Search the Community

Hey, So I was planning on going on a fossil hunt this summer in Oklahoma. I thought "Black Cat Mountain" would be a great place to start but I can't find anything on how to contact the owner "Bob Carrol". I've been on their website which has a phone number but it says its no longer in use. If anyone has contact information like a email or phone number that would be great. Anyway thank you for reading this message and have a nice day. Sincerely, Carson Betancourt

Hey everyone! Me and my family are thinking about taking a trip to the White River Formation. But we were wondering what some good places are to go fossil hunting? Thank you, -Micah

Does anybody know of some decent hunting sites in California? I know of Latham shale, but I'm not sure if it's very beginner friendly.

Anyone know of any spots I can go collecting? I’ve asked around a good bit but have found nothing of note. The only two places I know of is Hook head County Wexford which is definitely worth the trip and personally I have had some good finds there, the only other place I have found was a beach in County Cork beside spike island between Gobby beach and Lough Beg beach which as far as I’m aware is not known about by anyone really. So if you know of any decent places in Ireland let me know!

Hello! I'm traveling to Colorado Springs this summer. And I'm hoping to do some fossil hunting within an hours drive of Colorado Springs. I'm a geology graduate from James Madison University in Virginia and I love to collect invertebrate fossils to share with the kids I teach. Anything from ammonites to crinoids to leaves. Any advice on where to look? Thanks!

Hi everyone! Last weekend I took a couple of days off work for my birthday and I decided to visit a fossil spot in the ardennes which was recently recommended to me because there was a chance to find fossils of primitive plants as well as devonian fish (which is one of my main interests within the hobby). The site is relatively close by as well which was a huge plus as it only took an hour to drive. The fossils in this location date back to the late Devonian, Famennian to be exact (372.2 million years ago to 358.9 million years ago) After searching for a 45 minutes we finally found the top spot with the right layer rich in plant material, here are some in situ pictures of the larger examples (which we didn't extract). If I am correct I believe these are the remains of Rhacophyton condrusorum which is a primitive species of fern if I remember reading once. We were also lucky to find some fossils of devonian fish, which was the main reason for our visit. A lovely small Lungfish (Dipnoi indet) tooth An imprint of a fish scale of bone While it was quite a cold day, it was sunny and we had a quiet afternoon at the spot where we could search in peace.

I got the chance to go to the Oxford Clay twice over the last few days. I'm always looking for echinoderms at this site, and I prefer this one in winter when the vegetation has died back and I can spot lots of small, delicate detail. These are some if my favourite finds from the last few days.

Hi everyone! Around 2 months ago on the 16th of october 2021 I went on a fossil hunting trip with the BVP to the stone quarry of Lompret in Belgium. https://www.paleontica.org/locations/fossil/654 The rocks in this quarry are Devonian in age and date back to the Frasnian (382.7 million years ago to 372.2 million years ago) with the finds mostly being from both the Neuville and Matagne Formations. According to Tom our excursion leader this quarry exists out of what used to be coral reefs and islands that formed around atolls. The fossils that you can find in this quarry are Brachiopods, Bivalves, Gastropods, Corals, Bryozoans, Cephalopods like Goniatites and Othocone Nautiloids and in very rare cases Placoderm and trilobite material (although no one was that lucky during the excursion). The quarry is also very rich in minerals like Baryte, Calcite, Quartz, Galena, Fluorite, etc... I have long looked forward to visiting this quarry, so I was very happy to finally be able to go and it did not dissapoint! It was quite foggy in the morning when we arrived which both looked eerie and cool at the same time, luckily it later cleared up! There where quite a lot of other people in the quarry (mainly people looking for minerals like Byrite and Galena) but our club headed straight to higher plateau of the quarry where some of the black Matagne Shales where with very nice Pyritized fossils and to where the waste heaps were to look for fossils. That's me looking for Brachiopods and pyritized Goniatites and Bactrites. A large Hexagonaria coral which was a little to heavy to bring home We also found some Pyrite cubes which (although very exhausting) we managed to extract

