MOAB, Utah — The bluffs and hills of this mountain biking hub were as red as a sunburn and barren, save for a few juniper trees and clumps of rabbit brush.

As I hiked to a flat stretch of sandstone, I saw them — bigger and more clearly defined than I had expected: dinosaur tracks.

I ran my fingers along the curve of the claw and pressed my palm inside the hubcap-size impression. It was a creepy feeling occupying the same spot as an SUV-sized lizard.

When the giant meat eater, probably an allosaurus, walked across this spot about 150 million years ago, the landscape was a tropical environment on the shores of an inland sea, lush with ferns, cycads, conifers and ginkgo trees.

Here, the beast's feet sank into a sandbar. Over time, seismic forces buried, solidified and then pushed that sandbar to the surface, retaining in astonishing detail the prints of that long-extinct monster.

A happy geological fluke has made Utah one of the world's best spots to hunt for dinosaurs. Throughout the rest of the U.S., this fossil-rich layer of sedimentary rock is buried under prairies and forests. But in the badlands of Utah, the stratum rests near the surface, even along hiking trails like this one.

I consulted Utah's top paleontologists on the best way to make a four-day road trip to see the state's dinosaur exhibits. They told me the best time to visit is now, during an era of astounding discoveries. Thanks to improved technology and exploding interest in the field, paleontologists are digging up new dinosaur species around the world at a rate of 10 to 20 each year.

Utah's quarries have been at the forefront of this trend, producing such discoveries as a strange duck-billed herbivore, a new horned quadruped, plus evidence that some dinosaurs fished.

In September, I drove the length and breadth of Utah — 978 miles — on the dinosaur trail.

ST. GEORGE DINOSAUR DISCOVERY CENTER, JOHNSON FARM

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Eight years ago, Sheldon Johnson, a retired optometrist, spotted something in the soil. He uncovered thick mudstone slabs imprinted with thousands of dinosaur prints, including skin impressions and tracks from what paleontologists believe was the lanky, fast-moving coelophysis of the early Jurassic period.

City officials built a museum around the 200-million-year-old impressions including the world's largest slab of stone containing dinosaur prints, weighing more than 26 tons. From bones, paleontologists learn about the size, anatomy and diet of dinosaurs. From track prints, experts get clues on how they sat, ran, turned and hunted. Andrew C. Milner, the city's paleontologist, believes scratch marks on several slabs suggest some dinosaurs swam in the shallows pursuing fish.

Getting there: From Las Vegas, drive two hours along Interstate 15 to St. George in southwest Utah. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. $5, adults; $2, children. 2180 E. Riverside Drive, St. George; 435-574-3466 or www.dinotrax.com.

MILL CANYON DINOSAUR TRAIL AND COPPER RIDGE DINOSAUR TRACKWAY

MOAB, Utah — 13 miles north of here, exposed to the elements on a hiking trail in Mill Canyon, were dozens of dinosaur bones, black, gray and grainy, like wood. The disjointed bones jutting out of a sandstone shelf were the vertebrae of a 20-ton camasaurus. A diamond-shaped bone embedded in rock was the femur of an allosaurus, a smaller cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex.

At nearby Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway, several 150-million-year-old prints on a flat rock path were as clear as if they had been made that week. The three-toed allosaurus prints cross the path diagonally, but the bigger prints, probably made by a apatosaurus, seem to make a sharp right turn, a move that paleontologists say is unusual.

Getting there: Drive Interstate 70 across Utah from St. George to Moab. Both track sites are open year-round.

The Moab Field Office is at 82 E. Dogwood, Moab; 435-259-2100.

CLEVELAND-LLOYD DINOSAUR QUARRY

CLEVELAND — In the 1930s, near Cleveland, paleontologists uncovered more than 12,000 bones in a quarter acre. Why were there so many bones in one spot? Some suggest the land was a bog that trapped herbivores and attracted predators. But that doesn't explain a preponderance of predator bones. It mostly looked like a mass grave.

Getting there: Take Utah Highway 10 south to the Cleveland/Elmo turnoff and follow the signs. A four-wheel drive vehicle is recommended. The quarry is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays in fall and spring. From November to mid-March, the quarry is closed. Open daily in summer. $5 for adults. Children under 16 are free. 435-636-3600 or www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/quarry.html.

UTAH FIELD HOUSE OF NATURAL HISTORY

VERNAL, Utah — The star of the museum is a 90-foot-long diplodocus skeleton. The field house is an educational center, with hands-on exhibits for kids. A 15-minute movie explained the Morrison Formation — the fossil-rich sedimentary layer that covers 600,000 square miles of Canada and the American West.

Getting there: Drive about seven miles outside Vernal along U.S. 191 to Red Fleet State Park and see dinosaur tracks on the northern shore of the lake. These prints, at the end of a 1 1/2-mile hike, are not as distinct as on Copper Ridge but are impressive.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except holidays. $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and children. 496 E. Main St., Vernal; 435-789-3799, www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/quarry.html.

BYU EARTH SCIENCE MUSEUM

PROVO, Utah — Brigham Young University Earth Science Museum's dinosaur displays are magnificent.

Highlights include the skeleton of a torvosaurus, a predator with teeth that hang like stalactites. Bones of museum skeletons are reproductions because fossils are too fragile to mount. One fossil under glass is the 4-foot-tall leg bone of a Utahraptor, the nasty larger cousin of the turkey-sized velociraptor.

Getting there: Through Manti-La Sal National Forest along U.S. Highway 6; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Free, but donations are accepted. 1683 N. Canyon Road, Provo; 801-422-3680, http://cpms.byu.edu/ESM/information.html.

NORTH AMERICAN MUSEUM OF ANCIENT LIFE, THANKSGIVING POINT

LEHI, Utah — Thanksgiving Point museum was built in 2000. A two-story-tall torvosaurus is the museum's doorman. It's just the opening act.

Home to more than 60 complete dinosaur skeletons, the museum is divided into four sections, each representing a period of Earth's history: the Precambrian age, when Earth was a bubbling caldron of single-cell critters, and the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The sounds of prehistoric birds echo from hidden speakers.

The supersaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs, stretches 110 feet from head to tail. The neck of the supersaurus is so long it extends into the next exhibit hall.

Getting there: The museum is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. $10 for adults; $8 for children. 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi. 888-672-6040, www.thanksgivingpoint.com.