CLAYTON LAKE STATE PARK, NEW MEXICO

Dinosaur Freeway

An Ancient Coastal Plain and Dinosaur Migration Route

The muddy western shoreline of the Western Interior Seaway was a natural migration route for dinosaurs, and numerous concentrations of dinosaur tracks have been found running from northeastern Colorado near Boulder to east-central New Mexico near Tucumcari. Many of these are trampled zones where dinosaurs migrated along the edge of the seaway and where they stalked their prey. One such zone is at Clayton Lake State Park in New Mexico.

The tracks at Clayton Lake State Park were discovered in 1982 during the construction of a dam spillway. More than 500 tracks of at least three different species have been recorded. Most were large herbivores, possibly related to hadrosaurs, duck-billed dinosaurs. The largest individuals would have towered more than thirty feet. There are also many examples to web-toed, or three-toed, tracks.