Fodor's Expert Review Thomas Condon Paleontology Center

The center serves as the area's primary visitor center, with a museum dedicated to the fossil beds, fossils on display, in-depth informational panels, handouts, and an orientation movie. Two miles north of the visitor center on Highway 19 is the impressive Blue Basin, a badlands canyon with sinuous blue-green spires. Winding through this basin is the ½-mile Island in Time Trail, where trailside exhibits explain the area's 28-million-year-old fossils. The 3-mile Blue Basin Overlook Trail loops around the rim of the canyon, yielding some splendid views. Blue Basin is a hike with a high effort-to-reward ratio, and in summer rangers lead interpretive jaunts—check for an updated schedule at visitor center.