I didn't get out hunting much last year, still working on figuring out how to research and find spots, but a friend of mine invited me out to do some collecting at one of his spots up in Washington State. I took some family with me and we went out over the Winter break in mid December. Pretty cold but beautiful! We're mainly looking for concretions weathered out of the formation, but occasionally you find Callianopsis claws loose in the formation, usually very brittle and in poor condition. Lots of mollusks to be found as well as crustacean material Our most common find were these Macoma We also found some Turritella and Acila The find of the day came pretty early on, Robert found this nice leaf, apparently pretty uncommon at the site Our spoils after the first hour of hunting A giant Callianopsis claw I found, sadly the rest of the concretion has weathered away leaving only an imprint with some shell And on the other end of the spectrum a tiny one found eroded out We didnt find any Pulalius, Aturia, or vertebrate material but we had a blast and found some pretty nice crustacean pieces Here's what's almost certainly a crab carapace, have to prep it to ID And a piece that looks to have both claws from Callianopsis and maybe some other pieces from it Both of these will have to wait until my micro scribe arrives for further prep, they're both very fragile with poor separation. While we were up there we stopped at Olympic National Park

I know that Acro stuff is quite rare and hard to come by, but I was wondering what the best spots in Texas are to find such fossil material. I live in the state, so it would not be too much of an issue to travel to a spot or two to hunt for these theropod fossils. To sum it up, my question is: what are the best spots in Texas to legally hunt for and collect Acrocanthosaurus fossils/teeth (preferably without heavy duty tools or machinery)? If there are any, it would be much appreciated if you list the formation and location.

Hi all, So normally, the weekend of 19-20-21 May I was gonna go with my family to Cap-Blanc-Nez (in France) with the WTKG, but unfortunately that excursion got canceled because, aside from me, only one other person applied! Luckily, as it is the place where my dad proposed to my mom (and therefore this area means a lot to them), and they would like to go back, we decided to go there next week (7-8-9 May)! We already booked a B&B in Wissant for the 3 nights. I am looking forward to it! So, as preparation for the upcoming trip, I am turning towards the most experienced fossil collectors I know: you guys on TFF! I've never hunted in Cap-Blanc-Nez before, so I am a complete amateur as to how the hunting there works. Hopefully some of you have been there already (or been to similar locations) and can give me tips. I have the following questions: What equipment/tools are needed? What are the best layers to find what fossils? What are the most effective hunting techniques? What specific beaches/areas are the most abundant fossil-wise? (Wissant is in between Cap-Blanc-Nez and the other nearby location Cap-Griz-Nez, so if you would more recommend the latter, let me know too!) What other tips do you have in general? I will, of course, make an extensive trip report here on TFF after the hunt is done Thanks in advance already! Best regards, Max

