Washington fossil collecting

[SusanG]

I’m looking for fossil collecting sites within 3 hours’ drive from Seattle to visit and do a little hobby collecting while I’m in WA for work.  I’m most interested in fossil plants, mollusks, or arthropods.  
 

Can anyone give me recommendations of where to go?

[oilshale]

5h drive but might be interesting:

Republic Leaf Deposits and Eocene Ecology Republic Leaf Deposits and Eocene Ecology.pdf

https://stonerosefossil.org/

Edited July 21, 2022 by oilshale

[Neanderthal Shaman]

Cle Elum has some Eocene plant fossils, go to Old Blewett Pass and some of the outcrops right on the side of the road will have what you're looking for. Good agate hunting in the same neighborhood as well. 

 

If you ever make it to the other side of the Sound on the Peninsula, Twin Beach is a great place to pick up Oligocene shrimp, snails, and bivalves.  

 

 

Looking for agates and Eocene forests in central Washington - Fossil Hunting Trips - The Fossil Forum

 

 

[Neanderthal Shaman]

I don't know how realistic a trip out to Twin Beach from Seattle would be within the context of your schedule, but a ferry would probably be able to take you across the Sound and there is a bridge that crosses Hood Canal. All in all, would probably take a couple hours, but the fossil hunting on that beach is pretty good, as is the hunting on nearby beaches. 

 

If a long slog by boat and car isn't your cup of tea, I would try for Old Blewett Pass. You could also go north a bit to Bellingham for some more Eocene stuff, but someone else would need to tell you where to look up there, I've never tried. 

 

 

Twin Beach-Washington - Fossil Hunting Trips - The Fossil Forum

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions about specifics. Been out to Twin Beach multiple times, have only been to Old Blewett Pass once, but finding stuff on that roadside is pretty straightforward, just look for material that is clearly sedimentary as opposed to volcanic. 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Neanderthal Shaman
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[BentonlWalters]

For fossil plants, particularly leaves and palm frond pieces, there are several excellent locations in the Chuckanut formation to the north. The easiest to get to locations are along Chuckanut drive a little south of Bellingham just north of Pigeon Point until you reach the start of Larrabee State Park. There are several roadcuts that span the later Palaeocene to middle Eocene with cyprus twigs, palm fronds and leaves as well as a fossil tree trunk in one of the roadcuts.

 

A more adventurous locality is the Racehorse Creek landslide, which exposed tonnes of material packed with leaves though it’s a bit of a hike in and rather overgrown now. Here’s a writeup I've found of that location. https://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/the-chuckanut-formation/the-racehorse-landslide-fossil-fields/

 

For other Chuckanut formation localities there is a handy locality list in Mustoe (2007) which I have attached below. I haven’t had a look at most of these but it could make for some interesting hunting and collecting all within about 2 hours drive of Seattle.

 

Happy hunting

 

(Mustoe 2007) Geology and paleontology of the early Tertiary Chuckanut Formation.pdf