Fossil Butte National Monument - Kemmerer, WY 7/16/10

Now THIS is a Visitor Center.

A sad realization comes to the Cales as we continue our travels throughout the country. The NPS Visitor Centers are often shoddy, mildew-smelling, 1970's decor, with films made by D.W. Griffith in his heyday. This is the first impression visitors get on these important sites, and if they feel as though they went back in time to visit Florida and James in their "Good Times" apartment with the complementing decor, an otherwise positive experience could be wasted.

That being said - Let's Face it, Friends.......some sites just are not as exciting or engaging as others. An open field containing the remnants of a prehistoric lake, which preserved perfectly in the surrounding layers of shale have produced some of the most picture perfect fossils one could ever hope to see, might not at first be

visible over the vast, bleak grasslands and surrounding hills.

(Even worse - less than a mile away from the entrance, is the mark of Dick Cheney and a MASSIVE petroleum processing plant - Wyoming is essentially gone. The drive into the tiny town of Kemmerer, WY (which houses the very first J.C. Penney's Store thankyouverymuch) is sadly dotted every few feet with gas wells and oil derricks. So before we drove up to Fossil Butte, we were a bit jaded.

However, after leaving Cheneyland (which DOES exist....I defy anyone to drive through Wyoming without hearing the Frankenstein like groan of Cheney whistling on the wind through the millions of gas drills), we came upon Fossil Butte, which seemed a respite of sorts. However - no signs telling us what we were looking at kept us guessing on what we were in for.

Wow - A brand, new Visitor Center that puts some of the biggest sites exhibits to shame. You are welcomed in a small lobby with the ranger desk in the middle where, as we often see, a child was being sworn in as a Junior Ranger. Fossils and beautiful exhibits make Fossil Butte worth the 450 mile drive alone.

And the film??? Superb. A curtained off room leads visitors to a small theatre where a large screen HDTV provides all the information visitors could ever need about this little-visited site. Fascinating throughout, we sat agog as the fossil collecting techiniques and the plethora of life found in this small outcrop of untouched land. THIS is how you do it NPS....a site that you could take 10 minutes at, left us very pleased at the time we spent there.

One more thing..... A Passport Stamp Collector might actually pass out from adrenaline here.

Trust us on this one - you might be tempted because of the remote nature of the park to pass Fossil Butte up.

Don't.

FINAL RATING
Fossil Butte National Monument - 7.5/10