo.
The Dinosaur Quarry Exhibit Hall in the town of Dinosaur in western Moffat County will be closed to all visitor access, Sept. 8 through late October. Work is being done on the road, the parking lot, and the sidewalk on the Utah side of the monument. The closure only affects the exhibit hall, also known as the “Wall of Bones.”
Press Release from Dinosaur National Monument; Jan. 13, 2025.
Quarry Exhibit Hall will temporarily close in Fall 2025 for road, sidewalk, and parking lot work
Dinosaur, Colo. – The National Park Service announces a major road, parking lot, and sidewalk reconstruction project in the Utah portion of Dinosaur National Monument for 2025. To conduct the work safely and efficiently, the Dinosaur Quarry Exhibit Hall will temporarily close to all visitor access from September 8, 2025, through late October 2025.
The Quarry Exhibit Hall, also known as the ‘Wall of Bones’ is the most popular area to visit in Dinosaur National Monument. The building is located approximately seven miles north of Jensen, Utah. It sits over a preserved section of the historic Carnegie dinosaur fossil quarry where visitors can see approximately 1,500 dinosaur fossils still encased in the rock. The site attracts approximately 300,000 visitors per year. It was originally built in 1955 and remodeled in 2011.
The work around the Quarry Exhibit Hall is part of a larger project managed by the Federal Highways Administration that will reconstruct the monument road from the boundary, past the entrance station, and to the exhibit hall. Around the Quarry Exhibit Hall, extensive concrete and asphalt work, and accessibility improvements will be completed. A new sidewalk will be constructed that links the Fossil Discovery Trail with the Quarry Exhibit Hall. Excavation of up to ten feet deep will occur in the exhibit hall parking lot. Project managers looked at several alternatives to preserve access to the Quarry Exhibit Hall, but a full closure was deemed necessary to ensure public safety while completing the work. Staff identified the least disruptive window that allows temperatures suitable for the paving as September 8, 2025, to late October 2025.
The closure will only impact the Quarry Exhibit Hall. The remaining 210,000 acres of Dinosaur National Monument, with its dramatic river canyons, petroglyphs, varied wildlife, scenic drives and hiking trails will remain open. The Quarry Visitor Center and the Fossil Discovery Trail, where visitors can see unexcavated fossils, will also remain open.
“We recognize that people travel from across the country and around the globe to see the dinosaur fossils at the monument, and this closure is an unfortunate impact to visitors and our local communities, but it is necessary to correct some serious issues and preserve access for the future,” said Superintendent Phil Akers.
Monument staff will provide updates on this project and any changes to the project schedule and access on our website and social media. For more information on Dinosaur National Monument, call us at (435) 781-7700. You can also visit us on the web at www.nps.gov/dino, or follow DinosaurNPS on social media.