It's a great way to spice up your trip to some U.S. National Parks too
Daydreaming of a roadtrip through Montana and Wyoming
A dino dig in Montana or Wyoming sounds like the trip of a lifetime for anybody and it’s something I’m planning on doing the summer of 2023. I am a roadtripper and I collect memories. For the past two years, I have been collecting National Parks stamps from the Grand Canyon, Zion, Shenandoah, and so many more) in my Passport Book! The National Parks Passport book is the perfect tool since it allows you to collect stamps from all the U.S. National Parks you visit!!
Now I’ve been looking into the U.S. National Parks in Montana and Wyoming (Glacier, and hopefully Yellowstone, and Grand Teton) for a large road trip the the summer of 2023 and there are some incredible dinosaur dig experiences I’m planning on taking along the way.
I have to admit, before I became the Ancient Odysseys marketing intern, I had no idea that a regular person had the opportunity to go on a real life dino dig. Now that I know this, all I want to do is get myself on a dig as quickly as possible.
I always start my trips by creating a dreamboard in a Google doc. I collect links to sites, browse through books, and post on Facebook to see what my friends would suggest.
I’ll see you on these dino digs in Montana and Wyoming
The digs offered throughout Montana and Wyoming provide different opportunities to go explore remote areas (and maybe see a dino fossil or two.)
Montana Dinosaur Center in Bynum, MT
Expeditions at The Montana Dinosaur Center are perfect for families and are designed to make the best use of the time you are spending there. There are two different expeditions available—a half-day site visit or full-day excavations—so there’s something for everyone.
I’ll be doing the full-day excavations so I can fully experience a day in the life as a paleontologist. It will be my first dino dig on my journey so I want to make sure that I can learn from Montana Dino Center.
Triceratops Gulch in Glenrock, WY
The Triceratops Gulch Project is operated like an informal field school, where participants are introduced to project-based paleontological field work that supports current research projects. There are two 3-day programs offered: The Enhanced Program (for first time visitors) and The Field Program (for returning visitors). I’m planning on hopping onto the Enhanced Program. Hopefully, in the future I can return and attend the Field Program.
Montana Learning Center in Ekalaka, MT
This dig is for students entering 8-12 grade, so as a graduate student, I have aged out of this dig. BUT it is the perfect place to send your high schooler in the summer for a week to camp and dig. I’m telling all of my younger cousins to look into attending the dig at the Montana Learning Center.
Paleo X in Jordan, MT
The focus of Paleo X is a well-rounded educational paleontology experience from surface surveying, excavation, microsite collection, geology, and more. There are two program options 1-week or 2-week that include lodging, airport pick up/drop off, breakfast and lunch daily. Jordan is a hotbed for fossils and a 1 or 2-week dig sounds fun and rewarding. To make the most of my 2023 roadtrip, this one might have to wait for a future trip since it is a longer experience.
All of these digs would make great additions for my Wyoming and Montana National Parks road trip, plus it’s great knowing the money spent on digs go into furthering funding for future digs.
I have created my possible structure for my dream road trip next summer. Once I finalize the details of the trip, I will update and adjust my map. Here is the link to the google map, plus a screenshot of the map below.
The route would start and finish at the Glacier National Park airport.
Glacier National Park
Montana Dinosaur Center
Triceratops Gulch
Grand Teton National Park 🤞🏻
Yellowstone National Park 🤞🏻(once the roads are in good shape!)
Hopefully, one of my cousins go on a dig and I can visit the Montana Learning Center along the way.
This road trip would cover around 1,600 miles without side adventures and pit stops. This route would likely take about a month to 6 weeks to fully enjoy every aspect of this trail. The great news is that you can always travel to one dig at a time and enjoy another one at a different time. There are so many great combinations and options to see all of the digs (and maybe a national park or two 🙂 ).
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