Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and Bone Trail: A Hiking Guide
One of the most unique hikes out there, the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and Bone Trail puts you within inches of petrified dinosaur footprints, trees, and bones.
The trail is located just north of Moab, making this an easy add-on if you’re already in the area to explore Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
Since this trail is on BLM land, it’s far less crowded than the popular trails at the national park, and the added paleontology lesson makes this a must-do for the dinosaur-obsessed kid (or kid at heart!) in your life.
We’ve been to this trail each time we’ve been to Moab, and it remains one of my favorites.
In the hiking guide below, you’ll find everything you need to know about this trail from how to get to both areas of interest, what you’ll see at each, and what to bring along for the adventure.
The Camping Kiddos on the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Bone Trail
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Hike Overview
Trailhead Location: 15 miles north of Moab, Utah, on Highway 191
Trail length: approximately 1.25 miles if you do both hiking areas
Trail difficulty: easy
Elevation gain: Approximately 100 feet
Starting the Hike: Parking and Trail Information
To access the both the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and the nearby Bone Trail, you’ll need to take Highway 191 north for 15 miles out of downtown Moab. The turn to Mill Canyon Road/BLM will be on your left.
A couple of the signs within the Mill Canyon area
If you’re coming from I-70, take the Moab exit, and travel south on Highway 191 for 29 miles. The road will be on your left.
Mill Canyon Road almost immediately crosses a railroad track, so watch for that. Then, continue on for 0.6 miles until you come to a fork in the road.
Here, you’ll notice a large dirt parking area. You’ll have much closer parking options, so you’ll want to continue on.
At the fork and parking area, keep to the left. (Going right will take you out to the many ATV trails in this area.)
Continue on this road for 0.4 miles, and then turn into the small gravel and dirt parking area at the Courthouse Rock Campground.
The trailhead to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite is near the road.
Once you’ve explored the Tracksite, get back in your car and drive down the BLM road that you came in on, continuing to move away from Highway 191.
In another 0.4 miles, the road will split, and you’ll hang to the left again. This is where the road can get a bit dicey, so go slowly, pay attention to the conditions, and you should be fine.
(For what it’s worth, we’ve done this in both a rented Toyota Avalon and our Ford F150, and we made it both times!)
There are several areas where the road gets very, very sandy, and it would be difficult to get your vehicle out of these areas if you get stuck. If it has rained heavily before your visit, there are also some areas that get muddy, which also provides some challenges.
The road after this fork is uneven with many rocky areas and potholes, so don’t plan to set a speed record here if you like your tire alignment.
After 0.7 miles on this bumpy, sandy, and uneven road, you’ll come to a large dirt parking area with a huge sign that announces you’re at Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail.
The helpful sign at the turn for the Bone Trail parking area
Park here, and the second trailhead of your dino-mite adventure is at the far end of the parking lot closest to the cliffs.
Look for the white box next to the trailhead if you’d like to sign-in or make notes about your experience here.
How long does it take to hike the Mill Canyon trails?
Both are relatively short trails, and if you hiked both back-to-back as quick you could, you could do both in about an hour.
But, that’s no fun, and you will want to linger.
There are interpretive signs at both the Tracksite and the Bone Trail, which provide important context for what you’re seeing.
And, if you’re traveling with a dinosaur obsessed kid, you’re sure to need extra time for questions and lots of pictures.
We’ve always allotted about 2 hours for this area, and that felt like a reasonable amount of time to see and read everything.
TIP: Before you set out on any hike, it’s a good idea to check for any recent updates, trail conditions, and level of difficulty at AllTrails! Purchase your annual subscription here.:
Is this hike good for kids?
On the Bone Trail with my son
Yes, the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and Bone Trail are amazing for kids!
I was one of those kids who couldn’t learn enough about dinosaurs, so I would have loved this place when I was little.
I mean, I love it even as an adult (though I am one of those people who still has a favorite dinosaur. It’s protoceratops, thanks for asking.)
My kids have been here a couple of times on our visits to Moab, and it never seems to inspire wonder them them.
They come away with lots of questions for us to look up when we get back to the camper, and a better understanding of what life was like for the dinosaurs.
Plus, how often can your kids literally walk next to dinosaur footprints or see dinosaur bones still embedded in the rock? It’s the best kind of museum!
Overall, it is one of the best hikes in Moab outside of Arches, and I cannot recommend it to families enough.
Plan the rest of your trip to Moab, Utah, with these helpful posts:
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and Bone Trail Guide
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite Information
Starting at the trailhead to the Dinosaur Tracksite, you’ll follow a packed dirt path towards the power lines ahead—the main boardwalk area will be just ahead.
An overview of the entire Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite
Go through the metal gate through the fence at the edge of the parking lot to access the dirt path.
The dirt path is wide and flat, and, if you needed to, you could manage a stroller.
