USA Fossil Hunting Roadtrip - Where would you go?

[JamieLynn]

HI y'all! If you could take a fossil hunting road trip anywhere in the USA, where would you go? Doesn't need to be specific beginning and end locations.....just what are some of the places you'd go!

But feel free to post elaborate itineraries if you want! 

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

Soooo, complete bucket list? I’d probably start with Bakersfield to get some shark stuff in. I’d take a stop in the Wheeler shale of Utah, then go to Kemmerer Wyoming, as well as some lance formation outcrops. Would get some Hell Creek in the Dakotas, and stop at some road cuts for spirifers and other brachs. Would also stop by the Great Lakes for some petoskey hunting. Next stop’s Chicago for the Field Museum, and head up to New York for Penn Dixie, also stopping for the New York Natural History Museum. I might try Big Brook New Jersey, while traveling down to Summerville in order not to get a Meg deficiency. Would also stop to get some of the East Coast’s amazing plants. Would then go down to Florida for Venice Beach and Peace River, and maybe stop at some more sites in Georgia to round out the Shark tooth hunting. I’d cut through Kansas for the chalk, and get some Xiphactinus Material. Might do some road cut hunting for corals and crinoids, but wouldn’t do anything big until New Mexico and Texas. I would definitely stop at the North Sulfur River. Back in California, would revisit Bakersfield, then finish up in Los Angeles at the tar pit museum. Coming down the coast to San Diego, I would stop by the Cretaceous sites and shark teeth, and end the trip at my local San Diego Natural History Museum. The drool is flowing...

[JamieLynn]

@Thecosmilia Trichitoma  Now THAT"S a roadtrip!! 

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

4 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

Now THAT"S a roadtrip!! 

I would probably need a uhaul to carry all the fossils.

[Jeffrey P]

It seems unintuitive but I would consider coming to New York. We have a multitude of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sites all within a day's a drive from one another: Devonian in the Hudson Valley, Central and Western New York, Pennsylvanian plants in Pennsylvania, Cretaceous in New Jersey (very different from the Cretaceous in Texas), Miocene and Paleocene in Maryland. On the way there I would definitely make stops in the Ohio Valley for abundant Mississippian and Ordovician marine fossils. Some research will locate a number of potential sites and may even bring you to some of the rarer Silurian and Triassic material. You will have the chance to return with trilobites, shark teeth, etc. Best of luck though wherever you go. 

[Thomas.Dodson]

32 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said:

It seems unintuitive but I would consider coming to New York. We have a multitude of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sites all within a day's a drive from one another: Devonian in the Hudson Valley, Central and Western New York, Pennsylvanian plants in Pennsylvania, Cretaceous in New Jersey (very different from the Cretaceous in Texas), Miocene and Paleocene in Maryland. On the way there I would definitely make stops in the Ohio Valley for abundant Mississippian and Ordovician marine fossils. Some research will locate a number of potential sites and may even bring you to some of the rarer Silurian and Triassic material. You will have the chance to return with trilobites, shark teeth, etc. Best of luck though wherever you go. 

If there's one thing I've learned traveling across the US it is that most states have something special to offer when it comes to fossils. I don't think most people think North Dakota when it comes to fossils either but there are also good sites here. The Paleozoic sites in NY are something I've always been interested in.

 

There are too many potential places based on fossils alone for me to list. That said, I wouldn't mind returning to the Eocene deposits of Georgia and finding a basilosaurus tooth, something I was unable to add to my collection while I was there. In returning to Georgia I'd also revisit many of the Cretaceous sites I enjoyed so much. On the way down I would take more time to visit Paleozoic deposits, especially in Tennessee and Kentucky where I really didn't get to spend enough time. I haven't spent a lot of time fossil hunting in the far west either. Some of my cousins now own land in good parts of Montana so I'll have to plan another Montana trip sometime. Really, I'm willing to take road trips for most any fossils if time allows.

 

2 hours ago, Thecosmilia Trichitoma said:

and maybe stop at some more sites in Georgia to round out the Shark tooth hunting. I’d cut through Kansas for the chalk, and get some Xiphactinus Material.

You can get decent Xiphactinus material in Georgia as well. That's not to say that Kansas doesn't have other excellent material, It certainly does. Some of my favorite displays of "common" fossils come from Kansas, like a very large Inoceramus mortality plate I picked up at a random roadcut.

[connorp]

I'm currently planning another trip down to the Ohio Valley. I've been down there twice, primarily to visit St. Leon (Ordovician) and nearby sites. But I'm looking to stay longer this time, maybe up to 5 days or so. Besides the world famous Ordovician collecting, there's some really nice Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian collecting all within two hours or so of Cincinnati. I already have about 30 sites of interest located. Can't wait for spring!

