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Hello, I have a friend who is interested in paleontology (she wants to be a paleontologist), but has yet to actually go fossil hunting. I hope to take her during Spring Break (which for me is the week before Easter). I was wondering if anyone could give suggestions for fossil collecting sites that are 1-3 hours away from Omaha? I am willing to drive to the NE/KS border, up to Niobrara, or a bit to the west. Since we are amateurs, we are limited as to what we can legally collect (we can collect shark teeth, shells, invertebrates, plants, and fish). I really enjoy collecting petrified wood, and I have more than a dozen small pieces that I have found among river rock on my family's property. When I was younger, I believe I went to Pawnee County and found Brachiopods with my grandma's cousin, Roger Pabian. My friend is open to finding anything, but she is eager to be able to call herself an amateur paleontologist. Ashfall Fossil Beds is a neat place (went when I was really little, but I barely remember it). They do NOT allow fossil collecting at all in the park, so it would just be a stop where we could learn and see an active site. Any suggestions for a couple amateurs?

I am visiting Charmouth for a bit of fossil hunting this week, hoping to find marine reptile. Does anyone recommend a particular direction along the beach in which to search?? I.e. East towards Seatown or West towards Lyme Regis?? Thanks!

Hello I am a bit new to fossil collecting, but I am going to Florida in a few days, but I will only be limited to the East Coast. So far, I've collected near my home at Big Brook creek in NJ, but I was wondering the best spots for collecting on the East coast of Florida near the Vero Beach area. My family doesn't want to drive all the way to the West Coast for Venice, so if anyone has any tips on the east coast it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advanced! Alex

I'm heading north of Seattle, Washington next week. Does anyone have locations to share where I can collect some small palm frond fossils?

Hello, I am from Omaha, Nebraska. I have gone fossil hunting with Roger Pabian (family member) once before, and I went with my college last year to a rock quarry in Crescent, Iowa. I am wanting to go fossil hunting more often, simply because I enjoy it. But, I don't know where to go. Google searches have not helped, and any answers I have found were very vague. I would go with my dad, so he could drive. But he will not drive anywhere unless he is given a specific location to go fossil hunting. Niobrara is too far, as far as he's concerned. I visited Schramm Park, but you're really not supposed o collect fossils there. Any locations within 3 hours of Omaha?? Iowa or Nebraska?? If I don't get any locations, I may have to give up fossil hunting as a hobby (that I'd like to pursue), and sell my rock hammer (which I have threatened to do, but my mom won't let me). *I don't need addresses, just locations that are producing fossils.

Hey All, I'm a Coloradan who recently moved to Houston for the summer. I've been eager to go out and hunt down some fossils. I've been to some places int eh immediate vicinity like Denton, TX; Crockett, TX, and Mineral Wells, TX. So far I've been blessed to find great marine fossils like crinoids, bracs, ..etc. I was wondering if anyone can guide me to better locations around Texas, preferably around the Houston area, or even Austin or Dallas. I'm willing to dive for a great day of hunting ! I'm also open to any kind of fossils, I have a big interest in Shark Teeth, but would also like to find other stuff. Thanks !

Well im heading down to Mazon creek in a few weeks. Forum members Digit (Ken) and Rob Russell should be meeting me down there. I think we're going to dig the Park, but it's still up in the air. Feel free to join us on our hunt, it would be nice to finally meet some members! Things to bring. -bug spray and/or tick spray -shovel, gardening claw, rock hammer or pick-axe -water, snacks, etc. -bucket/s (big or small) -backpack to help carry everything -gloves -cake it will be Ken's Birthday!!! ^^^^Feel free to add to the list^^^^ Again it's June 7 th 2014. 9 a.m. exit 236 on I55 Coal City exit @ the Shell station on Johnson rd Rte.113. Hope to see you out there! Weather update if you're interested http://m.accuweather.com/en/us/chicago-il/60608/weekend-weather/348308

I was thinking of heading up to Chippokes State park soon for a nice outting and was hoping if someone could tell me the best fossil hunting areas there and around the surrounding areas. Thanks.

