MeisTravis Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 My family and I are on short end of season camping trip in Southeastern Pennsylvania and decided to head over to Gettysburg. These have probably been covered here before but I got some pictures of the famous Dinosaur Footprints on the Bridge! My son loved it (I’m gonna pretend more than me ). Anyone know of anywhere I can go searching for some fossils while I’m in the area that’s around the Gettysburg area?? 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 The second picture in the first post has two prints, I put a picture of each here. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 I had never heard of this before. Quite cool! Do you know what age they are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoNoel Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 11 minutes ago, connorp said: I had never heard of this before. Quite cool! Do you know what age they are? Much of the east coast dinosaur tracks you'll see online or in museums are from the late triassic-early jurassic, part of the newark supergroup which stretches from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. Some exposures are present in Pennsylvania. The only other tracks I know of on the east coast of are from the Potomac Group in Maryland which is early-mid Cretaceous. Very cool finds! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 14 minutes ago, connorp said: I had never heard of this before. Quite cool! Do you know what age they are? They are Triassic, the bridge was actually built in the 1930s from a local quarry. I’d never actually known about it either until I was researching stuff to do and came across it. Ironically my son was wearing a dinosaur shirt, and a woman was like hey there’s dinosaur footprints on the bridge up here he might think that’s cool. Of course I’d never been told about it til now when I already knew though hahahah 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeriderdon Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 I live near Gburg. Never heard of that. I will have to look it up. There is a Triassic site in Jersey near a college (only went once back in the 90s) where you can collect prints. Dont know if it is still accessible or not. I have one I found. Or had rather. Not sure where it ended up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 7 hours ago, smokeriderdon said: I live near Gburg. Never heard of that. I will have to look it up. There is a Triassic site in Jersey near a college (only went once back in the 90s) where you can collect prints. Dont know if it is still accessible or not. I have one I found. Or had rather. Not sure where it ended up. Would love more on info on that if you remembered anything and are willing to give out that information! I’m actually from Northeastern PA so I’m on a, for the most part, island without fossils where I’m at. To look anywhere I end up driving about 2 hours at the least. The bridge is on South Confederate Ave within Gettysburg National Military Park. On that road you follow it out a short distance and you’ll see a statue for William Wells. Next to the statue are spots to park in and you see the bridge from there and just walk to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeriderdon Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Unfortunately, I didnt record any info on the site and thats all I remember of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 8 minutes ago, smokeriderdon said: Unfortunately, I didnt record any info on the site and thats all I remember of it. I gotcha, still cool though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 On 10/26/2020 at 6:58 AM, MeisTravis said: Would love more on info on that if you remembered anything and are willing to give out that information! I’m actually from Northeastern PA so I’m on a, for the most part, island without fossils where I’m at. To look anywhere I end up driving about 2 hours at the least. The bridge is on South Confederate Ave within Gettysburg National Military Park. On that road you follow it out a short distance and you’ll see a statue for William Wells. Next to the statue are spots to park in and you see the bridge from there and just walk to it! NE PA is loaded with fossils! That's a big region though. Still can't imagine going two hours to find fossils anywhere in NE PA. You covered in glacial till? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 12 minutes ago, Plax said: NE PA is loaded with fossils! That's a big region though. Still can't imagine going two hours to find fossils anywhere in NE PA. You covered in glacial till? I’m not familiar with glacial till and a quick google search defines it for me but I don’t understand it. The closest place that’s easily accessed without permissions from me is the Montour Preserve or Beltzville state park(both roughly an hour and a half) or Big Brook which is what I’m more interested in (2 hours). I’ve found a few trace fossils in Tunkhannock Pa where I’m from but they’re trace fossils and not easily found. I found them nearly 20 years ago when I was young and didn’t even know how finding fossils worked. I also really don’t understand geological maps so I can’t figure out where to go by looking at them. I’m really green still with everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Get the book Fossil collecting in Pennsylvania if it's still available from the geological survey in Harrisburg. I've collected fossils in Wilksbarre and not even on purpose. Was staying at a hotel there for a wedding and there were plant fossils all over the bank behind the place. Plenty of fossils near you. Road cuts are especially good as are old strip mines. The valleys have limestones and produce a variety of invertebrate fossils. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 That’s exciting news, I’ll look into the book! Thank you for your helpful information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhiguita Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 When I was in the region I found fossils in fields and wherever I found bunches of rocks, the other thing I can think of is that when you tend to find access to running water there is a decent chance you could find fossils in creek and stream beds, since they sometimes get eroded or transferred as float. The other thing I remember is that the footprints at Gettysburg should be the same age as the Connecticut dinosaur tracks and the track found in Rockland county in New York. if you could find it through a Library Dinosaurs of the East coast by David B. Weishampel Talks about some sites in the east coast and has a list of known sites and taxa by state and is a pretty good read as well. Also cool Pictures. