Not only is Holyoke the birthplace of Volleyball, but it is also the stomping ground to a population of dinosaurs.
Just off route five, by the west bank of the Connecticut river, a large cluster of footprints have been preserved for on-lookers to enjoy.
After being buried for eons under rock and sediment, dinosaur footprints were discovered in the nineteen twenties by workers constructing route five. In the nineteen seventies, paleontologist John Ostrom discovered, after studying the tracks, that some species traveled in packs.
You can spot over one hundred thirty tracks from three distinct species: Eubrontes Giganteus,Anchisauripus Sillimani, Grallator Cuneatus. Dinosaur prints come in all shapes and sizes, some smaller than a human hand. Even footprints that appear small may in fact come from a dinosaur that has a large stance. The abundance of footprints found along the Connecticut River include the first tracks known to the science world.
The Dinosaur Footprint Park is managed by the trustees of reservation in conjunction with the Massachusetts department of environmental management.
