This was way more fun than expected. It has all the kitsch Route 66 vibes you could possibly hope for, and it's FREE! A nice little oasis along the road and you can actually walk into the whale. (No swimming anymore, I'm afraid, although that will protect you from tetanus.) Best of all, the tiny gift shop had a wonderful employee who told us the story of the whale's creation and some associated lore. She also has visitors fill their locations in on a map each week. This felt like the ultimate Route 66 roadtrip experience.
Pretty, but also has LOTS of bugs and huge spiders, so be warned. It also stays hot and very humid down in the canyon at night. (We came through in early August.) It's a weird privatized formerly-state-park, and the reservation/campsite system is bizarre. We reserved a site online, but there was no way to pick which site you'd be in. I figured that meant they'd give us our site assignment when we got there. However, by the time we actually found the place (Apple Maps was misbehaving in this area), the entrance was unstaffed. We just ended up driving around in the dark trying to figure out where the primitive tent sites were (they're unmarked), which ones we were allowed to stay in with the price we had paid, etc. The random spot we settled on appeared to be fine, since we never did see any staff before departing in the morning.
A nice little desert oasis. The main attraction, of course, is the dinosaur footprints. There's a lovely interpretive boardwalk that takes you around and helps you view those elements that a paleontologist might see. Very cool. Note that the prints are more visible in morning or evening, and flatten at high noon.
This is such a lovely, peaceful place. It also still has an active congregation, so be considerate! Sit for a minute and enjoy their beautiful roses as you take in the stark lines of the church against the sky. There is a gift shop, but it has limited hours. DON'T be like the tourists we saw, who got there right after it closed and wheedled the priest and shop employee into re-opening for them, when the priest was getting ready for an evening mass! Truly worth a stop.
Worth the leg stretch and a fun stop. We were able to find spray paint cans and make our own additions. A few other visitors but not enough to interfere with us getting our own pictures.
Paved, ADA compliant. This short loop trail is a nice evening walk. Plenty of benches around a central pond make this a good place to watch the sunset.