Beginner newbies wanting to search for fossils in northern illinois

[MaizyMae]

My granddaughter and I are coming to Chicago from 3-29 to 4-4.  We’ve looked for Petoskey  stones along the shores of Lake Michigan in Michigan, and found a few small fossils, but we don’t know how to hunt for them or what to look for or what equipment we would need.  Any info would be helpful.  We are looking into Mazon Creek, but a lot of what I’m finding is that it’s all picked over.  Any other sites that would be good for two beginners?  Thanks!

[connorp]

Mazon Creek is tough to hunt but there are still things to be found. This is the best time of year to go (the fossil hunting season actually just started yesterday) since there are no bugs and not as much vegetation as there will be when it gets warmer. The fossils at MC are contained in nodules which can take some time to open properly (several days at a minimum), so there is no instant gratification. But regardless, it's a nice place to hike around in.

 

If you don't mind me asking, roughly how old is your granddaughter? I know of a couple other sites that are on public property, but none I would recommend for small children.

[MaizyMae]

My granddaughter is 17, will be 18 in April, and graduates from high school this May!

[connorp]

PM sent.

[MaizyMae]

I didn’t receive a PM

[MaizyMae]

Oh, I did get it. Thank you. But I have no idea what to look for or what tools we’ll need. 

[digit]

Digging is not allowed at the Mazonia-Braidwood park so don't worry about packing shovels or heavy digging gear. Mostly, you'll be looking for concretions that are weathering out at the surface. Here's a good topic that ran for a while last year that shows some in situ photos of what concretions look like when you spot them on the ground.

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/95940-its-summer-and-you-want-to-go-to-pit-11-for-mazon-creek-fossils/

 

Additional information can be found by searching this forum for "Mazonia Braidwood" or "mazon creek". By doing a bit of homework here on the forum you'll get a good feel for what hunting for concretions is like once you get there.

 

For the equipment you'll want to have I recommend:

 

Clothing: Long sleeve shirts, pants (it will be cool when you come so I probably don't need to say "no shorts"), comfortable walking shoes. You'll be clambering around in the underbrush on sloping surfaces so protection from sharp branches and shoes with some traction would be good.

 

Protection: Later in the summer both sunscreen and bug spray (heavy concentration of DEET) is advised. It is easy to pick up ticks when in the underbrush in the summertime and skeeters are just annoying. Early on in the hunting season when the slows have just melted and the bugs are still not rampant this is not as important.

 

Collecting gear: Some gallon zip-top bags, a backpack, and a screwdriver. Though no excavating is allowed in Mazonia-Braidwood, a screwdriver (flat blade) is useful for prying out concretions at the surface. I collect them in a zip-top bag and when that gets a bit full and heavy to carry I toss them in my backpack and get a fresh bag. Large backpacks can tend to get hung-up on branches in the undergrowth as you scramble around in the brush looking for concretions. Mine had a loop at the top so you can pick it up easily and it seems to find every stinking branch that I bend down under. I occasionally walk in quite a ways from where I park and rocks tend to be heavy so I like a backpack over a bucket as it is more comfortable to "pack out" your finds on the walk back to the car.

 

Sustenance: Bring some snacks and don't forget the water. If you have a GPS or a smart phone where you can drop a pin on a map where you parked, it makes navigating back to your car that much easier. You may walk off a trail to go check out the inviting rolling "hills" where the overburden was hauled and dumped. This corrugated terrain can start to be confusing after you've walked up and down several of these linear mounds of dumped material and it is not difficult to get turned around when you are concentrating on looking at the ground for concretions. Dropping a GPS point where you left the trail is good practice if you wish to find your way back on the same day.

 

If there are any tips I can give as a relative novice to hunting at Mazonia-Braidwood it is to use some of the paths that will get you into the area but then get off the beaten path if you want to find concretions. They won't be on the paths and they won't come to you when you call (I've tried) so you must get out into the underbrush and go hunting for them. Try to think of places where others may not have been to increase your chances. Possibly the most important think I can think of is that concretions will erode out of the surrounding material quicker on sloped ground. Spring is a good time to go as the undergrowth hasn't grown in yet and your best luck will be on slopes where the erosion has uncovered new concretions. There are likely millions of concretions still in Mazonia-Braidwood but finding the ones eroding out at the surface is the trick.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken