Anywhere in Arizona worth checking out for hunting?

[Cthulhu2]

Hey guys! I’m going to be in Arizona for a few months and need to get my fossil hunting itch scratched! I’ll be viewing the petrified forest (and not taking anything of course), but I wanted to know where I could go to find some fossils. I will be getting a permit. As someone who hunts heavily in Florida I can’t wait to see the difference in Fauna and age in Arizona!

 

let me know what you all recommend.

[DPS Ammonite]

Check out my Arizona Paleontology Guide:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/86597-arizona-paleontology-guide/

 

 

What kind of permit are you getting? Permits for collecting fossils on public land are only given to professionals that must deposit fossils into a repository. You can collect common invertebrates on BLM and US Forest Service lands under casual collecting rules.

 

When are you going to be here? Where are you going to be?

 

Check out the Southwest Paleontological Society:

http://swpaleosociety.com/membership/

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2021 by DPS Ammonite

[Cthulhu2]

27 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Check out my Arizona Paleontology Guide:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/86597-arizona-paleontology-guide/

 

 

What kind of permit are you getting? Permits for collecting fossils on public land are only given to professionals that must deposit fossils into a repository. You can collect common invertebrates on BLM and US Forest Service lands under casual collecting rules.

 

When are you going to be here? Where are you going to be?

 

Check out the Southwest Paleontological Society:

http://swpaleosociety.com/membership/

 

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I didn’t realize how much harder it was to get a permit in AZ (very used to Florida’s easy access) I’ll be coming up the first week of May to Phoenix. Any advice for a newbie? 

[DPS Ammonite]

Read the literature, look at the geology maps. Coming in May you probably will want to hunt at 5k feet and above. There are lots of Paleozoic fossils near Payson: Martin Formation; Redwall Formation; Naco Formation and Kaibab Formation. Join the SW Paleo Society.

[Crusty_Crab]

I was in Arizona 2 weeks ago. If you want to dig for your own petrified wood, there is a private ranch next to the Petrified Forest National Park where you can do so (just google Arizona petrified wood dig in google maps). If you're traveling to or from the park from Phoenix, you can also take Arizona 260 on the way and stop by the Kohls Ranch spot (search "paleo site monument" in maps). There is a nice parking lot and interpretation signs. Unfortunately, this is what it looked like when I was there in mid March, but the snow had melted by the next day:

 

  

[DPS Ammonite]

Article about a prominent petrified wood source:

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syntheticgeneticshakespeares.wordpress.com/2018/06/16/the-triassic-trees-of-the-dobell-ranch/amp/