[JamieLynn]

26 minutes ago, connorp said:

I'm currently planning another trip down to the Ohio Valley. I've been down there twice, primarily to visit St. Leon (Ordovician) and nearby sites. But I'm looking to stay longer this time, maybe up to 5 days or so. Besides the world famous Ordovician collecting, there's some really nice Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian collecting all within two hours or so of Cincinnati. I already have about 30 sites of interest located. Can't wait for spring!

 

I went to Grad School in Oxford OH, about 30 min north of Cinci and sadly, was not into fossil hunting (except for the few horn corals I found on hikes) and now would LOVE to revisit! 

[traveltip1]

Ordovician Cincinnati arch

[RuMert]

For a foreigner such as myself, not too familiar with US paleontology, the top list would include Peace River teeth and Pleistocene bones, NY pyritized trilobites, Green River fish and White River mammals, Hell Creek Edmontosaurus, Texan Cretaceous (North Sulphur River, Eagle Ford) and of course Mazon Creek fossils.

[Nimravis]

I would have to pick any place that I could collect micro fossils. 

[minnbuckeye]

Alaska! If I won the jacKpot and became filthy rich, I could afford a plane and cruise the mountains  like one of our forum members. I enjoy the scenery in a fossil hunt as much as collecting. Then to warm up, head over to Morocco (of course, visit @Tidgy's Dad when there). Then a visit to @Ludwigia's Southern Germany, where my relatives are from. Finally, I can't leave out @RuMert's Moscow sites as a final destination. I had better close now and go purchase a lottery ticket or two.

 

 Mike

[FossilNerd]

9 hours ago, connorp said:

I'm currently planning another trip down to the Ohio Valley. I've been down there twice, primarily to visit St. Leon (Ordovician) and nearby sites. But I'm looking to stay longer this time, maybe up to 5 days or so. Besides the world famous Ordovician collecting, there's some really nice Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian collecting all within two hours or so of Cincinnati. I already have about 30 sites of interest located. Can't wait for spring!

Let me know if you do get down this way. I could show you around.  

[Ludwigia]

23 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Then a visit to @Ludwigia' Southern Germany, where my relatives are from.

You're quite welcome any time after you win the lottery

[LabRatKing]

For 2021 I'm hitting up a week in Montana and Wyoming,  followed up by two weeks in Utah/Nevada/Colorado...and then finishing off the season with a week or 10 days exploring Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Most anyone is welcome to meet up, drop in, etc etc etc if they don't mind serious backcountry living. Just bought a 55gallon water tank for the truck...so my usual limitations are gone.

 

In 2022...Europe.

[JamieLynn]

Where are you planning on to go in Texas? I'm in Central and there's lots of good stuff all around THIS state!

 

[RuMert]

7 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

I can't leave out @RuMert's Moscow sites

I'll be glad to show them

[jpc]

every year at about this time I create a list of where I want to go collect this coming summer.  My list usually inludes 20 plus sites in or near Wyoming.  It is not very realistic because if I did one site every weekeknd,  it would take me from snowfall to snowfall to get it all done.  I am curently writing and planning letters to various new landowners in order to attemp access.   So,  mostly my list is Wyoming based.  Having said that, I did have Florida trip planned, plane ticket in hand, then covid hit.  TX is also on my list.  An extended east coast trip might have to wait until retirement.  

 

edit:  It just occurred to me that I answered the wrong question.  That was my 2021 wish list rather than my Unlimited Time and Funds USA List.   For this answer I will skip Wyoming and places I go to regularly.  I would start by revisiting Shark Tooth Hill, Oregon/Washington for crabs, Bonanza or Douglas Pass and stay until I found a flower, Waurika (is that the correct name)in Oklahoma for Paleozoic shark teeth, legal access areas (there are very few) in the Cleveland Shale, return to the Solite Quarrty on the VA/NC line for triassic reptiles, lots of places in Texas, the pyritized trilobites of New York (if Canada counts, the quarry in Ontario where folks get Eurypterids), and a whole bunch more, and then spend the rest of the time prepping my finds.  

[Allosaurus]

Hmmm, well there are a lot of places I'd love to visit that I haven't so far. If I'm dreaming, first and foremost would be the Morrison Formation. I've always wanted to find my own Allosaurus tooth (other bones and teeth would be cool to, but that Allo tooth is my dream). Then the NSR in Texas, Bearpaw Shale in Montana (gotta love those ammonites), those trilobite beds in New York, Peace River in Florida (and the interesting little calcite replaced clams), Chinle Formation in Arizona, Crinoids in Indiana/Ohio, Niobrara Chalk in Kansas, and certainly many more than I could possibly list here. I have an interest in just about everything, so it's simply a matter of planning the trips and being able to visit as many sites as possible. That's the great thing about fossils is they're pretty abundant in the right places and there is always a new site (at least, new to me) somewhere to visit. 

