Dinosaurs....When San Antonio was Beach Front Property

As I mentioned yesterday, this group of ladies hiked the Canyon Lake Gorge yesterday. You can read about it in Liz's blog. Their guide (you cannot hike without a guide to preserve the area...$10/person) told them that there were other dinosaur tracks nearby so we decided to check that out.

Mary Jane was coming out from town to join us but was a little delayed so we decided to head out and meet her. We were looking for a place for coffee in Sattler.

We found this place and thought that we would have to sit outside but they also have inside seating as we soon discovered.

It turned out to be a great find and we had lunch instead of coffee. We were lured in by their Adult Grilled Cheese Sandwiches among others as well as their burgers. Everything was delicious and reasonable priced. We arrived early and soon found out that they were very popular for good reason.

Next stop....The Heritage Museum of the Texas Hill Country. In addition to the dinosaur tracks, they have other very interesting items on display inside the museum. You'll find them on FM2673 between Sattler and Startzville. I should have mentioned that we decided to have lunch earlier because we arrived at the museum before the 1:00PM opening. It opens at 10:00AM in the summer.

First we were given an introduction to the museum by the woman on duty. She had lots of information on the history of the area. Did you know that the San Antonio area used to be ocean front property?  Of course that was a really really long time ago when the dinosaurs were around.  Then we toured the rooms inside. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside but they had a lot of historical memorabilia from the area.

Once we headed outside to see the dinosaur tracks, photos were allowed. There were some good informational signs telling more about the dinosaurs that roamed this area. The footprints were preserved because the dinosaurs were walking through a slightly marshy area near the water. The impressions were covered over by different material which hardened into rock.

The tracks were discovered in 1982 when the area was being developed for an RV park. Ironic right? As they landscaped the ground in preparation for the park, they dug down to the rock and found the tracks.

This is a hoola hoop around this track so if you can remember them, you know just how large the track is.

Here you can see them as they walked along.

Most of the tracks are under a very large multi-layered roof.

The main dinosaur tracks were in rows running parallel to the water front. If you look closely, you can see a couple of lines that run perpendicular to the other tracks.  In other words, directly to and from where the water would have been. They look like they were made by some really enormous snail-type creature.

This picture shows the snail trail more clearly.

You can go up a set of stairs to a walkway that allows you to look down at the tracks.

There is also a amphitheater seating area here. They have a lot of Scout groups and school groups that come and they give presentations for the kids. I believe the docent also said the local Scouts have a badge they can earn here.

Directly across the road from the museum, there are some big hills and houses with fantastic views. Canyon Lake is just on the other side of the hills.

There is another area that they are still developing where you can see more tracks.

They had some water in them from dew that really made them stand out.

Out in front of the museum. they had a neat place set up where kids can "discover" fossils and use brushes to expose them.

It is under a cover and there is a large chart showing all the different types of dinosaurs.

This is an antique group of chicken nests.

There is also a path leading from the area that has signs marking various trees and plants.

A rock garden type area is also set up displaying lots of antique farming equipment.

There is a large stone marker dedicating this as the Burney Parker Heritage Site.

 

 

It was a very interesting day. Later on we all got together in Liz's rig for a delicious Cranberry Glazed Chicken dinner that was wonderful. Then we had a "Shinerbock" toast to our good Pink FlaminGoes friend Sharon Souter who passed away this summer and now watches over all of us as we travel in our RVs.