Pike & San Isabel National Forests
Cimarron & Comanche National Grasslands

USDA Forest Service
Pike & San Isabel
National Forests
Cimarron & Comanche
National Grasslands
2840 Kachina Drive
Pueblo, CO 81008
719-553-1400

Telephone for the
Hearing Impaired
719-553-1404

Picketwire Canyon during the Jurassic Period - 150 million years ago

Picketwire Canyon Today

The area that is Picketwire Canyon looked much different in Jurassic times.The steep canyon walls did not exist; in fact, the rock layers making up the canyon walls had not yet formed.The climate during the Jurassic period was warm and wet, and the dominant types of plants were cone-bearing trees and ferns.The Rocky Mountains had not yet emerged in the west, and the land was gently rolling with abundant stream valleys and lakes. The artwork (left) by artist Doug Henderson gives us an excellent feel for what the tracksite area looked like in the past.

The rock layers that preserve the tracks help scientists understand this ancient environment. These limestone layers record features other than footprints, such as ripple marks and mud-cracks, indicating the layers formed along the edge of a lake. They also contain the remains of freshwater clams, fish, and other microscopic animals that lived in the lake. Because of the abundance of dinosaur footprints this ancient body of water has been called

“ Dinosaur Lake”.

Ripple Marks

Mud Cracks

Comanche National Grassland 

Caring for the land and Serving People