The large exposures on the east side of Dinosaur Ridge were created in the 1930s and later during road-building, which accounts for their fresh appearance and light gray color. The steeply tilted rocks are prone to rockslides and weathering. There has been some careful excavation done in recent years, and surely in future decades, with enough public support, these rocks can be studied and protected under conditions like those in Dinosaur National Monument. Until then these rocks, precious for science and valuable for public education and enjoyment, will remain vulnerable to the weather and vandalism.
People who know little about rocks ask the docents how the dinosaurs scrambled up and down the slope. They need to learn some rudiments of geology to understand what they are seeing: a seashore was slowly buried by sand and mud, turned into rock deep underground, tilted by mountain-building forces during the last 50 million years, then eroded away until these ancient features were revealed again. Geology is a science that not only explains the appearance of things today, but also unravels the long story that lies behind them.