Dinosaur footprints in Obernkirchen (Dinosaurierfaehrten)

In 2007 and 2008, paleontologists from the State Museum of Lower Saxony in Hanover discovered dinosaur tracks in one of the sandstone quarries in Oberkirchen. The footprints were found in sandstone 6 to 9 meters thick, which here lies beneath younger layers.

The footprints are about 145.5-140.2 million years old and lie in two horizons. On the lower layer are the footprints of the raptors which are now popular due to the Jurassic World movie series. On the upper layer, which can be seen, are traces of diverse and larger dinosaurs.

The footprints from Oberkirchen are unique in Europe because of the large number of footprints left by various predatory dinosaurs. From the footprints it was possible to determine the social behavior of the predators, in particular that they walked through the forest in families and maintained visual contact with each other.

It is not possible to approach the footprints by car. The nearest parking lot is here 52.257508, 9.195105, then 1800 meters on foot through the woods. We walked with a baby stroller, the road is suitable.