Alpine, California: Dinosaur Land Remains

A few statues from a defunct Dinosaur park survive in a trailer park.

Dinosaur Land

Regarding Dinosaur Park in Alpine, CA: It was originally called Dinosaur Land and was built in 1962 to be an amusement park. It was scheduled to have a roller coaster shaped like a volcano, life-size dinosaur statues, water rides, dinosaur "characters" roaming the park, and restaurants. It went bankrupt within two years, and all that remains is "Dinosaur Bob." He looks like a brontosaurus whose neck broke at one time or another. Dinosaur Land is now a mobile home park located on Alpine Blvd. You can still see Dinosaur Bob - I'm a 3rd grade teacher in Alpine and he's part of our historical tour of Alpine each year!

[Kristen Itokazu, 06/26/2005]

Dino Park remains - Vague Recollections

I was raised in Alpine, CA. For years we had a few landmarks that we just got used to -- a fiberglass horse out in front of the fiberglass plant, a fiberglass gorilla on top of the Log Cabin restaurant, and my favorite -- two huge dinosaurs looming off the north side of Alpine Blvd. The remains of a defunct dinosaur amusement park (Alpine Blvd was Olde Hwy. 80 before the new freeway came through), the dinos were in an enclosure with a huge wrought iron, creepy looking gate, and they had grass grown up tall all around them. There was a triceratops in the back, but the biggest one in front was a brontosaurus. As years of weather destroyed the monster, it came to have crawdads living in the water that had accumulated where it's stomach should have been, and we would sneak in and catch them. It was a very satisfying sight, having a dinosaur right in town. Years later, a nursery took over that land, but I don't know what is there today.

[Stacey, 01/11/2004]