Mammoth number of visitors coming to Dinosaur National Monument

JENSEN, Uintah County — The dinosaurs who once roamed this area may be extinct, but interest in them has never been higher.

More than 40,000 people have visited Dinosaur National Monument since the Oct. 4 re-opening of the Quarry Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall, according to the National Park Service.

The monument welcomed 198,544 visitors in 2010. That number rose to 214,291 in 2011, an increase of nearly 8 percent. In December 2011 alone, the monument saw a 1,031-percent increase in visitors from December 2010, the Park Service said.

"This month we're actually on track to do more than December," said Jeff Axel, assistant chief of interpretation at Dinosaur National Monument.

The original Quarry Visitor Center and Exhibit Hall was shuttered in 2006. The building had extensive structural damage because its foundation rested on unstable soils that had shifted since its construction in the 1950s.

The new visitor center and exhibit hall — which are separate structures — were built with federal stimulus dollars.   

Most visitors since the reopening have been from Utah and Colorado, although some have come from other parts of the country. The monument has also seen a handful of international visitors since October, Axel said.

"We're getting folks — a lot of them were here as kids — and they want to reconnect with that memory," Axel said. "A lot of them are bringing their own kids, too."

Susan Bytendorp, a mother of four from South Jordan, last visited the monument in 1999.

"I remembered how amazing it was," she said Friday as her family toured the renovated Quarry Exhibit Hall.

"We've wanted to get back here," she said.

The warmer weather this winter and lack of snow has helped keep visitor numbers high, Axel said.

"There's more to see than these amazing bones," he said. "We're getting folks who are exploring beyond the bones themselves, which is unheard of in most winters here."

But the monument staff is really looking forward to the summer.

"I think we're going to be the go-to park for summer visitors in the area," Axel said. 

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