Prince George's County Department of Parks and Recreation
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Dinosaur Park

13200 Block of Mid-Atlantic Boulevard
Laurel, MD 20708
301-627-7755; TTY 301-446-3302

kids in dino parkJoin in unearthing Prince George’s County’s prehistoric past at Dinosaur Park, home of Astrodon johnstoni, Maryland’s state dinosaur. Observe and assist paleontologists in searching for the remains of dinosaurs, plants, and early mammals at this rare 100 million year old deposit of fossils near Laurel, Maryland.

Hours of Operation:

Dinosaur Park interpretive area is open from dawn to dusk 7 days a week. The public is invited to participate in hands-on programs the first and third Saturdays of every month from 12 noon until 4 pm. School programs and group tours are offered weekdays by appointment. Please call 301-627-7755. The cost for school programs is $50 for Prince George’s County residents and $60 for non-county residents.

What is Dinosaur Park?

Dinosaur Park is a 41-acre park in Laurel, Maryland, featuring a rare deposit of fossils from the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years ago). The Park is part of a geologic formation called the Muirkirk Deposit that consists of sediments and clays that occur south of Washington D.C. to north of Baltimore. Here, archaeologists have unearthed fossilized bones of several kinds of dinosaurs, early mammals, and fossils of trees and early flowering plants.

Dinosaur Park features an interpretive garden that helps to bring the prehistoric past to the present via plants, trees, and ferns that are similar to those of dinosaur times. The parking area is surrounded by large chunks of ironstone (siderite) that recall the days of iron mining in the 1800s and 1900s, and is paved with crushed brick from when the local clay was used for brick making. Four interpretive wayside signs describe Maryland’s dinosaurs and prehistoric environment, and the industrial and African American history of the area.