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricWonders Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I haven't heard of them, but I love Gettysburg! It’s where I got into artifacts, which eventually got me into fossils. It’s one of my favorite towns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKen Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) Been to Gettysburg many times and somehow this totally escaped my attention. Very cool. I know you kind of described where it was. Do you remember where on the battlefield relative to landmarks? In other words, for example, was it the bridge over the creek at the foot of the Round Tops (And that is my example because it is the only bridge I definitively remember)? Edit: Never mind. Found it. South of Devil’s Den, Southwest of the Roundtops: Edited October 28, 2020 by BigKen Added info on bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 6 hours ago, Plax said: Get the book Fossil collecting in Pennsylvania if it's still available from the geological survey in Harrisburg. https://archive.org/details/fossilcollecting00hosk/page/n6/mode/1up 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 5 hours ago, grandpa said: https://archive.org/details/fossilcollecting00hosk/page/n6/mode/1up Thank you very much! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 9 hours ago, grandpa said: https://archive.org/details/fossilcollecting00hosk/page/n6/mode/1up Thanks Grandpa! Have been telling everyone to buy one from the survey and never occurred that it may be out of print. This and Horace Richards Cretaceous of New Jersey were our "go to" pubs in the 70s. Lots of information. Grew up in SE PA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 7 hours ago, Plax said: Horace Richards Cretaceous of New Jersey That was a bit harder to find given the games NJ has played over the years with rearranging their various state depts. But I found it. For those New Jersey and those Cretaceous fans out there, both volumes of this classic work can be found on-line at: https://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin61-I.pdf and http://www.state.nj.us/dep/njgs/enviroed/oldpubs/bulletin61-II.pdf Enjoy! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sTamprockcoin Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Hi Meis, I just saw your post and wanted to share a few ideas. I've lived all over PA from Thompson to Slippery Rock! I understand what you mean about specific areas of NE Pa being fossil sparse or barren. Don't be afraid to check out old Greenstone/Flagstone quarries as I've seen plant fragments & brachs that only show up after weathering. The area around Danville - Lewisburg - Selinsgrove (Snyder & Mifflin County) and many of the outcrops along Rt15 heading toward Williamsport are often productive. I wouldn't bother spending any money on the locality books since most of the sites are posted or leveled but if you want a copy of the Fossil collecting in Pa please PM me. I know of a few sites around the State College Area and have a list of about 15 interesting fossil/mineral sites in Altoona (Blair County). My best advice is to just drive and check out road cuts. Sometimes looking at stone fences will give you a good idea of local stuff. Get your boots dirty! Tim 1 “Beautiful is what we see. More beautiful is what we understand. Most beautiful is what we do not comprehend.” N. Steno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam86cucv Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 On 10/28/2020 at 12:17 AM, grandpa said: https://archive.org/details/fossilcollecting00hosk/page/n6/mode/1up On 10/28/2020 at 10:15 AM, Plax said: Thanks Grandpa! Have been telling everyone to buy one from the survey and never occurred that it may be out of print. This and Horace Richards Cretaceous of New Jersey were our "go to" pubs in the 70s. Lots of information. Grew up in SE PA. I bought one on online a month or so ago for $4. I was quite happy to stumble upon it. Post with some pic in the mailbox score thread page 219. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOM BUCKLEY Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 On 10/26/2020 at 6:58 AM, MeisTravis said: Would love more on info on that if you remembered anything and are willing to give out that information! I’m actually from Northeastern PA so I’m on a, for the most part, island without fossils where I’m at. To look anywhere I end up driving about 2 hours at the least. The bridge is on South Confederate Ave within Gettysburg National Military Park. On that road you follow it out a short distance and you’ll see a statue for William Wells. Next to the statue are spots to park in and you see the bridge from there and just walk to it! Have you been to Carbondale? There is an excellent site there for Carboniferous ferns, etc. I was lucky enough to find a dragon fly nymph and an insect trackway. Tom AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGIST STROKE SURVIVOR CANCER SURVIVOR CURMUDGEON "THERE IS A VERY FINE LINE BETWEEN AVOCATIONAL PALEONTOLOGY AND MENTAL ILLNESS" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeisTravis Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 1 hour ago, TOM BUCKLEY said: Have you been to Carbondale? There is an excellent site there for Carboniferous ferns, etc. I was lucky enough to find a dragon fly nymph and an insect trackway. Tom I haven’t been actually, I wanted to go but funny enough a coworker of mine lives near there and said the mine he always went to is fenced off now. I may still see if there’s anywhere else and go at some point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Marie Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 On 10/25/2020 at 11:23 PM, smokeriderdon said: I live near Gburg. Never heard of that. I will have to look it up. There is a Triassic site in Jersey near a college (only went once back in the 90s) where you can collect prints. Dont know if it is still accessible or not. I have one I found. Or had rather. Not sure where it ended up. May have been Rowan University, formerly Glassboro State College then. Now it's The Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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