Return to Dinosaur Valley State Park

Fun hike with small children.
User: mac75028 - 1/21/2008  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

The kids had a grat time and they learned a few things as well.  You can achieve some pretty good solitude by getting away from the "tourist" spots.

White Trail
User: trailbound - 11/10/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours
Nice place to hike. The white trail offers the most solitude. Lots of nice views of the Paluxy. There's always someone (families, usually) playing near the river, but after you get into the outer boundaries, it's good solitude.
Hiked Blue Trail finished with White Trail
User: jmitchell - 9/2/2007  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 1star
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: 2 hours

Lots of very noisy people in the river area (a circus) and lots of trash everywhere. I took off on the Blue trail for some solitude. For the most part I had it for myself. Towards the end I ran into several groups of hikers (family types), several of them lost and searching for a way back (blue/white connection point). I also took a wrong path, ended up trying to bushwack back to the right place, was denied and ended up back-tracking to the correct (not marked very well) trail. I had to wade knee deep water to cross the river so be prepared for some wet river crossings. Was pretty enjoyable anyway, but I would suggest a non-holiday weekday if you want some solitude.

Note: The gift shop always has some pretty inexpensive footprint castings for arouund $20-$30.

Pleasant on a Warm Winter Weekday
User: dropo59tx - 12/12/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Pleasant on a Warm Winter Weekday
User: dropo59tx - 12/12/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: 3 minutes
Nice easy hikes!
User: mikevandusen - 10/1/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: halfstar
Distance: 7.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I have hiked all the trails here. Makes for a nice easy walk...and the fossilized prints are cool as well. Learned a very valuable lesson as a younger a hiker on these trails many years ago that hiking in the back country and micro-dots do not mix!! Got lost for about 6 hours on a very warm summer day.
Great River Views
User: jjnipp769 - 9/9/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 1star Solitude: 2stars
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Hiked with small children, who did very well on it. Some nice views of the Paluxy River, as well as some interesting rock formations. Wading in the riveralso great fun.
Great place to go
User: jmitchell - 6/10/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 4stars Solitude: 1star
Distance: 2.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Did not hike any but looked very interesting. I will make it back there soon for a days worth of hiking (combining with other hikes in the area) Fossi; tracks were definately cool to see. I would suspect you could get very wet on hikes here so be prepared for water crossings.
Another great hike!
User: MikeFornal - 5/26/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 4point5stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I'm quickly becoming a walking advertisement for this place. Another fantastic hike, a week after my last one; though the water everywhere was already noticably lower. Only saw one other group of people the entire time (on a Friday morning/afternoon). The neatest part had to have been when we were walking on the orange trail we saw a wild turkey. It was walking within a couple feet or so of us back and forth, acting crazy as hell. Very, very entertaining.
Fun hike!
User: MikeFornal - 5/20/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 5stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: halfstar
Distance: 5.50 Miles Duration: N/A
This was pretty fun! It's definitely not a place you'll want to go if solitutde is what you're looking for. However, we went off the trails and followed along in the main streams instead. It was great - soaking wet, but great. That was a nice way to find solitude in a busy park, too!
Good trails and good scenery
User: kcameron - 3/29/2006  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 3stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 6.00 Miles Duration: N/A
We combined the White, Orange, and Green trails for an enjoyable hike. Crossing the river on the east side of the park was a bit troublesome. It probably would have been better to simply wade than use the slippery stepping stones, many of which were submerged. The trails don't always match the official park map, but that posed no problem. At major trail junctions, there are "You are here" maps that clearly indicate current location. Although we did not encounter another sole on our hike until we emerged at the tracks on the west side of the park, we could hear cars throughout much of the hike. This is definitely a park we will return to, though.
Beautiful, somewhat hilly hike
User: lordjustice - 10/14/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 4stars
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A
I love this site! There are many criscrossing trails which allow you to make your hike as long or short as you want. There are plenty of gentle ups and downs that provide a steady, (but not grueling) workout. The scenery is amazing, with scenic overlooks of the Paluxy River just off the trails. This is a fairly hilly area and has many rocky outcrops which can be good for climbing or exploring. Some of the trails near the river are noisy with children playing, but the trails on the east side of the park are very serene. I enjoyed my hike, and will return to this location often.
Great hike during a hot month
User: Gunner - 10/5/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 3stars Solitude: 4point5stars
Distance: 5.50 Miles Duration: N/A
This was a very enjoyable weekend retreat, but the month of August is no time to go to Dinosaur Valley State Park to hike and camp in a tent.
User: dfwgeek - 4/2/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 2point5stars Solitude: 1point5stars
Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: N/A
Great family park
User: shoequeen69 - 4/2/2005  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3stars Difficulty: 1point5stars Solitude: 1star
Distance: 0.50 Mile Duration: N/A
Beautiful park.
Beautiful scenery, lovely sounds, and solitude
User: DeionTuck - 4/12/2004  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: 3stars Solitude: 4point5stars
Distance: 5.00 Miles Duration: N/A
This park has several different hiking trails that traverse back and forth over the river. The trails are marked via colors, so you know where you are. There was only two other groups on the trails during the Sunday we traveled, saw one of them twice. The terrain is not too rugged and has several gentle slopes to get to the higher elevations. (Or like us "shortcuts" trails to go straight up this was a harder hike but with 5 kids ranging 6-12 perfect for getting the energy out of them!) If you wanted to go swimming it also has several swimming holes there will be several other families enjoying the cool water as well. Great location to study geology, history, and dinosaurs. We discussed how the earth has changed comparing today to when dinosaurs lived here.
Great scenery and elevation changes
User: seanp - 6/17/2003  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 3point5stars
Distance: 4.00 Miles Duration: N/A
This is a great system of trails. A large majority of them start out from a single trailhead, and interweave to give you plenty of hiking options. If it''s been raining the beginning of the hike could be trouble - we''ve been here once before when the water in the river would have been over our shoulders! This time it was below our knees. There are stepping stones, but they are slick - it was easier to wade. The initial hill climb is one of the few challenges, but the view at each bend is worth it!
User: Eveline - 10/14/2000  [View Log Page]
Rating: 4stars Difficulty: 3stars Solitude: 1point5stars
Distance: 6.80 Miles Duration: N/A
User: yeiyel - 10/1/1999  [View Log Page]
Rating: N/A Difficulty: 3point5stars Solitude: 5stars
Distance: 6.00 Miles Duration: N/A
It was a cool,drizzly, cloudy morning. Went exploring along the Paluxy River, looked at really cool dinosaur tracks, and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. I would definately like to go bake on a more favorable day.
User: Eveline - 9/23/1995  [View Log Page]
Rating: 3point5stars Difficulty: 2stars Solitude: 1point5stars
Distance: 6.20 Miles Duration: N/A
Did as part of a volksmarch. They had a pickup to take us across the river crossing because it had been raining and the river was way up.

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