This fun dinosaur center is located in Woodland Park, 14 miles west of Manitou Springs. The kids won’t want to miss this private museum owned by working paleontologists, where you can watch lab techs assemble casts and clean fossils from digs across the western states, from Montana to Texas.
Most of the 35 pieces on display are casts based on the fossils they’ve found. There’s a massive Toxochelys and Protostega gigas, both giant turtles, but, as always, the T-Rex is the star of the show.
As you drive up Hwy 24 into Woodland Park, look for the cheesy fake palms in the rock garden. But don’t snicker too much. When the dinosaurs roamed Colorado, these were the native trees.