GLENDIVE – A Montana state park is now offering a special tour that delves deep into the park’s ancient past.

“Pople want to do dinosaur-related activities in Montana. It’s definitely a top ten list for non-residents visiting — and also for our own residents here in Montana,” explained Chris Dantic with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“They want to do dinosaur stuff, we want to make sure we offer something in Makoshika State Park and that’s the paleo experience,” he added.

Makoshika State Park’s new paleo experience allows dinosaur enthusiasts to get an in-depth look at one of Montana’s premier paleontology sites.

“So, now they get a full paleo tour of the visitor center through the exhibit hall and then a paleo tour in the paleontology lab and then get to hike out to an actual hadrosaur fossil in the park,” Dantic said.

One component of the tour visits the new paleo lab where visitors can see and touch real Makoshika fossils.

“With the experience, you are actually touching the fossils in the paleontology lab. You are talking to the paleontologist, you are learning about the dinosaurs, you are learning about the fossils — what dinosaurs roamed through Makoshika State Park over 60 million years ago,” Dantic said.

Paleo experience participants will come away with a greater understanding of Makoshika’s countless fossils and importance in the paleo world.

“You definitely get a behind the scenes look at what has taken place through our paleontology here at Makoshika State Park, to see what has been collected over the years,” Dantic said.

“What projects we are working on and then you are just getting the main focus about the dinosaurs that have been found in Makoshika State Park,” he added.

The paleo experience takes place every Saturday morning through the summer.

Makoshika State Park — Montana’s largest state park — covers more than 11,000 acres and is located to the east-southeast of Glendive.

-Winston Greeley reporting for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks