Big Water Visitor Center

Welcome to the Big Water Visitor Center. As we stand here along North State Route 89, heading toward Kanab, Utah, we have crossed a significant geographical and administrative boundary. …

Before we examine the bones, we must first understand the 'Grand Staircase.' This is not a physical staircase, but a massive geological concept. It refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch south from…

Let us turn our analytical focus to the primary exhibit in this center: the remains of a baby ceratopsian. The ceratopsids were the famous horned dinosaurs, a group that includes the well-known Triceratops. …

This visitor center uniquely functions not just as a display hall, but as an educational window into the actual laboratory process of paleontology. Finding a fossil in the field is only the very beginning of the scientific…

Before we conclude, let us look through the windows back out onto the topography of the Grand Staircase. The environment that preserves these fossils so well—the crumbling, grey badlands—is notoriously hostile to modern life. …

As we conclude our visit to the Big Water Visitor Center, take a moment to reflect on the immense stretch of time we have been discussing. This small building sits atop a geological ledger that records the climax of the age of…