The Connecticut Dinosaur Trail is a historic collaboration that brings together the private and public sector with state agencies to promote tourism in Connecticut. Partners include four of the state's pre-eminent tourist attractions: Connecticut Science Center, Dinosaur State Park, The Dinosaur Place and Yale Peabody Museum. The Dinosaur Trail links these venues and hotel partners.
The Connecticut Dinosaur Trail was made possible by a Marketing Challenge Grant from the Department of Economic and Community Development and the Connecticut Office of Tourism (COT). The $25,000 grant will be used to boost tourism and encourage family trips to the partner locations. A dedicated website, http://www.ctdinotrail.com, gives information about the Trail.
"Thanks to the Governor's and state legislature's commitment to tourism, we are able to provide resources to a variety of attractions with the hope of extending the reach of the state's strategic marketing efforts through collaborative partnerships, such as the Connecticut Dinosaur Trail," said Randy Fiveash, Director of COT. "We believe this unique and historic partnership will be a wonderful way to highlight Connecticut's dinosaur attractions, and get people excited about their visit to Connecticut." Each property offers a unique dinosaur experience.
The Connecticut Science Center in downtown Hartford, now hosting the blockbuster traveling exhibit Dinosaurs Unearthed, offers visitors the thrill of interacting with over a dozen animatronic beasts as well as hearing their roars and feeling their footsteps. Two 3D movies take visitors back to when these beasts roamed the planet. A permanent dinosaur exhibit will follow.
Dinosaur State Park, a registered National Natural Landmark located in Rocky Hill, is home to over 2,000 Therapod dinosaur footprints left there 200 million years ago during the early Jurassic Period. Visitors can view more than 600 of the footsteps, now preserved in gray sandstone, and cast their own dinosaur footprints. A 60 acre park includes hiking trails and an arboretum of evolution that doubles as a picnic area.
The Dinosaur Place in Montville is an outdoor nature trail with over 30 life-sized dinosaur replicas and educational exhibits along the way. Indoor activities include a replica fossil quarry where junior paleontologists can unearth a dinosaur skeleton. Its Splashpad, New England's largest, features a dinosaur-themed children's water park.
The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven is a hub of dinosaur research. Visitors will find themselves surrounded by dinosaur fossils 200 to 65 million years old, including the type specimens of Stegosaurus, Triceratops and a 70-foot-long Apatosaurus ("Brontosaurus"). Here also is the world's largest dinosaur painting, Rudolph Zallinger's The Age of Reptiles.
Vacation packages from hotel partners, Courtyard by Marriott Norwich, Hartford Marriott Downtown Hartford and Courtyard by Marriott Cromwell will allow tourists outside the area to easily experience the Trail and extend their stay. Families registering at http://www.ctdinotrail.com can receive discounts and hotel packages.
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