enough there’ s a Moffat County sheriff hiding behind a small bluff. Whew!
Dinosaur, Colorado, is short on amenities, so my destination for the evening is another 40 minutes west, the tourist town of Vernal, Utah. It has lots of motels and restaurants, and the town itself is dinosaur tourist central. A 40- foot- tall, blindingly pink Dinah the Dinosaur welcomes visitors from the east, while midtown has a 20- foot- tall T- Rex eating a watermelon while
Above left: Dinah the Dinosaur welcomes visitors to Vernal, Utah. Above right: This colorful Stegosaurus guards the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center. Below: Visit this dinosaur-rich region in the fall to see golden aspens.
roasting a hot dog and hamburger on a grill. Don’ t ask me why.
Come morning, I backtrack on U. S. 40 just past Dinosaur and enter a secret backroad of Dinosaur National Monument. Harpers Corner Road is just 32 miles long, and I’ m not sure there’ s a more secluded and untraveled bit of twisty paved fun in America. Rocks and trees, swerves and curves, mostly straddling a narrow ridge, it ends at nothing more than a scenic turnaround. There are breathtaking vistas across Utah and Colorado, but today we’ re
22 / JULY 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM