My first visit was back in August of 2008 as described in an earlier blog post – It’s not about the destination but the surprises along the way .

Makoshika State Park is Montana’s largest state park with over 11,500 acres of pure adventure. Pronounced (Ma-KO’-shi-ka) after a Lakota term meaning “bad lands”, it is one of the most amazingly beautiful hikes I experienced in all of 2008. Little wonder really that Makoshika is a focal point for the sciences of Paleontology, Anthropology and Geology.

According to the park info sheet, “Makoshika badlands expose older rock layers than those in the badlands of the Dakotas. The Yellowstone River and its tributaries cut into this rock, which illustrate a fascinating time in history; the transition from dinosaurs to the Age of Mammals .” In fact, nearly a dozen species of dinosaurs have been unearthed here.

Thankfully, I was able to catch up with Park Manager Ryan Sokoloski for a tour of the visitor center. A wealth of both knowledge and passion, we talked history, dinosaurs and adventure. He suggested the following two sites.

www.Makoshika.org
www. fwp.mt.gov/parks