Did you know that you can find dinosaur footprints on the Gettysburg Battlefield? And while these footprints aren’t difficult to find if you know where to look, hundreds of thousands of people drive right past them every year having little idea of the fun history they are missing.
First off, its worth noting that these footprints are not originally from the battlefield. Instead, they are embedded in stones used to build a bridge on the route that many people take to Little Roundtop, one of the most popular spots on the entire battlefield.
And, even if you happened to be walking by, it takes a keen eye to see them from the normal bumps and grooves of the other rocks found here.
Still, this is a neat spot to check out on the battlefield, and, for my family, it was something to get my son a little more interested in our visit one summer day.
Parking for the Dinosaur Footprints on the Gettysburg Battlefield
Gettysburg’s dinosaur footprints can be found along South Confederate Avenue along the route to Little Roundtop near the base of Big Roundtop.
The bridge can be found at the following coordinates: 39.784889, -77.244694.
[Click here for information on how to use the coordinates in this article to find your destination.]
Note that this is a one-way road and you can’t stop on the bridge. Your best bet for parking is to pull off the road a couple hundred feet before the bridge next to the Major General William Wells Memorial near a trailhead for the hike to the 5th New York Cavalry and Battery E, 4th US Artillery monuments.
While this road is only open to one-way traffic and cars should be driving slowly, use extreme caution while walking along the road and especially while on the bridge as there can be a decent amount of traffic here.
Finding the Dinosaur Footprints
To see the footprints, walk from where you parked to the small bridge a short distance down the road.
This bridge over Plum Run was built in the 1930s and the side railings were made from sandstone mined at the now-defunct Trostle Quarry just a few miles away.
There are a couple dozen capstone rocks atop the bridge’s railings, and two of them contain dinosaur footprints. It’s worth noting that even knowing that they are there, the dinosaur footprints can be a bit tricky to find because of lighting and shadows.
Because of this, I’ve included information on how to find all three of them in this article. It’s worth noting that, despite what you might assume, the fossilized footprints are actually raised and not indented.
The first dinosaur footprint is located on the right side of the bridge (to the south) if approaching from the parking area mentioned above.
To find the first fossil, count six sections along the bridge from the front (again assuming you are coming from the parking area mentioned above). Here, you’ll find the footprint of an anchisauripus, a small herbivore that is estimated to have been about six feet in size.
Like all of the dinosaur footprints here, the anchisauripus lived during the Triassic Period approximately 200-250 million years ago.
It’s clear that the workers who built the bridge knew these prints were something special because this footprint actual extends a bit beyond the normal edge of the bridge and was purposefully cut to keep the footprint intact.
This extension on the backside of the stone makes this the easiest of the three to see.
The other two dinosaur footprints on the Gettysburg Battlefield can be found on the other side of the bridge (To the left if you’re coming from the parking area).
To find them, count five sections back from the front of the bridge. Here you’ll find the two footprints of a atreipus milfordensis on the same stone. This was a dog-sized plant eater that also lived during the Triassic Period.
These footprints are a bit harder to make out since they don’t extend beyond the edge of the stone wall, but once you know what you are looking for, you can clearly see them.
Overall, my son and I really had a fun time tracking down these footprints.
While only the biggest dinosaur fans would likely want to go far out of their way to see them, they make for an excellent stop while exploring the Gettysburg Battlefield and Adams County, especially for those traveling with kids who love dinosaurs.
Definitely add this spot to your list of places to check out while exploring Gettysburg.
Looking for more unique places to visit nearby? Check out Civil War Tails, Children of Gettysburg 1863, and the Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum.
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