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USA: Pacific Northwest, Tracking Dinosaurs on Vacation. Dino fanatics of all ages found their interest in the magnificent prehistoric reptiles rekindled with the ABC Mega Series of Dinotopia, based one of my favorite childhood books. Luckily nearly everyone in North America is within a short drive of ancient “lizards” and mammals.

From still active dig sites to cool hallways in which immense skeletons loom, to fascinating exhibits which display the most recent theories on lifestyle this list sums them all up. Coast to coast, from sunny California to Connecticut, the U.S. offers dinosaur lovers and their families a chance to get up close and personal with natural history. Only what we believe to be the best is featured on this list. Of course if you’ve visited a fantastic dinosaur site, let me know and I will add it. Have a great time tracking dinosaurs.

California: Calistoga, Petrified Forest. This location is privately owned and operated. It is located in the hills between Napa and Sonoma Valleys. In the early part of the 1900s geological students excavated what is now known to be world's largest petrified trees. Almost all of the trees were Redwoods, and they all laid in the same southwestern direction. There is still some excavation going on. The trail on site allows visitor’s to step back in time, more than 3 million years, and follow the trail of majestic petrified redwood giants. This is also a place that needs to be explained but even without an explanation the hiking is nice and it is in wine country, a benefit to many adults. (4100 Petrified Forest Road Calistoga, Ca 94515. (707) 942-6667, www.petrifiedforest.org)
 
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California: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
This is an awesome place no matter what your age but it is essential for any eight year-old. My sister and I return about every two years and although it seems to be getting smaller it is always excellent. They have a world-class collection of reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, such as Camptosurus, Allosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex. Put this one on the not-to-be-missed list for Los Angeles. This facility offers summer programs for kids who dig dinos. The programs organized by age groups allow kids to get an in depth look at paleontology and the scientists that work in the field. Kids go on a pretend excavation, tour the dinosaur hall and investigate fossils. (900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007. (213)763-DINO or www.nhm.org)  

California: George C. Page Museum La Brea Discoveries. Imagine Los Angeles before Hollywood and movies. The George C. Page Museum is a research as well as an educational facility. The Page Museum is located at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits, one of the world's most famous fossil localities, recognized for having an unusually diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals. Special Note: The best part is the Pit 91 Excavation. Each year from July 14 through September 8, visitors may watch scientists unearthing fossils from the Ice Age in North America. Volunteers recover bones from beasts like saber-toothed cats and dire wolves that died in the sticky asphalt deposits 28,000 years ago. The Pit 91 Visitors Observation Station in Hancock Park is open free to the public Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (5801 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 934-PAGE or www.tarpits.org

Oregon: Prehistoric Gardens. Sculptor E.V. Nelson began his work with prehistoric creatures in 1953. The replicas of the prehistoric creatures are scientifically correct restorations, authentic in details. Their size and shape are based on the measurements of fossil skeletons. The location is gorgeous. It is surrounded by hills where the temperate zone Rain Forests of the Oregon Coast have developed. (Located between Port Orford & Gold Beach, Oregon 97465. (541) 332-4463 or www.ohwy.com/or/p/prehigdn.htm

Washington: Pacific Science Center. The Pacific Science Center offers a variety of dinosaur fossils, including a full-scale skeletal cast of Mamenchisaurus, dinosaur footprints, and a cutaway model of a Tyrannosaurus rex leg. Another major attraction of this museum is the children’s center which provides hands-on dinosaur games and learning materials. (200 Second Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98109.  (206) 443-2001, (206) 443-2925 (for family-specific activities) or www.pacsci.org)
 
Images provided by the Pacific Science Center and the Oregon Prehistoric Gardens. Researched and compiled by Travel Communications. Copyright 2008.

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