Fossil Discovery Sparks First Dino Dig at Monument in 100 Years

National park officials revealed that dinosaur bones were found in the aptly named Dinosaur National Monument in late 2025. “The fossils belong to a large, long-necked dinosaur, most likely Diplodocus, which is common in this bonebed,” the National Park Service said in a statement. The finding prompted the first dig in the national reserve in over a century, according to the NPS. While building a parking lot in the area, construction workers found pieces of sandstone that held dinosaur remains. The monument area, which lies between the borders of Colorado and Utah, was thought to have been exhausted of discoveries. The last excavation at the site took place in 1924. Paleontologists conducted the excavations of the new findings later in the fall. The bones are now being studied at the nearby Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. Work on the parking lot was resumed and finalized after the excavation.