Spectrum Track Site

Washington, Utah

State Instutional Trust Lands

Sienna Hills/Spectrum Site

I've spent more time googling about this  site, it wasn't too hard to find, just drove to the fence line and wandered till we found the site. Found the first reference from a paper linked on the Dinosaur Discovery site.

 

"The footprints at the Spectrum Tracksite are preserved at the very top of the Springdale Sandstone, the lower member of the Kayenta Formation. The track-bearing bed is about 45-50 cm and approximately 5M above the Kayenta base.(Hamblin et al. 2006)."NEVADA STATE MUSEUM
PALEONTOLOGICAL PAPERS NUMBER 1

The site is at the bottom of a wash, with a steep bank on the northwest bank. It has been fenced by SITLA with access for pedestrians but not atv's. The gates on roads approaching this site are locked but the fence only extends into the scrub. It is posted so consider  if this site is worth the possible consequences.

 Trackway with at least four steps.

The top of the Springdale Sandstone, which was deposited in a fluvial channel, preserves a megatracksite that can be traced extensively from southwestern Utah, as far east as Ward Terrace near Tuba City in north-central Arizona. The interpretation of the “Springdale megatracksite” (Lucas et al. 2005a),supported by several authors (DeBlieux et al.)

 Is this a skin impression? The tracks are mostly underprints, this is within a larger track. The overlieing bed is not preserved here, It would interesting to find the contact  at other Springdale Sandstone sites and see if the overlieing beds dip into the tracks, and to see if the prints are from the overlieing beds.

 Keys for scale, theropod

 Anomoepus? Additional info

Full track site with Shnabkaib in the distance.

Red Cliffs Recreation Area

Dinosaur tracks behind the campground

Kayenta and a view

We stopped  in the St George BLM office this afternoon to ask about the Spectrum Site. The volunteer knew of that sight but didn't know about access -- go talk to SITLA. But he did have several other local sites. So we went to one this afternoon.

Red Cliff Recreation Area

A large BLM area near town, with and a campground just outside of Leeds,  UT. And behind the restroom in the campground is a short trail leading to a track site. 

Dinosaur Tracks trail

The  brochure says seventeen tracks, we saw three and a couple of possibilities.

Warner Valley dinosaur tracks

Afternoon drive to the Jurassic

Where

Warner Valley Dinosaur track site, south of Hurricane, UT.

In the  Springdale Sandstone Member of the Kayenta Formation. Signage at the sight lists the Springdale as  part of the Kayenta, but the NPS geology page lists it as part of the Moenave. The Utah Geological society in paper M-250 lists it as  part  of the Kayenta.Springdale Sandstone Member (Lower Jurassic) – Mostly pale-reddish-brown to pale-grayish-yellow, moderately sorted, fine- to medium-grained, medium- to very thick bedded, ledge- to small-cliff-forming sandstone, and minor, thin, discontinuous lenses of intraformational conglomerate and thin interbeds of moderate-red-dish-brown or greenish-gray mudstone and siltstone; has large lenticular and wedge-shaped,low-angle, medium-to large-scale cross-bedding; secondary color banding that varies from concordant to discordant to cross-beds is common in the sandstone; contains locally abundant petrified and carbonized fossil plant remains; theropod tracks common in upper horizon known as the Springdale megatracksite.
The Springdale Sandstone Member of the Moenave Formation is equivalent to the basal Kayenta Formation to the northeast. Marzolf (1993, 1994) removed theSpringdale Sandstone from the Moenave Formation and included it as the basal member of the overlying Kayenta Formation. This stratigraphic revision has been applied to new geological maps of the area published by UGS.  Seems like just semantics, but it's all a matter of time. The Moenave is Triassic, the Kayenta Jurassic. The diagonal stripe in the next photo may reveal the Trias/Juras boundary; or just some old tracks.

 Track site is  the diagonal lighter rocks in  the center of the picture. The black line is a steel wall to force the wash off the tracksite. Tracks start at the left edge of the wall and continue  around the right hand bend. The white is a limey layer above bed containing the tracks.

Site is easily accessible from Hurricane in 2wd in good weather. Contact St George BLM office for further details.

What

Spectrum Tracksite

from Making Tracks Across the Southwest 2006, California State University, Desert Studies Consortium and LSA Associates 

25.3 (2.9) EXIT at Washington Parkway (Utah Exit 13).

25.4 (0.1) Stop, TURN RIGHT (east) onto Washington

Parkway.

25.5 (0.1) Pass the traffic circle/round-about, and move to

left lane....

Watch for breaking updates 

Entrance described in the road log is marked NO TRESPASSING. But there is another possible entrance nearby that isn't posted, just a barbed wire fence.

Toroweap

Toroweap, Grand Canyon N.P.

Road?

Road?
Twenty-five percent of visitors receive at least one flat tire. 

Up river

up river

down river

down river

pot hole

trace fossil?

Needs a window, great view

Swainsens Hawk?

Geology quick reference
Geologic map:

CInder cone on Sunshine route

 We saw half a dozen other vehicles after entering the park. We didn't get a flat -- good  thing; the spare hasn't been on the ground for years and is probably flat. We'll buy a new spare tire before coming out here again.

Historic Babylon

Down to the Virgin River

Sand Cove trailhead

Descent to Grapevine Wash

Babylon trailhead

Babylon trail petroglyphs

Anticline and dinosaur tracks nearby

Window at Sand Cove primitive camp

Why not, Jucy tidbit:

From LAX to LAS for $1/night lets give it a try.

So we did.

 

We've seen these odd colored (green and purple) vans several times over the last year or two:

And one night I visited the company's U.S. website and found a special deal of $1/night for rentals originating in Los Angelas and terminating in Las Vegas. A quick visit to Southwest Airlines found flights from LAS to LAX for under $100 each. So the plan quickly came together; drive to Las Vegas -- a minor suburb of St George, spend a night at the South Point hotel casino and spa who offer free parking after a stay. Then fly to Los Angelas taxi to Jucy (under $30) and then camp somewhere in the LA basin for two then back to Vegas for a night there and then back to St. George.

So off to the California state parks page to find a campspot on the beach somewhere in SoCal. Ended up with a reservation for two nights at Doheny Beach state park. Which is on the beach in a nice part of Orange County.

Then off to South Point, off to LAS and into the friendly skies

The flight was on time and we had allowed a couple of  extra hours between arrival at LAX and the pickup time at Jucy. -- More waiting at LAX. And then a cab ride from LAX to Hawthorne. How did taxi drivers find anything before GPS, and how do they survive entering addresses into a gps at forty miles per hour... in the airport? Twenty nine dollars (including tip) later and we're at our van:

After a thorough how to on the van, and a thorough cleaning of  the windshield to remove burning man residue we're off on the 405, in the HOV lane, with a lot of commuters staring at the green van:

Into Dana Point