Hello! I am a "newbie" to this forum.,however, yesterday I posted my first finds from Big Brook for Identification and I was incredibly impressed and humbled by the amazing responses. While I know that a number of forums (especially for folks in NJ) involve fauna deriving from the Triassic, Cretaceous, and maybe even the Eocene and Miocene..however, I want to avert the attention to the Pleistocene. What is there not to love about Ice age mammals? They were so strange and yet so familiar..and towards the end of their days (at least in North America) people actually encountered these critters! Out of all of the extinct giants of the past..we can say with certainty that humans (in North America) either hunted or scavenged large beasts such as mammoths (14 mammoth "kill sites"), mastodons (one very convincing site), extinct bison (numerous sites), giant camels (there are a few) and giant sloths (ditto). Additionally, while there is no solid evidence of large (and extinct) carnivores being present at early North American Archaeological sites (which makes sense on so many levels..but I wont get into it)..it seems incredibly probable that humans at one point or another encountered two types of sabertooth cats (Homotherium and Smilodon), one..or maybe two extinct wolves (including the Dire Wolf), a lanky and probably carnivorous bear (Short Faced Bear) as well as a lion that just so happened to be the biggest cat that has ever lived (American Lion). Having lived and worked in the African bush on several occasions..I can appreciate that. So, apologies for the rant..However, I want to divert the attention to searching for the remains of these animals in NJ, NY, and eastern PA. This is especially true for the east coasts "Ice age poster child"..the American Mastodon. What is there not to love about a bizarre and hairy proboscidean?! I know that the remains of these critters are rare..and that finding them is often a result of chance encounters..often with heavy machinery. Moreover, I do not want to support the notion that one should be searching for the remains of mastodons (and other ice age mammals) in situ. I am a Taphonomist, and like many of you, I endorse doing some proper science on the remains of these enigmatic creatures. However, There are areas where fossil hunting is legal..and the remains that do wash out are often out of context and are therefore not very important for proving insight (such as Big Brook). I was born and raised in NJ..however, I have had the amazing opportunity to work at very important sites in East and Southern Africa. As stated, I specialize in the Plio-Pleistocene..and I had always been fascinated (since I was a boy) on the elephant (relatives) that used to live in my neck of the woods. Here are a few questions that I hope the community can answer: I have been curious about this prospect for years and I am looking forward to any encouraging and insightful responses: 1. Have you found mastodon bone or teeth (including cusps) in NJ/NY/Southern PA? 2. if so..how often? 3. Are there any (legal) localities that you are aware of that I should look into in NJ where mastodons can be found (I am not talking about the middle of the ocean!..more like big brook) 4. What do individual mastodon cusps even look like?! This is especially true for stream and brook areas where teeth can become rounded. 5. If you have found cusps..can you post a picture on this specific post so I can gain some insight on what to look for. Once again, thank you so much for your time!

today i found a virgin copal site, A.K.A i found another creek in the forest. this creek in particular was more ideal than others i had hunted in before because is had eroded more steeply. what i mean is that the creek bank was quite sheer in some places, which is perfect for finding kauri copal because your digging is done for you. this particular piece was spotted while i was getting into the creek to look for kauri copal, i saw it and gave it a slight kick with my gumboot (wellingtons for the non kiwis out there) and saw the copal underneath. after a good heave and tug to get it out of the mud it came free and i was astonished to see, after i had cleaned it off in the creek, that it had a piece of kauri bark attached to it, and on closer inspection, it also has a knot-like bark injury preserved too. i am going to be polishing off the copal in the weeks to come and when i am finally done with the sanding and polishing, i will post pictures too. <---- bark injury, this is on the inside of the bark. <---- outside of bark that is covered in the resin that seeped out of it thousands of years ago.

today i went fossil hunting at Matheson's bay, it's about an hour or so north of where i live, and the fossils found there are Miocene shells and coral predominantly. apparently it used to be a reef in Miocene times. the rock which yields fossils looks strikingly similar to concrete but on closer inspection is riddled with large shell fragments, plus some whole shells and coral pieces. it was beautiful weather, but high tide almost prevented us from getting any fossils at all. exploration paid off though, after we found a path leading from a field to the rock formations that meant we could access it regardless of tide. most of the fossils were solidly anchored to the rock, but some rocks were loose and had fossils on 'em, so we took those. on the rock i picked up, there is an oyster shell as well as a coral, clearly visible, which i need to separate from the rock. Miocene coral-----> Matheson's bay---->

(please note: i do not know for sure that it is Kauri gum but given the location, smell, and look, it is quite likely) today i went hunting in the backyard for Kauri gum. hunting in a backyard is not your usual fossil trip, and although it is close to home (and refreshments) it has it's own set of cons too. PROS: -local -easy to hunt in -it's on your property; you don't have to worry about a fossil being snapped up while you're away CONS: -you can't dig - very limited area anyways, basically what i do is crawl around the yard looking for exposed pieces of gum. these are given away by the pale oxidized surface. the reason the gum is so close to the surface is because when the house was built, the builders had to dig up a lot of the land, then flatten it back down to form the yard, so my digging was done for me. the annoying thing is some of the gum is milky and opaque with only small portions of it clear (which, for me hunting for inclusions, is no good at all) i found some small, rather clear pieces and one seems to have some sort of inclusion although i do not know whether it is insect or not. based on what i have read on the internet, this is the copal variety of the gum, at least a few thousand years old (although probably more) which puts it in the sub-fossil category (still worth collecting to me). below is a picture of some of the un-prepped nuggets i found. if one yields inclusions i will post a picture of that in a separate thread. happy fossiling

Had the pleasure to meet and fossil hunt with Dan Woehr from TFF and Bill Hiembrock from the Dry Dredgers. Bill had put together a nice agenda for hunting the roadcuts along the AA highway from Cincinnati to Maysville, Ky. However mother nature intervened on the eve of the hunt and a snow storm swept through the area east of Cincinnati, so with bad road conditions eastward we decided to head west where no snow had fallen. We decided to visit the famous Rt.1 St. Lyon, Indiana and then head down to Lawrenceburg. We had a great morning at Rt.1 with Dan finding a dozen complete rollers while I found 2 nice ones. I had to leave early so did not collect the Lawrenceburg area but Dan and Bill did and I hope Dan will give a report on that area. It was a blast collecting with Dan and finally getting to meet after reading his postings. Thanks Dan and maybe we will get together in April.

