Search the Community

We found this very interesting (at least to us) fossil at Beltzville State Park (PA) recently and wondered what you all thought it was of. Thanks in advance for your feedback. We are fossil novices but love learning.

Family and I took a trip to Beltzville State Park earlier this week. We stayed around the lake, looking along the shoreline and wading through water. Found some pretty cool Middle Devonian fossils. My wife lucked out with two Trilobite pieces, one of which is a really nice head imprint. I'm still working on identification, so please bare with me. Any help of course is appreciated. Coin is 22mm Shoreline Trilobite head (Phacops rana?) surrounded by Crinoid stems Trilobite (Phacops rana?) - lower abdomen Crinoid stems Crinoid stems Pleurodictyum tabulate coral (?) and brachiopod Crinoid stems Brachiopods and I'm not sure what the orange/black dotted impression is.

Yesterday, after a very uneventful couple of hours of searching, I happened upon several fossils in close proximity right as I was about to call it a day. I believe four are horn coral, but would like confirmation, and would also like an ID on the other. One photo shows the four that were similar, and then a few angles of the one in the best condition. There is also one more I believe to be another type of coral. Thanks in advance!

I would like help identifying these fossils, all found at Beltzville State Park.

Any ideas about the type of Bryozoa in the left rock? I found several of these long string types this past weekend in the Devonian shale at Beltzville State Park in PA. Very different from the other bryozoa I have found there in the past. Thanks, Mike

We made a couple trips to Beltzville State Park in PA this past week. We had heard about brachiopods on the lake's beach from Robert Beard's Rockhounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey guide. The park is the site of dam and an artificial lake build by the Army Corps of Engineers with a stony bottom. A small, sandy beach sits along part of the lake with rocks get scattered from water action. The rest of the lake shore is red, orange, brown and gray mississippian sedimentary rock. I wasn't expecting much as it is a well-known spot in a state park that permits collecting and even provides ID sheets. Figured it would be pretty well picked-over. But, we went to investigate. You never know until you look, right? The first time out was a short, spur-of-the-moment trip with my husband to poke around while we waited for something we were planning to do later in the day. We walked over to the beach and found our first crinoid in about 5 minutes. Another hour of poking around revealed crinoid stems, brachiopods, bryozoans, corals, and bits of trilobites scattered along the shore for easy pickings. The water was crystal clear as deep as I dared wade in the sundress I'd worn for the planned, cleaner agenda for the day. I picked up a couple lying at my feet in the warm, still water. I decided then and there that it would be great fun to go snorkeling for fossils here. A week later, over Labor Day weekend, we returned with the kids. We walked as far towards the dam as the beach would allow, and discovered the real spot for fossil finds. Probably one pebble in four had something in it. Not all of it was worth taking home, but there was plenty to examine. My first glance down at the pebbles at land's end, I spotted a beautiful brachiopod. I picked it up and tossed it carefully to my daughter, parked a couple feet away and already holding a fistful. She caught it, admired it and tossed it back. I fumbled it, dropped it on the beach and lost it forever. Doh! So, if you see a lovely, round brachiopod on Beltzville's shore, think of me! There was more where that came from though, and we looked for a couple hours. When my daughter had had enough, I donned my swim suit and snorkel mask and went exploring in the area less traveled: under water! I only swam at a depth of arm's length. The boats and jet skis in the center of the lake that day stirred the water so that any deeper it was impossible to see the bottom. At this depth I could see the texture of the muck-coated rocks. The undersides of the rocks were clean, so turning the stones over carefully made for even better viewing. I turned up a pair of trilobites in only a few minutes! Unfortunately, that was about the only thing I found that way worth taking home. But, the fish were fun to watch. I expect that on a quieter day, when when the water is clearer, I may have better luck. All told, we brought home some nice shell impressions, crinoids, colony and solitary corals, bryozoans, and a couple that I did not recognize and were not on the sheet. The adventure will have to continue on the the ID forum. For now, though, here are a few scenes from the week:

Leaving this afternoon to go to White Have PA to see my 1 daughter and baby grandson, and staying the night. Going to look for some quartz crystals at White Haven, that's where she lives. Then in the morning I have to be in East Stroudsburg PA for some business and after that's done I'm going to Beltzville State Park. I've been wanting to go there for the last 2 months or so but it never worked out. Now it does and I'm going fossil hunting. I'm excited about it! Plus while I'm driving I'll be on the lookout for some interesting road cuts. Can't wait! I'll post pics of my finds later in the weekend and let you know how it went.