Did you know there is a dinosaur just hanging out in the woods in Durham? It’s true!
We’ve seen photos of this hidden gem in the past, but we want to give a special shoutout to Best of the Bull for the article on their website with directions that finally helped us meet the dino face-to-face.
The dino can be found on the Ellerbe Creek Trail just south of W Murray Avenue. To get there, we parked at the Northgate Dog Park and headed north on the paved trail. In toddler time (stopping to examine many sticks and rocks along the way), the walk was about 15-20 minutes from parking lot to dino. For a person sans kids, it’s probably about 5 minutes.
If you are looking to have an adventure with a bit more than the dino, start from Northgate Park, which is just south of the dog park and has a playground, sports courts, and some open space to run. You could also start at Rock Quarry Park and head south on the Ellerbe Creek Trail.
So where did this dino come from? Apparently in the late 1960s, the dino had a host of other friends along the trail and was part of an exhibit for the Bull City Children’s Museum - the predecessor to the Museum of Life & Science. But in 1996, Hurricane Fran blew threw and this guy’s friends, well, went the way of the dinosaurs. He didn’t fair too well either, but was eventually spruced back up. (More interesting details about that can be found on the Best of the Bull website article we mentioned above.)
Have you been to see Durham’s backwoods brontosaurus? Let us know in the comments!
(Note: We're currently working on updating our website with our reviews. This review was originally posted on Instagram and Facebook on February 18, 2021.)