My first post was so popular that I decided to do a second. I went to the same place, and found more many rich and colorful fossils, and got enough material to write to you about it. For those who missed my first post, you will find it HERE As you will see in this article, I combine my two passions, collecting fossils and color photography. I love color, creating black and white photographs of fossils is good for scientific research, when you are a paleontologist and want to record the small details for science and posterity. But for people who are just starting to explore the world of fossils, we need something more inspiring, because to be fair, fossil photos are generally drab, and generally unappealing to the general public. Not that fossil collectors don't take great photos, I see fantastic photos all the time on TFF, but usually in a different context. I'm just trying to be a little different and take a picture of the fossils as I see them, in their natural environment. Maybe this will inspire the next generation of fossils collectors. This site is part of the Lorraine group (Chambly sub-formation). It contains the most recent sedimentary rock in the region, a series of clay and limestone schists that are redder towards the top. It's made up of clay schists, a sedimentary rocks of dynamic origin, formed by the splitting of existing rocks and calcareous schists, a sedimentary rocks formed by the accumulation of animal or plant matter in bodies of water. This region also bears the marks of the Quaternary geological era. Immediately after the last ice age, the whole St. Lawrence Valley and its waterways became a vast inland sea (the Champlain Sea) that stretched as far as today's Lake Champlain. The site is not as gorgeous or rich in fossils as the other sites we see in this forum, but it is rich in brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, and a few gastropods. Sorry @Kane no trilobites. Here are some photos to give you an idea of the site, it's a small beach where the fossils are underwater, so I'm literarily fishing for fossils. The formation is made up of many colorful stairs and steps leading to the water's edge. Like a time machine, each step takes you back a thousand years, where you can discover at each staircase the remains of a thriving fauna, long extinct. Don't expect to see anything bigger than a few inches, this is the Late Ordovician historically rock formation in the Richelieu River Valley in the St. Lawrence Lowlands rests on sedimentary rocks. which are some 450 million years old and formed during the Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era. I was able to photograph this hash plate full of sowerbyella at that special moment, when the water was receding after a previous wave. This is not a painting, just a photograph of what typical Ordovician fauna might have looked like 500 million years ago, almost as if we were there. I try to keep my hand dry and out of the freezing water, picking up the fossils between two waves, leaving the fossils out of the water. It was difficult to photograph the fossils underwater, because of the waves I took the photo at a time when the water was calmer and just before a wave came crashing on it. A lonely sowerbyella taking her beauty bath I found bi_valve playing hide and seek, with the bubbles A lot of times I hear that fossil and water aren't a good mix, but in my case it's a perfect match. The water acts as a sort of magical act, bringing these 450 million year old fossils back to life, infusing them with vibrant colors and hiding the passage of time. These normally terness fossils have a second life in this freezing water, small imperfections are hidden, making the texture smooth and lustrous, with beautiful vibrant colors. In homage of the Beatles, I call this one the Yellow Submarine Some brachiopod pile up over each other, I don't know what cause this rainbow of colors, the diffraction, the translucidities' of the fossils. Whatever the reason, it's a beautiful effect and a total surprise. A colorful brachiopod on a colorful rock I really like the contrast of theses two plate Don't need to search, no fossil here. Just a color full formation. Crinoid columnals are the most commonly recognized crinoid fossils, they are individual pieces of the column, or stalk, these resemble small washers. Olympic logos gone wild or Crinoid columnals, you choses. I particularly like the circles with a small star inside Columnals are joined together in life by elastic ligaments and skin. However, when the animal dies these soft tissues quickly decay and the stem break apart into individual ossicles, they leave behind a great many fossils. After the crashing waves, they sometimes cover themselves with air bubbles, giving this strange old world a new dimension. The hole in the center of the columnal is called the axial canal. It is most commonly round but may also be pentagonal or star-shaped, like this 1 millimeter fossil. Despite their small size some fossils can still be the star of the show. Bryozoans consist of a skeletal structure of calcium carbonate that has numerous tiny holes or openings dotting the surface. These holes once housed individual bryozoan animals called zooids, that derived their nutrients from the seawater. Atlas Of Ancient Life I found this briozoma all alone on this big boulder, strangely it comes out of the rock and comes back in right away. This is another bryozoan, it was on a smaller rock and I was able to collect it for my collection Most colonies were only a few inches in diameter but a colony of an Ordovician form found in the Cincinnati region ( Florence, Kentucky) is more than 26 inches in diameter and is one of the largest known bryozoan colonies. I really like this formation for it's richness of colors Photo taken in direct sunlight of a wet bi-valve Again, mother nature was playing with ice producing these wonderful sculptures everywhere we look. It was such a nice day, I couldn't resist taking some in picture. See other Ice sculpture Here. Crinoid columnals trapped under translucent ice. I found all theses fossils in just haft a day at that very special place. For those of you that did not see my previous post about my first fossil fishing trip, your in luck because it is still available HERE.

Hello all!! So glad I found this website. Two years ago was my first experience going fossil hunting and I loved it. Unfortunately, the creeks where we had gone are now shut down by the county. Luckily, I will be going in a couple of weeks with a tour group. Can't wait! Going to do more research on the Peace River and Venice area and make one of those my next trip. Have a great day everyone!

