Aud the Dinosaur

Canadian, Texas, United States

Animals and creatures

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Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

Aud is a 50-foot-long, 17-foot-tall concrete-and-steel dinosaur on a mesa south of Canadian, Texas, where US 60 and US 83 converge. Gene Cockrell built it in 1992 and named it for his wife, Audrey.

Private to your Passport.

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This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Aud the Dinosaur

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 35.938° N, 100.382° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Firefighters in Canadian, Texas, used a concrete dinosaur as a landmark during the 2024 Smokehouse Creek fire, calling out things like “It’s 1 mile south of Aud,” according to Texas Highways. Aud is a handmade brontosaurus of concrete and steel, 50 feet long and 17 feet tall, standing on a mesa south of town where US 60 and US 83 converge. Texas Highways reports that she survived the fire, which it calls the largest wildfire in Texas history.

Bobby Gene Cockrell Sr., a welder and heavy-equipment operator who died in 2013, built her in 1992. According to local history, he made a frame of rebar and wire mesh and poured concrete over it. She is named for his wife, Audrey; ABC7 Amarillo reported in 2018 that they married in 1951. Cockrell used to say he wanted local children to know they were almost home, Texas Highways and High Plains Public Radio both report.

Her colour has changed. High Plains Public Radio reported in 2015 that she was painted green and gold, after Canadian High School’s football colours. Texas Highways says she was black and gold for a time after the school’s back-to-back state football championships in 2007 and 2008, and is green again. A fund was set up for her restoration in 2015, and ABC7 reported that $2,000 was raised to patch holes and repaint her in the green of Sinclair gas stations. Texas Highways says local volunteers periodically raise money to repaint her.

Wendie Murfee Cook, Canadian’s mayor pro tem, told the magazine: “She is kind of the mascot of Canadian.” Travellers can look for her from the highway south of town.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Aud is a roadside landmark on a hilltop south of Canadian, seen from the highway. Texas Highways (October 2026) describes her as green, with volunteers raising money to repaint her. Enjoy her from the road; the hilltop is not a documented public viewing site, so do not climb it.

ACCESS

On a mesa overlooking where US 60 and US 83 converge, south of Canadian, Texas (Texas Highways, 2026). HPPR (2015) described the hilltop as overlooking the northbound side of US 83. Best seen from the highway (ABC7, 2018); the hilltop is not a documented public site.

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