One of my favorite things to do is to find hidden gems and share them with Poppy (so much so that I’m officially starting a series all about our hidden gem fun). I’m even more excited if they include something she loves, like this newest find does. I knew as soon as I heard about Durham’s hidden dinosaur, we had to go looking during our next visit! Sure enough he exists: a large brontosaurus, aptly named Bronto.
A bit of background
Okay, so you might be a bit confused as to how a dinosaur ended up off a trail in Durham. I was as well, so I had to do more digging. According to my research, when originally built in 1946, Durham’s Museum of Life and Science was previously located at Northgate Park, encompassing the land that Bronto sits on. From his creation in 1967, Bronto was actually a “big” (pardon the pun) part of the Dinosaur Trail, which included several other dinosaurs. This trail opened to much excitement, being ahead of it’s time in both detail and size of the dinosaurs. By the 1990s, the dinosaurs along the trail had started to deteriorate, and the museum had plans of refurbishing the statues.
It seems that dinosaurs are ill-fated for extinction, this time due to another natural disaster: Hurricane Fran. When Hurricane Fran hit in 1996, there was severe damage and flooding in the area. This caused the trail to be closed and for many of the dinosaurs to fall further into disrepair. The only one who remained standing was Bronto.
The museum has since decided to create another Dinosaur Trail, where you can see several different types of dino friends. However, they decided to leave Bronto where he was originally placed, instead of moving him to the new trail. Lucky for us, we can now see this large dinosaur, free of charge, anytime we’d like.
A Few more fun facts
At one point, Bronto’s stomach was used as a homeless man’s place of residence for much of the winter. He’s also been a victim of vandalism when he was decapitated in the middle of the night. His head was eventually found several days later; however, most of his neck was missing. Luckily, the community banded together to raise money to rebuild him. They even sold “Save Bronto” shirts for the fundraiser! (If you know where I can get one, please let me know.)
Location, Location, Location
Bronto is found off a paved path not far from the Museum of Life and Science. There are two parking options, each depending on how far you’d like to walk to see the dinosaur. The first option is to park at Northgate Park and take the Ellerbee Creek Trail. That’s a bit more of a walk and isn’t as toddler friendly. If you’d like specific directions, check out Peter Does Parks’ video. Poppy and I ended up parking at Edison Johnson Aquatic Center and following the paved trail across Murray Avenue. There is a cross walk at Murray Avenue, making it very safe and easy. When you see the sign that says Wescott’s Bronto Trail, you know you’re mere feet away, so start looking for the 72-foot-long dino. If you’d like directions from this location, check out Google Maps.
Have you gotten to see Bronto, Durham’s hidden dinosaur? Know of any other hidden gems that we should check out? Let us know in the comments!
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