A BRAVE traveller has ventured deep into the mountains of a landlocked state to explore a forgotten 65-acre “Dinosaur World”.
Incredible pictures show what remains today of the real-life Jurassic Park and its many extraordinary prehistoric figures.
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Dinosaur World in Beaver, Arkansas, was once a tourist hotspot with about 100 life-size sculptures of dinosaurs, cavemen, and other prehistoric creatures.
It was established in 1967 and grew to become the largest dinosaur park in the world before closing in 2005.
Some of its dinosaurs are said to have featured in the opening scenes of 1969 horror film It’s Alive!, and its tyrannosaurus in 2005 film Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.
Photographer Dax Ward refused to divulge exactly how he recently gained access to the abandoned site but said “entry is very restricted” and “there are overseers nearby”.
He explained: “The location is a scenic one, deep in the middle of the lush Ozark Mountains of Northwestern Arkansas (my home state), near the town of Beaver.”
Dax described the park as being “kitschy” but in a “very picturesque” part of Arkansas, where he was born and raised.
Of the evening he visited, he said: “It was a somewhat overcast early evening and I was the only person in the area.
“I walked around for a while, trying my best to shoot images of all the dinosaurs, though I know I missed a few, trying to imagine what the park was like when in full operation.
“My brother remembers coming here as a child in the late 1970’s & said that it was a fun experience for young children, with dinosaurs (at the time) looking very lifelike to young eyes.
“The natural setting adds to the authenticity as a realistic habitat of the giant reptiles depicted in the interestingly crafted statues.”
Dax said a large creek, called Spider Creek, divided the park down the middle, with most of its dinosaurs located on the north side.
The intrepid explorer also previously photographed an abandoned hospital in Bangkok which shut down more than a decade ago.
Nawanakorn Hospital has stood derelict since ceasing operations due to a reported lack of funding, with wheelchairs, beds, and equipment today serving as a chilling reminder of its past.
Dax told The Sun he was gripped by an “unsettling feeling” as he trailed the dim corridors of the hospital.
What was once Europe’s biggest theme park, Turkey’s Ankapark, is also today an abandoned site filled with decaying dinosaur figures.
The mammoth park, which boasted 26 large rides and 2,117 smaller ones, went to ruins when it closed less than a year after opening.
A former battleground for some of the world’s best baseball players, LaGrave Field, met a similar fate and is today a decaying wreck.
The Fort Worth, Texas stadium opened in 1926 and saw Hall of Fame greats including Babe Ruth and Willie Mays suit up on its grounds – until it was abandoned in 2014.
Now all that remains is a graveyard of stands and dugouts.
Eerie images also taken by Dax revealed its sad state, with seats once occupied by joyous baseball fans left to rot.
Instead of players and crowds, the only people who use the stadium today are vandals who have covered the ballpark’s walls with graffiti.
Dax’s pictures showed an overgrown field and stands littered with paper, trash, and even a fire extinguisher.
The photographer told The Sun: “As I gazed upon the open gate, amidst the scars of vandalism, I couldn’t help but feel that LaGrave Field had become a poignant symbol of time’s passage and the ever-changing landscape of America’s favorite pastime.
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“The day was eerily silent aside from the wind blowing and concession stand doors swinging on rusty hinges.
“You could almost hear the crack of the bat, the cheer of the crowd as runners slide into home plate, a ‘field of dreams’ now sits as a field of ghosts.”
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