Dinosaurs hit roof at the Mount

The new staircase and viewing platform gives tourists a better view.

Supplied

TO view dinosaur footprints, all you have to do is look up.

And now a staircase and viewing platform has been installed at the Fireclay Caverns in Mount Morgan, tourists can get an even better view of the best examples of early Jurassic Dinosaur footprints in existence.

As an integral part of the Mount Morgan Town and Mine tour, run by TMC Tours, the Fireclay Caverns have fascinated locals and visitors alike for years.

But given the height of the ceiling, the infrastructure improvement was needed.

Mount Morgan Promotion and Development (MMPAD) president, Mr John Steinberger said the new platform would complement the fantastic dinosaur fossil display at the Mount Morgan Mine Administration building and provide a richer, more immersive experience for all.

“The younger ones who are all dinosaur mad are going to love this,” Mr Steinberger said.

Created by Mount Morgan Miners in the late 1800s as they excavated a rich clay deposit for firebricks to use in the mines furnaces, the Fireclay Caverns are one of the largest man-made caverns in Australia.

While the excavations revealed a number of dinosaur footprints from the early Jurassic period (200m years BC to 145m BC) it was not until the 1950s that the significance of the markings on the ceiling was understood.

The new staircase, funded by a minor infrastructure tourism grant announced earlier this year, was project managed by the Queensland Mines and Energy Division of the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. Official opening iin April.