I just got back from an amazing and very fruitful week of fossil collecting on the White River Formation in northeastern Colorado. The White River Formation is a very easy and fun rock unit to collect vertebrate fossils on. The White River Formation was deposited during the very latest Eocene and the early Oligocene, though the faunal diversity in the areas I was collecting on suggest it was laid down during the Orellan North American Land Mammal Age, which centers on around 33 million years ago during the Rupelian age of the Oligocene Epoch. I am very lucky to have a grand uncle Gary (no biological relationship to me, is a close family friend who we’ve called “uncle” since I was a toddler) who is a cattle rancher up in northeastern Colorado, and he happens to have a pretty good amount of White River exposure on his property, in addition to some of the neighboring ranches of which Gary knows the owners and helped me to secure permission to collect on a few of them. He really is a great guy and is a real life true American cowboy. He has an interest in natural history and was eager to hear all about the fossils and geology of the area, though has never had the formal education or done the research to learn much about what’s out there. This is the second fossil collecting trip I’ve made to the ranch, though the first one where I’ve stayed for more than one night. The place truly is an amazing trove of fossil treasures and I can’t wait to tell you all about my week! In this thread I’ll make one post for each day (so as to not hit the picture limit too soon). Once I have the fossils prepped I’ll give updates here as well. Day 1, Sunday: My first day at the ranch began, ironically, at my own house. I had packed up the Jeep the night before with my field bag, two coolers filled with seven day’s worth of food, a suitcase full of clothes, and other such supplies for my fossil safari. I left my home early in the morning, took I-76 east to Fort Morgan, and then headed north to the ranch, in total about a 2.5 hour drive. The rest of the morning and early afternoon I spent visiting with and going over logistics with Gary and his wife and settling in at the ranch house I would be staying at, a property that used to be the home of another rancher before Gary acquired the property in 2002. They still maintain the house and it has both electricity and running water, so it makes a fantastic guest house and a place to stay when they’re doing work over on that side of their land. In the evening after I had made myself a quick dinner I decided I wanted to head down to a very productive exposure I had collected on last September for the evening. There was a partial oreodont skeleton that I had discovered eroding out of the hill the last time I was up there, and I wanted to see if there were any more bones there that had eroded out and I could collect. I picked up a few more bones from the feet and ankles that had been exposed in the last eight months and decided to take a scenic route back to my vehicle. A photo of the area of exposure I was in Sunday evening. This piece of badland will become very important throughout the rest of the week... On my walk back I walked over a ridge that I had apparently never been over, becase on a flat wash I noticed a pile of bone fragments. I approached the pile assuming that it would be yet another exploded tortoise shell that are so common in the area. As I got closer however, I was delightfully surprised to see the distinctive black color of fossil enamel, and a bit of digging revealed an eroded Subhyracodon jaw section, along with several loose teeth that I presume had come from the same section of jaw. This find, along with an oreodont jaw section I found later on while walking back to the Jeep that night, would be but a foreshadow of the big finds I would make later in the week. Two photos of the Subhyracodon jaw section as it was found in the field. The jaw section and some teeth after I had cleaned them up a little bit at home this afternoon.

Hello everyone, this summer I'll spend a month in Germany for an internship project and in the weekends I'm planning to explore the region and collect fossils as much as possible. I'll be based near Frankfurt. Due mostly to the language barrier I couldn't find many info about fossil hunting spots easily accesible or open to the public. Therefore I'm looking for your help here. Do you know any such place? I think that as long as it is a couple hours drive from Frankfurt, I can make it . I read about the quarry in Eckelsheim, but I understand that it currently closed to fossil hunters. Is that right? Thank yoy very much, Fabio

Hello, I'm taking my son (9 years) on a 6 day road trip from Evergreen, Colorado to anywhere in Utah. We're avid fossil hunters and spend a lot of time looking in Colorado. We're going to do a trip to Utah and i'm building out the itinerary now. At this point, we're entirely flexible. That said, since it's just a few days, I was thinking about focusing on the Moab area and then heading back home through Telluride. Would love your ideas for places we should go or stop along the way. Thank you in advance, we really appreciate it!! Dan

Okay gang....let's have some fun....a contest of sorts... As an experiment, I'm going to have you folks here at the TFF choose the location my fossil hunting/camping excursion for May 2021... There are a few minimum requirements, however: Will take place over the Last Weekend in May, 2021 so I have up to 5 days available. Keep in mind, I allow a day to get there and a day to get back) Location must be no more than a ten hour drive from Omaha, Nebraska. (You can use Google maps or the like to figure drive time from Omaha) Primitive/Disbursed/Car camping must be available in the vicinity (Prefer no franchise campgrounds or RV parks, and I do not do hotels) Must be accessible to the public AND fossil hunting must be legal. (Though access fees if needed are OK) Please, no urban sites...the whole point is to get away from the city! Prefer to avoid Bear Country, but other critters are not an issue. Folks are welcome to join me, but prefer not to have the added hassle of kids and pets! "Contest" ends Saturday, May 8th at midnight, Central US Time Zone Trip may be delayed on short notice due to extreme weather or pandemic restrictions. I'll post up a way for folks to vote from all of the viable submissions on May 9th...and then I'll find out what sort of trouble you folks got me into! Winner gets a bunch of specimens from the site shipped to them- have to do your own prep work though! OK! Go go go go go! Where do you want to see me brave the elements and bust open some rocks for dead stuff?

