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Going Fossil Hunting in the Southwest- Where to Look?


spike

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I'm going to be taking a trip to the southwest (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and possibly Texas) pretty soon, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas as to where I could go fossil hunting. I'll provide the specific areas we'll be traveling to; I also previously lived in Colorado and have already found a few good sites, but would definitely be open to any other suggestions.

Colorado seems pretty promising with some good fossil quarries (Florrisant Fossil Hunting and the Morrison Museum), and I grew up with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science as well as Dinosaur Ridge. I'll mostly be in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas.

Utah is where I'm having a bit of trouble; I've heard it's definitely fossil country, but I can't find a lot of tours or places where you're actually able to take fossils home from. The main one I'm thinking of right now is the U-Dig Fossil Quarry, although I don't have any other ideas as to where we'll be going in Utah (wherever the fossils take us, I suppose!) so we're likely just going to plan around where we hear the best fossil sites are.

New Mexico is a state we're visiting not just to find dinos, but to see the lovely Santa Fe, which is the main area we'll be near. We don't really have any plans as to where we can go for fossils yet, but I assume there might be some good spots we can hit along the way.

Texas is kind of up in the air right now. I found some amazing fossils last time in Glen Rose, and intend to return there as long as my family is also willing to make the trip. It's a bit far, but if anyone knows of any other fossil sites that would be worth visiting around the Fort Worth/upper Texas area, I would love to hear about them. I have a feeling we'll be able to go back there as long as we don't stray too far into inner Texas (i.e. anything further down from Dallas).

 

Hopefully this is in the right place, and I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. Thanks in advance!

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If you search the Forum for sites in these states, you'll get some ideas.  For anything other than widely known, public sites, a public forum is not the best place to discuss this information.  The primary reasons for this are site destruction and access closure.  Please PM @spike any other location specifics.

 

As a general comment, the camaraderie and trust among participants of many online groups sometimes leads to the illusion these are just site requests among friends.  Information is offered as a nice gesture similar to restaurant recommendations or where to get your hair cut.  Site info is not like those commercial recommendations.  The audience is worldwide, and to those less invested in the info, it holds less value.

 

Innocently, or not, the online magnification of this info often leads to prohibited access or destruction of these sites. I think keeping this in mind will enhance collecting at many places longer into the future.

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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1 hour ago, JohnJ said:

If you search the Forum for sites in these states, you'll get some ideas.  For anything other than widely known, public sites, a public forum is not the best place to discuss this information.  The primary reasons for this are site destruction and access closure.  Please PM @spike any other location specifics.

 

As a general comment, the camaraderie and trust among participants of many online groups sometimes leads to the illusion these are just site requests among friends.  Information is offered as a nice gesture similar to restaurant recommendations or where to get your hair cut.  Site info is not like those commercial recommendations.  The audience is worldwide, and to those less invested in the info, it holds less value.

 

Innocently, or not, the online magnification of this info often leads to prohibited access or destruction of these sites. I think keeping this in mind will enhance collecting at many places longer into the future.

Hi there, thanks for letting me know. I completely understand what you mean and don't wish for any harm towards sites that could be subject to this sort of thing. I'll be sure to browse the forums elsewhere- and again, I (and I'm sure any others who happen to see this message) appreciate it!

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Research the paleontological and rock and mineral societies in the areas that you will be going to. Sometimes it is worth it to pay for a membership to go on a collecting trip. 
 

For north Texas there several well known sites that are productive: North Sulphur River; Post Oak Creek, Jacksboro and Mineral Wells.

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My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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