Help with trilobite hunting in Wardensville, WV

[Jame Stuart]

Hello Fossil Forum members!

 

I am planning to drive over to Wardensville, WV, to go fossil hunting! I have previously hunted for shark teeth and bones at Calvert Cliffs, but I have always wanted to find a trilobite since I was a kid, and I am wondering if anyone has any advice for finding trilobites in the area. 

 

So far I am planning on bringing a hammer, chisel, gloves, newspaper, and plenty of water. I am planning on going to the roadcut location listed on fossil guy.com. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions such as which parts of the cliff to dig, how to recognize a trilobite, or even better, any good spots to find a trilobite!

 

I am not looking to collect many fossils, I am more interested in finding a single trilobite, partial or whole. I am moving more than 10,000 miles away in 2 weeks, will not be able to bring lots of rocks with me in my suitcase.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

Regards,

James

[Coco]

Hi,

 

32 minutes ago, Jame Stuart said:

which parts of the cliff to dig

I don’t think it’s wise, digging into a cliff can be very dangerous.

 

Coco

[Jame Stuart]

3 minutes ago, Coco said:

Hi,

 

I don’t think it’s wise, digging into a cliff can be very dangerous.

 

Coco

Hi, thanks for the response. I saw this picture on the fossil forum and thought that thats how you find fossils:

But what you say makes perfect sense. Ill try fallen portions of the cliff. 

[Coco]

 

Coco

[Bob Saunders]

knee pads or foam knelling pad. a small plastic pail, I also have a collapsible pail. and safety glasses or goggles.  If a long term move can you UPS them to you, may be a problem if leaving the country? If leaving the country consider Customs inspections and rules at new location.

[crabfossilsteve]

I collected at that site many years ago and found some trilobites, but alot has changes since then and it may be that the productive layers have be remove by collectors. 

[historianmichael]

@cameronsfossilcollection collects at this site quite often. He may be able to provide some advice.

 

I was there a few months ago after visiting the site 15 years prior. I found a pygidium of Odontocephalus within an hour of searching, although the site had very much changed. I was not able to find any brachiopods or crinoid stems, which I remembered as being abundant there. As you can see in the photos, the site has a very large, steep slope made of spoils. Be very careful climbing up. The rocks are very loose and you can easily slide down the slope. Another word of warning: the shale and fossils are very fragile so be careful when handling them and when trying to bring them down the slope. Only a tiny, upper portion of the exposure is still accessible, as the rest has now been covered by years of spoils. Your best chance of finding fossils is breaking down larger blocks from the exposure.

[val horn]

when i was there the richest area was to the right side of the cut.    you will also be relatively close to 
Gore Va.  trilobites and others are found in the concretions in the road cut across from the gas station/grocery

[cameronsfossilcollection]

Hey! I've been summoned by @historianmichael. If you haven't been yet, or are planning to return - I'd make sure to bring gloves of some kind, I know someone who cut their hand open sliding down the hill and ended up needing stitches, so take care of yourself when you go to collect in the layers that are still productive. I still find plenty of fossils, brachiopods and trilobites and everything else you could want - the right side tends to have more trilobites, and its definitely the highest quality compared to the rest of the site. If you collect on the left side, over the hill with the dead tree, there are more crinoid stems and very finely preserved, soft specimens of things like trilobites and rugosa. You're bringing mostly everything you need, so good on you for that.

As for the trilobites you said you were interested in... I've found three genera in total, two of which I've found only a single specimen representing the group

The vast majority are partial Eldredgeops rana, I've NEVER ONCE found a complete bug there.

The other two are the previously mentioned Odontocephalus aegeri, which I only found a pygidium, albeit a nice one. 

The other is a very teensy Pseudodechenella pygidium, and it was a miracle that I could ID it properly as it was puny. 

Let me know how it goes, and feel free to summon me again!