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Where to hunt on the Potomac?


Daisbea

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Hi! Basically the title! Going on a hunt soon and was wondering where along the Potomac I should go to hunt? Any parks, etc?

 

thanks!

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Hello there,

 

The fossil-bearing formations along the Potomac are generally south of DC with places to collect being on both the Maryland and Virginia sides of the river. On the Virginia side fossils can be collected at Westmoreland State Park. These fossils are Miocene in age and you may encounter shark teeth, ray dental plates, marine mammal bone chunks, and other marine material. Other than Westmoreland State Park, I do not know of any other public parks in VA that allow collecting on the Potomac, but if there are I am sure other members of the forum that are aware of them. I believe that Stratford Hall also offers guided fossil hunting trips to areas along the Potomac that are private property if you would be interested in that. 

On the Maryland side of the river the main public locations to hunt are Purse State Park and the nearby Douglas Point park. There is a narrow strip of beach exposed in this location and it is usually best to visit at low tide to make sure there is a beach to stand on (there are websites that have pretty reliable tide predictions for the area). Purse exposes the Paleocene Aquia formation which contains shark teeth, ray dental plates, and the occasional crocodile tooth among other marine fossils. Purse usually produces fossils that are on the smaller side (it can produce some large teeth) but it is a nice place to visit and fossils are very abundant. 
 

I am sure you are aware of Calvert Cliffs, but they can be an enjoyable place to hunt that isn’t too far from the Maryland side of the river. Fossils originating from the cliffs can be collected at both Calvert Cliffs State Park and at Flag Ponds Nature Park. It is also generally advised to visit either of these locations at low tide to maximize the amount of beach exposed. Due to the popularity of these sites they are decently picked over, so more productive areas along the cliffs can be accessed by boat or kayak. In Maryland private property begins at the high tide line, so most areas along the cliffs can be legally accessed by boat as long as one remains below the high tide line. Due to lacking a watercraft I have not tried this myself, but many other forum members have had very productive hunts exploring by kayak. 

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Purse State park offers a pretty productive slice of the Potomac…decent parking lot and a short walk to the shore. You’ll be pickin teeth in no time!

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12 hours ago, Andúril Flame of the West said:

Hello there,

 

The fossil-bearing formations along the Potomac are generally south of DC with places to collect being on both the Maryland and Virginia sides of the river. On the Virginia side fossils can be collected at Westmoreland State Park. These fossils are Miocene in age and you may encounter shark teeth, ray dental plates, marine mammal bone chunks, and other marine material. Other than Westmoreland State Park, I do not know of any other public parks in VA that allow collecting on the Potomac, but if there are I am sure other members of the forum that are aware of them. I believe that Stratford Hall also offers guided fossil hunting trips to areas along the Potomac that are private property if you would be interested in that. 

On the Maryland side of the river the main public locations to hunt are Purse State Park and the nearby Douglas Point park. There is a narrow strip of beach exposed in this location and it is usually best to visit at low tide to make sure there is a beach to stand on (there are websites that have pretty reliable tide predictions for the area). Purse exposes the Paleocene Aquia formation which contains shark teeth, ray dental plates, and the occasional crocodile tooth among other marine fossils. Purse usually produces fossils that are on the smaller side (it can produce some large teeth) but it is a nice place to visit and fossils are very abundant. 
 

I am sure you are aware of Calvert Cliffs, but they can be an enjoyable place to hunt that isn’t too far from the Maryland side of the river. Fossils originating from the cliffs can be collected at both Calvert Cliffs State Park and at Flag Ponds Nature Park. It is also generally advised to visit either of these locations at low tide to maximize the amount of beach exposed. Due to the popularity of these sites they are decently picked over, so more productive areas along the cliffs can be accessed by boat or kayak. In Maryland private property begins at the high tide line, so most areas along the cliffs can be legally accessed by boat as long as one remains below the high tide line. Due to lacking a watercraft I have not tried this myself, but many other forum members have had very productive hunts exploring by kayak. 

Thank you! Do you know about any fossils being found in the more inland parts of the Potomac in Maryland?

Edited by Daisbea
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12 hours ago, ChasingGhostsYT said:

Purse State park offers a pretty productive slice of the Potomac…decent parking lot and a short walk to the shore. You’ll be pickin teeth in no time!

Thanks!

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For fossil hunting I would definitely stick to the southern Potomac and hunt some of the parks that I mentioned. North of DC on the Potomac there are not any public parks open to fossil hunting as, to the extent of my knowledge, fossils do not typically occur there. The northernmost fossil-bearing strata along the Potomac that I know of are the Late Cretaceous marine strata that occur around Fort Washington State Park (this park is NOT open to collecting and other areas exposing this formation are primarily on private property) and the occasional Potomac Group exposure around the DC area. The Potomac Group (mainly the Patuxent Formation) is difficult to access on the river itself due to the extent of private property. However, if you are interested Patuxent formation fossils (which typically include carbonized wood/lignite, plant impressions, and the very occasional dinosaur footprint), they can be found along various streams northeast of DC within and in the vicinity of College Park. 

 

Regarding fossils occurring north of the aforementioned strata, I am not aware of any along the Potomac. There may be some that have older fossils (likely Paleozoic-aged fossils) but I do not know of any. If you are interested in hunting there I would encourage you to find a geologic map of Maryland (there are many online) and see if a fossil-bearing outcrops in any areas along the northern Potomac. However, if you want to have the best chance of finding fossils I would definitely pay either Purse or Westmoreland State Park a visit.

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Follow the path of the Potomac river on a map and you’ll be amazed at where you end up… it cuts through almost every strata possible on its journey. I’ve collected sharks teeth on its banks in tidewater Virginia, and trilobites on the north fork south branch way over in West Virginia… there are lots of public access points along the way. 

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I remember the days when you were lucky to see one person at purse.  Now you can't even find a place to park.  

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