After years in the making, Utahraptor State Park opens for visitors

‘God showed off when he created Utah’

Gov. Spencer Cox, state lawmakers and city and county officials joined dozens of locals and visitors at the long-anticipated ribbon cutting at Utahraptor State Park on Friday, May 23. Gov. Spencer Cox speaks at a ribbon cutting ceremony at Utahraptor State Park on Friday, May 23. Photos by Doug McMurdo “This is the first project in state history to take 100 million years to complete,” said Cox after thanking lawmakers and the “visionary leaders…

After years in the making, Utahraptor State Park opens for visitors

The first visitors have arrived at Utah's newest state park that took years to create."This is the first project in state history to take over 100 million years to complete!" Governor Spencer Cox joked at the opening of the new Utahraptor State Park.The new state park is named for the Utahraptor, a dinosaur species made famous because it's what paleontologists say the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" movies based their velociraptors on. The …

Utahraptor State Park opens - Photo Gallery

Utahraptor State Park has officially opened to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located 15 miles northwest of Moab, this 6,500-acre park features red rock desert and is significant for its fossil history and World War II relevance.