Hi Everyone, I just recently started collecting fossils, and am primarily interested in those I can find myself. I'm excited to join the forum, and looking forward to learning more from all of you!

hi I'll be in the Rochester mn area on Saturday and wondering where besides quarry Hill park can I take a small rock club group for fossil picking? good road cuts that safe for for old and young?

Hi everyone, I want to start by saying I am new to the site, so I apologize if I do something incorrect commit a faux pas. I am a younger gentleman in college living in North Carolina; my father instilled a love for fossils in me from a young age, and as I grew up I would explore beaches and phosphate piles. Even though it is just a hobby, I put a lot into fossil hunting; my interest was always beyond the surface level of "I love shark teeth," and I have done countless hours of research. This brings me to the present day where I call your wisdom and guidance. Unfortunately, due to my age, I missed out on what I would consider the "golden age" for North Carolina fossil hunting. I have come to find that NC once had a lot more fossil sites. Mines have been shut down, sites overgrown, and closure to the public; it pains me greatly that I was only able to visit a phosphate quarry once. I know there are options, like joining the fossil club; I plan to do this when I can, my only problem is that I am short on funds and college absorbs a lot of time thereby making my schedule rigid during fall and spring (I am pretty sure this is when most of their events are held but I might be mistaken.) I guess the purpose of my post is to ask for thoughts and guidance from those far more knowledgeable than me; what should I do? I really love this hobby and while the Aurora Museum spoils and the rare beach finds there's nothing like expanding your passion to new heights. I know that giving locations is also a bit of a challenge given commercial hunters, but if there is any guidance you all can give me there that would also be great; I am open to any formation, while I don't have any kind of boat I am still interested to take note of those kinds of locations. Thank you all.

Hello everyone! Fossil hunting is massive hobby of mine and I am trying to find new localities (that are of course, legal). I have a background in GIS and Spatial Analyses (albeit, working on completely different things!) and was thinking about using my geo-spatial skills to narrow down a few areas. In so far, I have layers dedicated to streams, bedrock, and DEM but I was curious if others have used GIS and remote sensing to aid in fossil hunting, and if so, are there any specific layers or techniques that you find to be particularly useful when searching for areas that may have fossils? Thank you!

So, I was digging through old fossil emails looking for some information, when I stumbled upon this gem. I think I didn't officially join the forum until Roz and RJB made the jump a few years later, but I thought this was still cool. haha ... Cheers, Brett

Was curious if anyone has used the Bureau of Land Management's new RAPTOR online permitting system. Doesn't seem to be working too well for me. https://permits.blm.gov/raptor/landing

Goodmorning/ afternoon all! Being a middle aged 20 year old, I've outgrown the need to go trick or treating for candy on Halloween. This year, my brother and I were supposed to have my nephew over for the weekend. We had originally planned some fun activities for the little guy (he's 4) as real trick or treating was out of the question this year. Turns out this week that 4 of his day care workers came down with the Covid, so he's now in quarantine at his mom's house for 3 (her choice, she won't budge) weeks. All alone for Saturday now, I decided to go out and look for the real treats, fossils! I started by going to my first and favorite honey hole, knowing the site wouldn't be the best to collect currently. Fluctuations in water levels determine how ideal this location is, and the waters been very low this year. While this being a good thing, it's also been so low for some time that overgrowth has had more time to come in. This just makes it more of a pain to scope around, but for me that just means going down to the hands and knees. There were some spots where it wasn't as bad, but all of the ideal scrap spots required patience and sifting through. Not sure why, but I only took one picture in situ this time. Glad I did, because it was a nicer, plump blastoid! It only required a bit of digging around the rock, and prep should be easy peasy on this guy. For the first fossil hunt in a while for me, I would say that yesterday was a successful day out. I only take nicer, complete specimens now a days. I hauled home a nice Globoblastus norwoodi blastoid, an Uperocrinus pyriformis crinoid, a Platycrinites? calyx, and a nice little brachiopod I still need to ID. Heres everything cleaned/ prepped besides the Uperocrinus. I may just leave it as is, but something in me tells me I'll do detail work someday on it. I trimmed down the matrix and half prepped the blastoid. I think this one will stay like it is in matrix. I remove most of the calyxs from the rock, but figured it would be cool to keep a couple of fossils in their rock setting. The hour I spent out fossil hunting was much needed. This past month has only entailed packing up possessions, moving on, and working. Getting out was nice and much needed. Now I have some more fossils to pack up. Hope everyone had a fun, and safe Halloween. Regards, Jackson