The boardwalk is very close to the parking area at the campground, though, so it’s walkable even for visitors with babies or toddlers.
Once you’re on the boardwalk, slowly make the circle around the entire 1/4 mile loop.
My son explores the boardwalk at the dinosaur tracksite
Along the way, you will find colorful interpretive signs to help you identify the types of animals that left their footprints here.
There are all sorts of prints here, so see if you can pick out the different birds and dinosaurs.
One portion of the tracksite
Most of the footprints are in the large area in the middle of the boardwalk loop, but there are a couple of side overlooks that you should also check out.
One of the interpretive signs on the boardwalk
One of these side overlooks is a petrified crocodile slide from the early Cretaceous Period, where you can clearly see footprints and areas where the tail and body once lay.
The sun can beat down on this area during the late spring, summer, and early fall, so bring water and stay hydrated.
If you do need a moment, there is a small seating area about halfway around the boardwalk where you can get a bit of relief from the sun.
Once you’ve made the entire loop, head back to your car to drive to the Bone Trail.
While both are in the Mill Canyon area, there’s no easy way to get from one to the other without a car.
I suppose you could hike down the road if you wanted, but the side road to the Bone Trail is narrow enough that I wouldn’t want to be hiking on it while cars went by.
Mill Canyon Dinosaur Bone Trail Information
Assuming you take the car, the next trailhead is only a few minutes away. From the parking area at Bone Trail, look for the narrow dirt path next to the box on a pedestal.
The beige BLM box marking the trailhead
Follow this path to the nearby cliffs and begin the slight elevation gain to the first interpretive sign.
Continue to follow along the cliff wall south, stopping at each of the posted signs. You’ll see many fossils imbedded in the wall, but the most impressive to my family are the backbones and the large piece of petrified wood.
When the trail goes down a small hill, you’ll come to the final interpretive sign, this one pointing out the former copper mill that once stood here (hence the name of the canyon).
From that sign, turn north towards the parking lot and follow the sandy ravine to the parking lot. Alternatively, you could retrace your steps back onto the cliff wall and return that way.
Despite me calling it a “cliff,” the wall that you follow for the majority of this hike is not high at all. So, if you’re bringing your little kids on this hike, you don’t have to be too worried about treacherous ledges.
We first did this hike with my kids when they were just 6 months old and nearly 4 years old, and I didn’t hesitate at all to take them on this trail.
Explore more adventures in Moab:
What to Bring to Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and Bone Trail
Water
PIN ME!
The area surrounding Moab is wild, and that’s one of the reasons why I love it so much. Just know that you’re going to need to be self-sufficient as you explore out here.
The biggest addition to your hike needs to be water, and plenty of it.
Mill Canyon is in a desert environment, and that dry air can be dehydrating. Add in the summer heat, and you will be thirsty in no time, even on relatively easy hikes like this one.
While you’re hiking, bring a water bottle or water bladder in your backpack, and be sure to have some back up water in the car when you get back.
My favorite water bottle is this Wondery National Parks water bottle, which does a great job of keeping my water cool while showing off my many wonderful travels!
NOTE: If you’re visiting between late May and early October, check out my guide to hiking at Arches National Park in the summer. While Mill Canyon isn’t in Arches National Park, it’s very close to it, and the same advice about prepping to hike in the heat is relevant here.
Snacks
I don’t care when we ate last, we always carry snacks with us when we’re hiking!
Not only are trail snacks the key to my kids enjoying hiking, but they’re great if we get overtired or need a quick energy boost.
Again, you’re not close to anything out here in Mill Canyon, so packing a few snacks is a good way to hold everyone over until you can get back into Moab or to your campground for dinner.
Some of our favorite hiking snacks include: fruit snacks, nuts, granola bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bananas, and baby carrots.
Sun shirts
If you’re doing this hike in the morning, you’ll get the full sun on both trails. The cliff does shield the Bone Trail from direct sunlight in the late afternoon, but you’ll always get the full sun on the Dinosaur Tracksite.
When we’ve done this trail at those peak times, I’ve had the kids wear long sleeved, lightweight sun shirts.
These inexpensive but sturdy Willit sun shirts have been our go-to tops when desert hiking in Utah, Arizona, and Mexico!
Final Thoughts on This Trail
My son at one of the Bone Trail interpretive signs
On our first trip to Utah, this group of trails was one of the hikes that I knew I had to go back to whenever we returned to Moab.
Subsequent trips have done nothing to lessen my amazement at the opportunities hikers have here to walk over and beside fossiled dinosaur footprints, petrified wood, and alligator nests.
And even more surprisingly is that this experience is completely free for visitors other than the gas that it takes you to get out of here.
The fact that both dinosaur-focused areas in the canyon are so easy to get to makes this a must-do activity on any Moab itinerary!
