Many activities on Saturday at Dinosaur State Park

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Friends of Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum will host a celebration on Saturday, Aug. 21, from 10 to 3, the discovery of 2,000 early Jurassic dinosaur footprints in Rocky Hill. The tracks were made 200 million years ago by large carnivorous dinosaurs and were discovered in 1966 by a bulldozer operator who was digging the basement of a state office building.

All outdoor activities are free with the exception of a small materials fee to mine for gems or dinosaur fossils. The day will feature a wide variety of programs for families. They will include:

• Live animal demonstrations by Riverside Reptiles and Sharon Audubon

• Games with prizes

• Face painting

• Musical entertainment

• Costumed characters

• Mining for gems or fossils (a small materials fee is charged).

• Guided nature walks

• An extensive crafts area

There will be food available for sale on park grounds. The museum will be open for regular operating hours from 9 to 4:30. The admission fee to enter the museum is $6 for adults (age 13 and up) and $2 for youth (ages 6-12).

Inside the museum visitors can view 600 early Jurassic dinosaur footprints and related exhibits. The museum will have continuous educational programming featuring animal demonstrations, films and track talks throughout the day.

The discovery room will also be open for visitors and includes a coloring area, book mark-making station, live animals, interactive fossil boxes and geology displays.

The park’s outdoor hiking trails will be open from 9 to 4. The outdoor track casting area will be available from 9 to 3:30. To make a cast, visitors must bring 10 pounds of Plaster-of-Paris and a one-quarter cup of cooking oil. Visitors can make only one cast per family or group.

This event will be held rain or shine. The park is located on 400 West Street in Rocky Hill one miles east of exit 23 off Interstate 91.

Friends of Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a private, not-for-profit group, dedicated to promoting education about paleontology and Connecticut geology. For more information, contact Meg Enkler at (860) 529-5816.