Environmental Factors

For millions of years, rivers and geologic forces have worked in tandem to carve the unique landscape of Dinosaur National Monument.

NPS / Dan Johnson

Dinosaur National Monument has been shaped by natural forces for millennia. Geologic processes have moved and shaped the land, rivers carved canyons, and climatic changes have influenced the plant and animal life that can thrive here. The same forces that influenced the the creatures now fossilized in Dinosaur's rock layers are still at work today, in a time when human activity is also a major environmental factor.