[LabRatKing]

9 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

Where are you planning on to go in Texas? I'm in Central and there's lots of good stuff all around THIS state!

 

Still in the research phase...have to swing by Fort Worth to see some family...other than that wherever there is places to camp.

[LabRatKing]

5 hours ago, jpc said:

every year at about this time I create a list of where I want to go collect this coming summer.  My list usually inludes 20 plus sites in or near Wyoming.  It is not very realistic because if I did one site every weekeknd,  it would take me from snowfall to snowfall to get it all done.  I am curently writing and planning letters to various new landowners in order to attemp access.   So,  mostly my list is Wyoming based.  Having said that, I did have Florida trip planned, plane ticket in hand, then covid hit.  TX is also on my list.  An extended east coast trip might have to wait until retirement.  

 

edit:  It just occurred to me that I answered the wrong question.  That was my 2021 wish list rather than my Unlimited Time and Funds USA List.   For this answer I will skip Wyoming and places I go to regularly.  I would start by revisiting Shark Tooth Hill, Oregon/Washington for crabs, Bonanza or Douglas Pass and stay until I found a flower, Waurika (is that the correct name)in Oklahoma for Paleozoic shark teeth, legal access areas (there are very few) in the Cleveland Shale, return to the Solite Quarrty on the VA/NC line for triassic reptiles, lots of places in Texas, the pyritized trilobites of New York (if Canada counts, the quarry in Ontario where folks get Eurypterids), and a whole bunch more, and then spend the rest of the time prepping my finds.  

I should clarify too...I spent over a decade unable to travel or go camping. Nowadays I am actually doing my dream road trips...and road trips, fossils, camping, and my job all overlap to allow me to do so. Only the pandemic slowed me down.

[grandpa]

USA Fossil Hunting Roadtrip - Where would you go?

 

Great Question!

 

Over the years I've been fortunate to collect a lot of fossils across many places in the US. 

Thanks to TFF,  I've also become aware of a lot of good people on forum from all over the world. 

• I have lots of fossils, but I still would like to collect more and repeat the thrill of the hunt and of the find and add to my collection. 
• But one can never have too many friends and good memories. 
• So, why not tripple the pleasure? 

To that end here's my considered suggestion:

 

I would ask forum members for opportunities to visit their area, meet them face-to-face, seal some friendships with deeper personal knowledge of each other, and hunt well-known areas (not their honey holes) with them in their area. 

 

That would be my idea of a truly world-class "fossil-friends-memories" road trip plan. 

 

"How do ya' like them apples", JL  

 

Seriously, I hope this opens up a new window of possibilities for you. 

 

[And I will even to volunteer my wife and I to join your family and help with the "chores".]

 

 

 

[fifbrindacier]

On 29/12/2020 at 10:17 PM, Thecosmilia Trichitoma said:

Soooo, complete bucket list? I’d probably start with Bakersfield to get some shark stuff in. I’d take a stop in the Wheeler shale of Utah, then go to Kemmerer Wyoming, as well as some lance formation outcrops. Would get some Hell Creek in the Dakotas, and stop at some road cuts for spirifers and other brachs. Would also stop by the Great Lakes for some petoskey hunting. Next stop’s Chicago for the Field Museum, and head up to New York for Penn Dixie, also stopping for the New York Natural History Museum. I might try Big Brook New Jersey, while traveling down to Summerville in order not to get a Meg deficiency. Would also stop to get some of the East Coast’s amazing plants. Would then go down to Florida for Venice Beach and Peace River, and maybe stop at some more sites in Georgia to round out the Shark tooth hunting. I’d cut through Kansas for the chalk, and get some Xiphactinus Material. Might do some road cut hunting for corals and crinoids, but wouldn’t do anything big until New Mexico and Texas. I would definitely stop at the North Sulfur River. Back in California, would revisit Bakersfield, then finish up in Los Angeles at the tar pit museum. Coming down the coast to San Diego, I would stop by the Cretaceous sites and shark teeth, and end the trip at my local San Diego Natural History Museum. The drool is flowing...

I would add a stop at Saint Clair, Pennsylvania for those beautiful white fossils of ferns.

I would be glad to participate to that roadtrip, but before i'll go to the fossil hunting roadtrip through Morocco with @Dimitris and @Tidgy's Dad.

[Tidgy's Dad]

I would quite like to go collecting in the vaults of the New York Natural History Museum brachiopod section.  

[FossilNerd]

I’m with @grandpa on the road trip to make friends, memories, and collect fossils.  
 

I have many fossils from my local haunts, but little from other places, so finding any fossils outside of Kentucky would be good with me. Seeing sights, meeting people, and making memories would be the biggest win on such a trip.
 

I think I would ramble around the US (and Canada) visiting forum members along the way. Even if we can’t hunt together, I’d settle for a burger and brew with a friend!