Real-Life JURASSIC PARK?!? Abandoned Dinosaur Park in Mountains

Today, we’re traveling deep into the mountains of northern Arkansas to explore a lost dinosaur park from the 1960’s that’s been sitting abandoned for decades.

Dinosaur World, earlier known as John Agar's Land of Kong and Farwell's Dinosaur Park, is as close as it gets to a real-life Jurassic Park. This 65-acre theme park was founded in 1967, and it once contained a hundred life-size sculptures of dinosaurs, cavemen, and other prehistoric creatures.

But this park is unique in SO many ways. To start with, it was once the largest dinosaur park in the world. In addition, it contained the largest statue of King Kong in the world. And it also boasted the world's largest mural of Noah's Ark.

The park opened in 1967 as "Farwell's Dinosaur Park", and in the late 1970’s, the park was renamed to "John Agar's Land of Kong", with a 40 feet tall statue of King Kong being built for it; the largest statue of King Kong at the time. It’s said that this statue originally had arms that beat the gorilla’s chest, red blinking eyes, and a jaw that moved up and down. The owner was a friend of famous film actor John Agar, who had appeared in the 1976 version of King Kong. Thus, he was able to obtain permission from Agar to use his name in the name of the park.

But King Kong isn’t this place’s only claim to fame. A few of the park's dinosaurs are actually featured briefly during the opening scenes of the 1969 horror movie ‘It’s Alive!’, a movie about a mad farmer who tries to feed a stranded couple to a dinousaur he keeps in a cave. Sounds like a masterpiece, doesn’t it? In addition, the tyrannosaurus is featured in the 2005 film Elizabethtown and is also shown on the film's cover.

The park closed in 2005, and today, its half decomposed dinosaurs, disturbing artwork, and sketchy bridges could, quite possibly, make it one of the creepiest places in America. Some of the sculptures are missing faces, limbs, or skin, which makes them kinda look like zombies. However, some of the faces that DO still remain look so creepy, that I doubt they looked much more inviting back when they were intact. The bridge looks like it’s ready to collapse, and it’s missing some wooden planks, so I don’t recommend trying to use it, lest you fall into the lake and get eaten by prehistoric aquatic carnivores, or perhaps just get some good ‘ole hypothermia. Lots of the sculptures are completely overgrown, so it’s quite possible that I missed some of them. In addition, the sheer amount of them was mindblowing, they’re everywhere, and property is huge, as I mentioned at the beginning.

As tragic as it is, the story of Dinosaur World is one of a kind, and despite the creepy, crumbling condition of the park and its structures, there were times when I couldn’t help but feel like a kid again, excited to explore the mysteries of this lost world, challenging myself to spot as many statues as possible, and wondering when a deranged property owner would show up and shoot my drone right out of the sky.

Thank you for watching! On my next adventure, we’ll be kayaking to an isolated, crumbling watermill from the late 1800’s. Hidden away on the riverbank of a clear, blue river near the Texas Hill Country, these majestic, overgrown ruins have been frozen in time for over a century, providing us with a portal to the past that no explorer could refuse. Please consider subscribing if you enjoyed the video, and I hope to see you on my next adventure!

DISCLAIMER: Do not attempt to go to any location depicted in this video. If you do choose to go, you do so at your own risk.

Music Credits:

“John Deley and the 41 Players – Seeger”
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHplcAy6kBY&t=0s

Sources/Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_World_(Arkansas)

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arkansas/unique-abandoned-dino-park-ar/

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/8415

https://abandonedar.com/dinosaur-world/

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