Want to feel like you’ve stepped into Jurassic Park or Bedrock, home of the Flintstones and Rubbles? Just east of San Diego, in Alpine, lies a quirky relic of America’s roadside attraction heyday: Dinosaur Land.
Though this whimsical park only operated briefly in the early 1960s, it remains a cherished memory for locals, and one giant dinosaur statue still stands as a reminder of what once was. It’s also now home to a mobile home park and many residents.
Early Dreams On Aug. 5, 1962, William Swan opened Dinosaur Land with big ambitions. His vision was to blend education and entertainment by bringing dinosaurs back to life in a fun, unexpected way—think Disneyland, but smaller and entirely focused on prehistoric creatures. The park featured 10 giant fiberglass dinosaurs, including the towering brontosaurus affectionately named “Dinosaur Bob.”
Swan had grander plans too: a volcano-themed roller coaster, petting zoo, cave restaurant, and water rides were all drawn up. For a brief period, Dinosaur Land delivered on its promise — a colorful, family-friendly stop along Highway 80 where road-trippers could stretch their legs and snap photos with enormous dinosaurs.
Roxanne Rice, recalling childhood visits, said, “Headed to grandma’s house in the backcountry of San Diego was quite an adventure. I waited with anticipation to read the great ‘Burma-Shave’ signs … Once you arrived, the smell of eucalyptus was overwhelming: magical and medicinal. Through those silver gray-green leaves, you could see the plastic snout of a Tyrannosaurus Rex peeking through… I had a very traumatic childhood. This funky ’50s roadside attraction gave me a flash of a joyful moment.”
It’s fun to imagine that long before Dinosaur Land existed, real dinosaurs might have roamed this very patch of Southern California. While millions of years separate the prehistoric beasts from today’s visitors, Alpine’s rugged hills and hidden corners almost feel like a lost world, where giant footsteps once echoed beneath the eucalyptus trees.
Lynn Rosenblum also remembers Dinosaur Land, “I definitely visited, and it was a big part of my childhood in the early ’60s growing up in San Diego. People told me I was crazy for years and that there was no dinosaur park in San Diego. But through research, I found the site again myself in 2015…”
Troubled Times
Despite its charm, Dinosaur Land was short-lived. Financial struggles and low attendance led to its closure in 1964, just two years after opening. The construction of Interstate 8 also hurt its visibility and accessibility, as Highway 80 was replaced as the main route. Most of the dinosaur statues were dismantled or left behind to decay. One dinosaur survived: Dinosaur Bob—the 20-foot-long Brontosaurus—now tucked away near the Alpine Mobile Home Estates at 2400 Alpine Boulevard.
While Bob’s exact location is on private property, dedicated fans still make the trek to see this lone survivor of a park that once promised much more. Residents sometimes decorate Bob for holidays, showing the community’s affection for this quirky piece of Alpine’s history.
Steve Bryant, host of the You- Tube channel Sidetrack Adventures, and a San Diego resident, filmed a video at the site in 2020 said, “I love exploring roadside history and wanted to see what was left of the old amusement park. It was closed long before my time, it was only open for two years. I was mainly trying to imagine that a park full of people was once there. I was thankful that even a small piece of it has been preserved so that the history of the park isn’t completely lost.”
He said he didn’t encounter any other visitors that day, but it didn’t feel eerie.
“I think if it were modernized, maybe it could be popular, but it seems like most successful theme parks these days are run by a few major companies while small independent theme parks struggle, so it would have its challenges,” Bryant said.
The mobile home park now stands atop what was once Dinosaur Land, but attempts to reach its current owner, Adrian Kruso — the son of the property’s former owners who helped restore Dinosaur Bob — were unsuccessful. “Dinosaur Land was built where it was because of Highway 80 at a time when travel was much slower than it is today,” Bryant said.
“With the interstate system replacing most of the old highways, lots of roadside attractions like this have vanished.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Steve Bryant as Steve Yuhas. The Alpine Sun regrets the error.
