In total, the drought revealed about 70 dinosaur tracks, about 110 million years old. Previously, they were hiding under the water and silt in the Paluksi River, which ran through the park.

biggest footprint

Experts think that the tracks found in the part of the park called “Ballroom” belong to two different dinosaur species. The crushed scars probably belonged to the giant predator Acrocanthosaurus; the “elephant-like” tracks were hammered into the ground by the huge, long-necked Sauroposeidon.

• Acrocanthosaurus was one of North America’s largest predators during the Early Cretaceous (145-101 million years ago). Its length reached about 12 meters, and its weight reached 7 tons.
• The long-necked herbivore Sauroposeidon, a member of the Sauropod genus, could have been about 30 meters long and weighed up to 44 tons.

Dinosaur footprints in a Texas park / Photo: Paul Baker

The nonprofit organization that maintains the park, the Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Parks, first noticed the tracks on Friday, August 25, and said they were “the largest tracks ever seen at this location.” One of the sections called the Lone Ranger Trail is also considered one of the longest dinosaur trails in the world.

This is not normal for us, but after two years of high temperatures and drought, it gave us the opportunity to explore new trails. As soon as there is enough rain, most of the runways will be closed again.
— says Paul Baker, an employee of the Dinosaur Valley Friends State Park.

Members of the Dallas Paleontological Society plan to map and transcribe the traces for future research.