Travelling the Dinosaur Trail in Queensland
Updated: Aug 23
There is something fascinating about dinosaurs, about learning how different the reality of life on earth was hundreds of millions of years ago.
It is surreal to stand in areas where dinosaurs once roamed, and in outback Queensland to try and visualise how much of Australia was once covered by the vast Eromanga Sea.
After deciding on an outback road trip I wanted to include venturing to Winton, where I'd heard some of Australia's best dinosaur fossils have been found. As I researched my trip I learned about the Dinosaur Trail in Queensland that includes Winton, Hughenden and Richmond, so I visited them all.
We'd almost put our trip off due to the fuel crisis given the cost of diesel and uncertainty of supply, but we took a chance and continued and were thankful we did. While we were in the area the ABC ran a news story about Winton encouraging people to make the trip and learn more about Australia's dinosaur past.
There were good things to see all in towns and if you have the time, I'd recommend you see them all. However, if you are short on time and can only see one thing, my favourite was the Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton including the canyon.
In Hughenden you can visit the Flinders Discovery Centre and see 'Hughie', a 7 metres long and 3.5 metres tall Muttaburrasaurus skeleton replica.
At the Age of Dinosaurs Museum you can see the fossil preparation laboratory, the collection room and dinosaur canyon.
In the lab I was amazed to find out they have a 20 year backlog to prepare fossils already discovered and that more can be found regularly.
At dinosaur canyon you can see real dinosaur footprints and go for a walk to see replica dinosaurs as they may once have been in the wild.
In Richmond you can visit Kronosaurus Korner to learn more about ancient marine reptiles from 100 million years ago and see the full size Kronosaurus replica at the front of the building. It is easy to see why they were one of the largest marine predators in history!
In terms of caravan parks we stayed at four along the way. Although they were all good our favourite was Winton Wanderers as it was out of town with amazing sunsets, followed by Lakeview in Richmond, Allen Terry in Hughenden and Winton Roadhouse. Some of the parks, like the Winton Roadhouse had regular entertainment and we enjoyed seeing the bush poet during our visit.
