Watch out! You’re about to become lunch—for a spinosaurus! Wait, no. That dinosaur poised to chase you down? The one with the open jaws of super-sharp teeth? It’s just a lifesize replica—one of many in the Ogden Dinosaur Park!
This outdoor park in Ogden, Utah is a dinosaur lover’s dream. The 8-acre Ogden Dinosaur Park is home to roughly 70 models, including a towering brachiosaurus, ferocious T-Rex and enormous triceratops.
Admission also gets you entry to the paleontology museum and small natural history museum on site.
Read on for all the details to visit the Ogden Dinosaur Park. My own dino-lovers wanted to stay forever, making a life alongside prehistoric playmates. (Preferably the herbivores.) I’m betting your kids won’t want to leave, either.
As soon as you step into the outdoor Ogden Dinosaur Park, you’re walking among dinosaurs. Get ready to get up-close and personal with sharp-toothed ceratosaurus, massive pentaceratops and gentle magyarosaurus.
Maxine and Edie dashed between dinosaurs, beyond excited to see lifesize versions of all the prehistoric creatures they’ve only read about. I could hardly keep up with them as they zipped from dino to dino. It was almost as if they’d stepped into an episode of Dino Dana!
The two of them investigated each dinosaur up-close to guess if it would eat them or not. Seeing those sharp teeth and knife-like claws made me grateful we don’t live in the Cretaceous, Jurassic or Triassic!
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Back in Time at the Ogden Dinosaur Park
Within the Ogden Dinosaur Park, paths wind through dinosaur “habitats.” It was fun to see different species camouflaged among trees or grazing in the grass—just like they might have done between 245 and 66 million years ago.
Paved paths take you past dinosaurs, some as big as a bus, others the size of a house cat.
Maxine and Edie were also thrilled to find the playground. Kids zipped down a slide inside a tall “tree,” climbed atop an enormous triceratops skull and kicked the sky on the swings. Children can choose between several sections of the playground—one for small kids, one for older kids and one for all ages. Picnic tables and benches stand nearby for snack breaks.
Elsewhere in the Ogden Dinosaur Park, kids can dig for “fossils” in a quarry. A layer of sand conceals bones and even a nest of dino eggs! Maxine and Edie used brushes and small shovels to uncover fossils. Gradually, a skeleton emerged: a stegosaurus!
I loved hearing them talk as if they were real field scientists. The opportunity for imaginary play really brought the Ogden Dinosaur Park to life. My two mini paleontologists even recruited me to help with their monumental scientific discovery!
Maxine and Edie wanted to spend hours here. At the end of our trip , I had to explain that the dinosaur park was closing. And as much fun as we had, I didn’t look forward to camping beneath the belly of a Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Ogden Museums of Paleontology and Natural History
The Ogden Dinosaur Park is all outdoors. Inside this fun destination’s building, you’ll find a museum of paleontology and museum of natural history.
You walk past the gift shop and upstairs. (An elevator is available, too.) Animatronic dinosaurs sway and chew in a prehistoric scene. Note for kiddos who are sensitive to sound: This area plays dinosaur noises, so bring noise canceling headphones or walk quickly by if that will bother your kids.
The Ogden Museum of Natural History is an area on the second floor filled with minerals and stones. I could have spent longer admiring the geodes, amethysts and crystals, but Maxine and Edie were all about the other museum.
Step down a flight of stairs and you’ll find yourself among dinosaur bones! The Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Museum of Paleontology shows what would have been on the inside of all those dinosaurs in the Ogden Dinosaur Park. Maxine and Edie explored among the full skeletons and replicas of non-dino prehistoric animals such as mammoths and smilodons (aka saber tooth cats).
This Utah paleontology museum also takes visitors “underneath” the ground by exploring how fossils are unearthed. You can even look through windows at a real paleontology lab. There were no scientists working when we visited, but it was cool to see all their tools.
How to visit the George Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden, Utah
Whether you live in Ogden or are just passing through, make sure to check out this kid-friendly thing to do.
Address: 1544 Park Blvd, Ogden, UT
Hours: Monday to Saturday 10-5, Sunday 12-5 (may change seasonally)
Admission: $5-7; infants free. Buy tickets on-site; online tickets not available, advance reservations not required.
Utah for Kids who Love Dinosaurs
We visited the Ogden Dinosaur Park on our spring break road trip. We stayed overnight in Best Western High Country Inn in Ogden before continuing our trip to Green River and Moab, Utah.
The Ogden Dinosaur Park was a perfect activity for me and the kids. (Hubs stayed back at the hotel so he could watch our two dogs and finish a paper for his master’s program.) They got to stretch their legs and burn off energy built up from two days of driving.
It also helped that we had something epic to look forward to!
I absolutely recommend stopping at the George Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden. We can’t wait to go back. Make sure to pin this post for later so you don’t forget to go!
This park looks like SO much fun for the kiddos and adults a like! Great post!
Thank you Yvonne! We had so much fun visiting the Ogden Dinosaur Park.
I’m an adult and I would love to do this! And you shared so many useful and interesting facts about this place, I will save it for my future travels 🙂 Thank you!
You and me both Lasma!
OMG i would have loved this as a kid – though to be fair I’d probably still enjoy it as an adult. What a super cool place to visit & I never heard of it before!
Absolutely! Truth be told I enjoyed the Ogden Dinosaur Park almost as much as the kids did 🙂
What a fun thing to do for the whole family! Sounds like it was a hit with the kids. It’s a great mix of education and imagination. Thanks for sharing!
You’re right Susan, it was such a great mix! We all learned a lot but most importantly had fun!
What a fun place for kids!
It really was! My two kids loved this family-friendly activity in Ogden and we’ll definitely go back the next time we’re near Salt Lake City.
This looks like such fun! The perfect place for kids to learn and experience dinosaurs.
Totally! The Ogden Dinosaur Park was such a blast for all of us.
What a great way to spend the day with kids…and big kids too. I love when there’s interactive learning like digging for skulls.
Same! Making learning interactive means kids retain so much more information, and they have fun along the way.
This looks soooo cool and fun! I absolutely love the photos with your daughter running away from the dinos! She’ll remember that fun day for years! 🙂
Those are some of my favorite photos of the whole trip! haha
My kids would absolutely have a blast in this park! We have never been to Utah, but I think I will be adding Ogden Dinosaur Park to the list when we do!