Otjihaenamaparero Dinosaur Footprints

On a slab of sandstone on Otjihaenamaparero farm near Kalkfeld are two trackways of three-toed footprints, left by a bipedal dinosaur walking across wet sand in the early Jurassic, around two hundred million years ago, and preserved when the sand turned to rock. One trail runs for over twenty metres with more than thirty prints. The site is a national monument, on a working farm, with a short walk from the parking area and a small campsite.

Highlights

• The main trackway - over thirty three-toed prints running more than twenty metres.
• The second trail - a shorter set of prints on the same rock surface.
• The sandstone slab - the exposed rock surface the tracks are preserved in.
• The farm setting - a national monument on working farmland.

When to go

March to October is the cooler window. Low morning or evening light makes the prints far easier to see. Midday flattens them.

What to expect

The prints are shallow and unimpressive in flat light; timing matters. There is no interpretation beyond a small sign. The gravel roads in are corrugated.

Nearby

Kalkfeld is northeast, and Omaruru is southwest.