Volunteering with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on July 9, 2025, Northglenn High School science teacher Kent Hups discovered a never-before-seen trackway from a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Badlands of North Dakota, marking an exceptionally rare find from 66.5 million years ago.
While hiking and volunteering in the Badlands of North Dakota on July 9, 2025, a Denver-area high school teacher stumbled across a piece of history dating back 66.5 million years. Kent Hups, a science teacher at Northglenn High School, was working with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science when he noticed impressions in the ground that defied expectations for the region, according to reporting from Yahoo News.
An Unlikely Discovery in the Hell Creek Formation
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Discovering dinosaur tracks in the Hell Creek Formation—which spans North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana—is considered exceptionally rare. Because the area was historically a large swampy environment that was wet, dinosaur tracks typically washed away or filled in rather than being preserved. Hups recalled his initial disbelief when he spotted the indentation.
I go, ‘That’s a track. No, it can’t be a track,’ because you don’t find tracks in Hell Creek. Just because it’s a big swampy area, and it was wet, tracks get washed away, filled in, and they’re never found.
Kent Hups, Northglenn High School science teacher
Upon investigating the size of the feet and the number of toes, Hups realized the scale of the discovery. Every single Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found has been discovered in the Hell Creek Formation, and the T. Rex bones found in Colorado originate from approximately the same time period. That realization spurred his excitement, as he noted that only one meat-eating dinosaur grew large enough to leave such tracks.
Skepticism and Verification from Museum Officials
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Hups did not immediately convince everyone on the research trip. Tyler Lyson, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, initially argued with Hups for roughly 15 minutes over whether the find was genuine.
Even though I was jumping up and down and yelling, you have to temper because you have to have somebody come in and say you’re either correct or you’re out of your mind. That’s what science does.
Kent Hups, Northglenn High School science teacher
Museum officials subsequently verified the significance of the find, describing the trackway as astronomically rare and noting that it defies normal geological expectations for preservation.
Stride Metrics and Educational Replication
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According to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science website, the Tyrannosaurus Rex responsible for the trackway took strides measuring about 13 feet wide. Despite their massive size and predatory reputation, museum data indicates the creature walked at a pace of about four miles per hour, meaning a human could likely have outrun it.
To share the discovery with students, Hups and another teacher at Northglenn High School created a 3D-printed replica of one of the footprints to keep at the school.
Public Exhibition Plans This Winter in Denver
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Museum officials confirmed that three steps from the T. Rex trackway will go on public display in Denver this winter, giving visitors a chance to view the 66.5-million-year-old find.
