On December 29th we were invited to go hiking at Dinosaur Valley with my sister-in-law, and some of her side of the family. I'll be honest when I say that we hardly ever venture out. We "hike" around local little places such as the lake. We go running down back roads. But we've been a one income family for awhile now too so even if I wanted to go explore some new places I'm always concerned about gas, and food. This time, I chose not to worry about it. We would be spending time with family, and the park didn't charge entry fees for children under a certain age. Right on. So after having breakfast with a friend Emery and I made our way out to Glen Rose.
It's about a forty-five minute drive from our house. I remember visiting this place when I was in Junior High for a field trip. But that was a long time ago, and the only thing that felt familiar about the place when we were exploring were the stairs. Everything else about it felt new, and we only managed to explore one trail. The park had maps of several other routes posted at each entrance so I'm hoping to go back soon, and explore a few other trails. Along different routes there are plaques that give you some information about the animals that live there along with information about the different plants/trees. Campsites are also available, and they even have a playground for the little ones which I thought was really cool. There's a river which was a bit too cold for me, but didn't seem to phase others that ran right through the route we took. What seemed to be the main attraction for younger kids were the dinosaur tracks/prints that you can look at, or stand in which Emery found to be really cool. It's also a pet friendly park so we took Maven along with us. Though it wasn't a bad move on our part there were instances when I walked us away from other hikers, and their kids or pets. Maven isn't always on her best behavior when it comes to other dogs, and sometimes people don't like strange dogs around their kids. Much less a pitbull. It was easy to get us far enough away from others, and she still managed to get in a good walk. I think Maven enjoyed the park as much as Emery did. Both of the girls fell asleep on the ride home.
Dinosaur Valley definitely had some great views, and I really enjoyed the walk. It wasn't too difficult, but there were sections that we had to climb over rocks or steep hills. Emery was in her element the entire time, and she really enjoyed getting to jump into the water. Brave, brave girl. My guess is that late spring/early summer will be an even better time to go out if you're wanting to do some swimming while visiting. Overall, I'd say that this park was a great way to do some hiking, and get us outdoors. It's also a great way for kids to learn some more about the animals that have been here before us as well as the current ones that call this park their home. Emery has been begging to go back out there so the next time we have some good, warm, weather I plan on doing just that.
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