Meeting Location and Directions for Friday night:
On Friday night, to eliminate drive time and put us near or at our camping spots, we will be meeting at a small pull-out parking area outside of Mack, CO where we will be fossil hunting. It is a remote desert area and so the skies should be pretty dark out there for Stargazing.
Directions to the Mack area fossils:
To access the State Line area from Grand Junction Colorado you need to travel west on I-70 for approximately 22 miles until you come to the town of Mack Colorado. Exit at Exit 11 and turn right and travel just over 1/2 a mile to the intersection of Highway 6&50. Turn left onto Highway 6&50 and travel west for about twelve miles. You will pass the 6&50 entrance to Rabbit Valley on your left and right before the parking area you will come to another access road that leads south to Rabbit Valley. The parking area is a little used spot just past the second access to Rabbit Valley and about two miles from the Utah state line. If the pavement ends, then you have gone too far. There is one road that leads off to the west of the parking area that you can explore if you have a vehicle with clearance, otherwise you should park just off the main road.
Camping Options:
If you are interested in free “Dry Camping”, we could sleep at that meeting spot in our cars, campers, tents, etc. There would be no water or electricity, so we would just have to bring in whatever water and other necessities. (We will plan on bring our RV that we will sleep in that night.)
For a normal campground with water/bathrooms/showers, this campground is nearby and looks like it may have availability for that Friday night – James Robb Colorado River Campground in Fruita, CO – https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/JamesMRobbColoradoRiver/Pages/FruitaCamping.aspx
-If you choose to camp at this campground, likely you would want to set up camp there before our evening activities.
Friday
6:00 – 7:00 Bring Your Own Picnic Dinner (if you are interested)
7:00 – 8:15 Fossil Hunting
8:15 – 9:15 Astronomy Presentation
9:15 – Late Stargazing
Saturday
10:00 – 12:00 Colorado National Monument Tour
Meet at Dinosaur Journey Museum (550 Jurassic Ct, Fruita, CO 81521) to caravan together to the different spots at the Monument. We can finish the tour up on the Monument at 12:00 and so you will want to plan some time to come back down and into town afterwards.
Optional Lunch
Other optional activities
-Mica Mines hike (https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/mica-mines-trail) or Moon Rock walk/hike (This link describes the whole trail, we have only ever gone the first 0.5 – 1 mile hike that gives some amazing views and fun rock scrambling – https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/the-ribbon-trail)
-Geode hunting in Whitewater, CO (https://www.coloradowestoutdoors.com/home/minerals-and-fossils/whitewater)
-Dinosaur Journey Museum Tour in Fruita, CO (https://museumofwesternco.com/dinosaur-journey/)
-The Scenic River Road (Hwy 128 from Cisco to Moab, UT)
-Canyonlands National Park near Moab, UT
-Arches National Park near Moab, UT
-Peach Picking Famous Palisade Peaches in Palisade, CO
-The Peach Festival is also that weekend (https://palisadecoc.com/events/palisadepeachfest/)
-Shopping?
-Other Ideas?
