Dinosaur Trackways at Clayton Lake State Park

The footprints date to the Cretaceous period, more than a hundred million years ago, when this part of New Mexico lay along the muddy edge of a vast inland sea that once split North America down the middle. Dinosaurs crossed the soft shoreline mud, leaving prints that were then buried under fresh sediment and gradually turned to stone.

The trackway records more than a single moment. There are prints from several different dinosaurs, including three-toed tracks of both plant-eating and meat-eating species, along with marks left by other creatures and even ripples and mud cracks from the ancient shore. Read together, the surface is like a page torn from a prehistoric field notebook, showing a whole community of animals moving across the land.

For millions of years the footprints lay buried and unseen. In the twentieth century, engineers built a dam across Seneca Creek to create Clayton Lake, and the spillway excavation cut down into the ancient rock, exposing the track-bearing layer. What began as a construction project ended up revealing an extraordinary scientific site.

Paleontologists studied the surface and recognized its importance, and the park built a boardwalk so visitors could see the tracks without damaging them. Because the prints are shallow, they show best in the raking light of early morning or late afternoon, when low sun throws each footprint into relief. In the flat light of midday they can be surprisingly easy to miss.

Clayton Lake itself is a small reservoir set in rolling grassland, a welcome patch of water on the dry high plains. It draws anglers after trout and warm-water fish, and its quiet shoreline and campground make it a peaceful stop far from the interstate. Waterfowl and shorebirds gather here, a green oasis in a wide, open landscape.

The surrounding country is classic short-grass high plains, once the range of enormous bison herds and the Comanche, Kiowa, and other Plains peoples who followed them. Ranching came in the 1800s, and the town of Clayton grew up as a cattle-shipping point. The land remains open, working ranch country, big and quiet under a huge sky.

Far from city lights, Clayton Lake has been recognized for the quality of its night skies, and the park has hosted stargazing programs with a small observatory. On a clear, moonless night the stars crowd the sky from horizon to horizon, and the dark is deep and complete.

Spring and fall bring the most comfortable weather, with mild days, though the plains wind is nearly constant. Summer is hot with dramatic afternoon thunderstorms rolling across the grasslands. Winter is cold and clear, quiet and stark. In every season the light matters here, both for seeing the tracks and for the enormous skies overhead.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The dinosaur trackways at Clayton Lake State Park, near the town of Clayton in northeastern New Mexico, are a remarkable set of fossilized dinosaur footprints preserved in the rock along the lake's spillway. More than five hundred tracks, left by several kinds of dinosaurs roughly a hundred million years ago when the area was a muddy shoreline, are visible here, making it one of the best dinosaur track sites in the region. A boardwalk and interpretive signs let visitors view the tracks up close. Along with the trackways, the state park offers a reservoir for fishing and boating, camping, and an observatory for its dark skies. The dinosaur trackways make Clayton Lake State Park a fascinating destination in northeastern New Mexico.

You can walk the boardwalk along the lake's spillway to view over five hundred fossilized dinosaur footprints preserved in the rock, seeing tracks left by different kinds of dinosaurs, including three-toed prints, with interpretive signs explaining the tracks and the ancient environment that preserved them. Viewing the actual footprints of dinosaurs that walked here a hundred million years ago is fascinating and memorable. The tracks are best seen in the right light. Along with the trackways, the park offers fishing, boating, camping, and stargazing. With its remarkable dinosaur footprints, the Clayton Lake State Park trackways offer an engaging look at prehistoric life in northeastern New Mexico.

The dinosaur tracks are often best seen in the low-angle light of morning or late afternoon, when the shadows make the footprints stand out clearly, so timing a visit for those hours enhances viewing. Spring through fall offers pleasant weather for the outdoor boardwalk and the park's recreation, while summer can be hot on the exposed high plains, so early or late visits are best, and winter is cold. Water levels can affect track visibility. For the best combination of good light on the tracks and comfortable weather, aim for a morning or late-afternoon visit in the milder seasons at Clayton Lake State Park.

Beyond the dinosaur trackways, you can fish for trout, bass, and catfish in the reservoir, boat and paddle, camp at the campground, hike, watch for wildlife and birds, and enjoy the park's dark skies, which include an observatory for stargazing, as Clayton Lake is known for its excellent night skies. The combination of the fossil trackways, water recreation, and stargazing makes it a well-rounded destination. With its dinosaur tracks, fishing, boating, camping, and dark-sky observatory, Clayton Lake State Park offers a fascinating and varied outdoor experience in northeastern New Mexico.

Clayton Lake State Park is near the town of Clayton in northeastern New Mexico, within reach of the Capulin Volcano National Monument to the west, the high-plains ranching country, and the historic Santa Fe Trail region, near the borders of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. That makes the Clayton Lake dinosaur trackways a fascinating stop to combine with Capulin Volcano and the other attractions of northeastern New Mexico on a visit to the state.