Makoshika State Park

The Makoshika State Park is located southeast of Glendive in Dawson County of the U.S. state of Montana. It is located at an altitude of 736 meters and covers an area of 47 km ², the largest state park of Montana. Ma -ko -shi -ka means in the language of the Sioux Indians as poor soil, Badlands.

The Yellowstone River and its tributaries uncovered in the course of thousands of rock layers that belong to the sediments of the 65 million year old Hell Creek Formation of the Cretaceous period. From this age are hundreds finds of dinosaur bones and complete skeletons, some of which are in the Visitor Center, Dinosaur Museum are exhibited in Glendive and other museums along the Montana Dinosaur Trail in Makoshiko. Among the species found include Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Thescelosaurus and Habrosaurus, Hadrosaurus, Ankylosaurus and Ornithomimus. Among the 40 living species of bird, the turkey vultures are the occasion for the annual Buzzard Day, in which the arrival of migratory birds is celebrated. In the park are also five species of bats, larger mammals and 150 species of plants to be found.

In 1893 there was the first effort to put parts of today's state parks under protection, land grants were made in 1939 and 1953, the Makoshika State Park was designated.

In the park are out of the Visitor Center, two campsites, a wheelchair-accessible amphitheater for outdoor events and an obstacle course for Frisbee golf. In the year 2001 46.000 visitors were counted.