Park History
Since seventies of 20th century dinosaur tracks have been found in the Jurassic rocks exposed in the Holy Cross Mountains. During Late Jurassic (about 155 million years ago) the north eastern margin of the Holy Cross Mountains was flooded by a warm, tropical sea. The geologists interpreted the environment of the present-day Bałtów region as shallow water sea, rich in corals, brachiopods, gastropods, echinoids and ammonites. Supposedly, in the near distance was a land where dinosaurs dominated.Limestones exposed in Bałtów originated in the environmental conditions of the Jurassic time. These rocks, therefore, contain fossil remnants of animals of the Jurassic age. Numerous and well preserved pieces of plants were also found, which is a unique example within the Upper Jurassic rocks of Europe. In many places, the limestones build picturesque cliffs along the valley of the Kamienna river. They were commonly used by locals for lime production and as a construction material. We can see traces of the exploitation in several quarries, e.g. in Skarbka and in Bałtów villages.
Gerard Gierliński, a geologist of the Polish Geological Institute in Warsaw and enthusiastic ‘dinosaur pathfinder”, began his research in this area expecting, that in the Bałtów surroundings some authentic dinosaurs tracks can be found. Soon after, the popular newspapers and also scientific periodics informed about first findings of tracks of the Late Jurassic dinosaurs – Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Camptosaurus. These discoveries inspired strongly the local community and became a chance for its tourist oriented development.. For such local organizations as Delta Association and Association for Development of the Bałtów Community “Bałt”, the dinosaurs became soon a driving force of their activity. Initially, giant, natural scaled models of the dinosaurs were planed to be located in places, where scientists discovered their authentic tracks. Finally, the local enthusiasts started to plan the park, first in Poland of such a type, the main attraction of which were the dinosaur models, both of these found in the Holy Cross region, and also their cousins from all over the world. Thanks to creativity, work and energy of many people, in April 2004 the construction of the Bałtów Jurassic Park was initiated. The Park was organized on a completely wild area of the Kamienna oxbow lake stands and was ready after a very short time. It was opened on 7th August 2004.
The owner of the Bałtów Jurassic Park is the Delta Association..