Well its time to start planning our spring trip. We plan to concentrate on Millard County around Delta, Utah. We spent only 5 days there this past spring focusing on U-dig. This trip we want to spend at least 2 weeks exploring as much of the area as possible. If any forum members want to meet or show us some good sites we would love to meet you in person. So If anyone has any suggestions or tips please let us know.

Hello! My name is Manuel and I am interested in meeting folks that hunt for fossils, search for interesting rocks and geological formations, and who share my interest in the evolution of our planet. Please contact me soon if you are in Nevada or Utah, I am leaving soon for a fossil hunting roadtrip with my buddies along Highway 50 in Nevada to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, into Utah to Arches National Park, down to the four-corners area then back into the Las Vegas Area with side trips to Pahrump, Pioche, and Cathedral Gorge. Any other suggestions?

I was reading about someone getting in trouble for collecting fossils on the missouri river because it was on the corps of engineers land and that led me to thinking where it is okay to collect and where its not if you know anything about some basic laws or if you know anything about Kansas or Missouri restrictions. A more specific question, is the clinton lake spillway okay to collect on since the corps of engineers built it what are the restrictions for things like that. Thanks in Advance.

Hi I'm fairly new to fossil hunting and would like to go to the Calvert cliffs soon, but I'm not sure what site to go to there. Also I would like to mostly find shark teeth. I live about 6 hours away and am staying for about a day and a half. I was leaning towards either going to brownies beach, the motoaka beach, or the flag ponds nature park. I would love to know what sight would have the most or best fossils and shark teeth. Also any tips for fossil hunting tips there would be great.And also I was wondering if there's anything where you can get on a boat which a group of people and go to less hunted spots. Thank you

Hi all, I'm new to the site and I'm ready to go find some fossils. It doesn't matter what or where I just got the bug and its not going away anytime soon. A couple questions for all the other fossil hunters out there. Do you know of anywhere in Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Iowa where I can find some fossils? I've been exploring the Platteville formation for awhile now and I'm ready diversify my options. Also can anyone point me in the right direction on how to prepare fossils? Specifically, ones that have undergone rechrystalization. My last question is this. I'm planning on going to the hell creek formation for a week this summer. Does anybody have any tips on where to go? My thanks to you all. I'm excited to be here

Low water levels on the Mississippi exposing massive fossils, WCSH6, October 24, 2012, http://www.wcsh6.com...massive-fossils Low Mississippi River levels attract fossil hunters, KSDK Channel 5, http://www.ksdk.com/...-fossil-hunters Prehistoric Possessions by Shana O'Malley, The Cleveland Current, Bolivar County, Mississippi, October 5, 2012, http://webcache.goog...n&ct=clnk&gl=us See figures 4 to 6 on page 30 of: Dockery, D. T., III, 2012, The Droughts of 2012, 1988, 1980-1982, AND 1956. Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Environmental News. vol. 9, no. 8 (Sept.), pp. 26-30. http://www.deq.state...pdf?OpenElement Mississippi Office of Geology Newsletters (Newsletter Archive - http://www.deq.state...ve?OpenDocument ) best wishes, Paul H.

Artificial Intelligence Used to Home in on New Fossil Sites (In the desert, researchers demonstrate that an artificial neural network can pinpoint new fossil-rich sites, paving the way for more efficient digs) by Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American Sept. 28, 2012, http://www.scientifi...ew-fossil-sites Fossil Finding Goes High Tech, Smithsonian Blog Sept. 28, 2012, http://blogs.smithso...goes-high-tech/ Then there is: Computers Are Good Fossil Hunters (Africa, Google Earth) Smithsonian Blog, http://blogs.smithso...fossil-hunters/ Jackson K. N., and L. J. Hlusko, 2011, Fine-tuning paleoanthropological reconnaissance with high- resolution satellite imagery: the discovery of 28 new sites in Tanzania. Journal of Human Evolution. vol. 59, no. 6, pp. 680–684, http://www.sciencedi...047248410001429 Yours, Paul H.

Any interest in mounting a trip to the Lakefield Oval this weekend? I am going to be in the area and thought I might try my luck and see if I can find any trilobites. Prob going to try for Sunday morning... but open to anytime if others are interested.... Was reading the Ontario's Ordovician post started by Northern Sharks, May 29 2011 08:04 PM http://www.thefossil...__hl__lakefield and also http://www.thefossil...912#entry234912 .... and it looks promising. Anyone want to join in?