Carbon is history buff's paradise

Put away the history books and store the pencils and paper, for now. It is possible, in this day and age, to take a real-life visit back in time, starting when dinosaurs roamed the land, or earlier if you choose, and moving forward right on up to the present minute in Carbon County.

There are remnants of prehistoric life, ruins dating back to early Americans, remains of turn-of-the-century mining and ranching and sites to include everything from high-mountain meadows to desert landscape to recreational waters just made for swimming, fishing and water skiing.

What you know:

The county is home to some of Utah's most interesting history, and much of it can be seen in the comfort of climate-controlled buildings and through glass cases.

Start with the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price.

The museum holds a large collection of dinosaur bones, including the famous Utahraptor. Many of the bones in the museum are found nowhere else in the world, noted Kathy Hanna Smith with the County Travel Bureau.

The skeletal remains of the Utahraptor, for example, were discovered in 1989. This dinosaur would become known as the "super-slasher." And, it just so happened that the slasher would closely resemble one of the main dinosaurs in the movie "Jurassic Park."

So, it was officially designated as the "Utahraptor Spiel-bergi," after the movie's director, Steven Spielberg. The dinosaur had claws believed to be 15 inches long, teeth that were 2 inches long and were serrated like a knife. The dinosaur likely weighed up to 1,000 pounds and was about the size of a large polar bear.

The museum operates 51 dinosaur quarries, which brings in a constant supply of new and original bones.

There is also a cast of the Huntington mammoth, which was found near Huntington Reservoir back in 1988 and proved to be the skeleton of a prehistoric Colombian mammoth. The find drew world attention, not only because of the location of the find, but also the elevation — 9,000 feet.

One of the more popular features of the museum is the children's digging room. Within the room is a makeshift quarry where kids can become amateur archaeologists and dig for dinosaur bones.

The museum also holds a large collection of American Indian artifacts that, again, can be seen nowhere else in the world.