Newbee Going To St. Clair, Pa Need Some Site Directions

[suprmatch]

I took my 11 year old daughter to St. Clair, PA about 6 weeks ago with not much success. I want to go again. I picked up a few chunks of slate to crack open later when we got home. We or should I say she found a fossilized branch of something in the one chunk, but she was thrilled to death. You would have thought we hit the lottery the way she screamed. I want to keep the fire in her burning. I read about areas in St. Clair that you are walking over fossils to find better fossils because its so abundant. Me I could not find squat. Can someone give me directions or a location to start. I'm not looking to find your secrete spot just want to keep my daughter's interest alive. Thanks in advance.

[NJ Mary Ann]

I haven't been to St. Clair, but here is a link to a site that lists directions to several other PA sites for fossil collecting.

http://www.pennminerals.com/collecting.htm

If you do a quick search there are probably other web pages that can help you as well. Also, there is an OOP book that is not too hard to find if you search a bit called "Fossil Collecting in PA" (I have a copy on the way that I just ordered from Amazon for $12 - a real steal, it usually goes for a good bit more!) that could help. Where do you live? the NJ Paleontology group is going on a fossil trip to Beltzville, PA on June 20 and it might be a fun trip for you and your child to participate in...it is a good Trilobite site and easy for children to access. You can find their website at

http://www.njpaleo.org

There is another site in PA as well that has fossil ferns and such...I can give you directions to it if you PM me. It is a little town called Mont Clare, PA. It is a Triassic site. There are not many of those on the East Coast!

Best of luck!

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Hi suprmatch, that was probably shale that you cracked. The slate belts of the East Coast are metamorphic, and show little of their original structure.

Good luck on the hunt.

[suprmatch]

Hi suprmatch, that was probably shale that you cracked. The slate belts of the East Coast are metamorphic, and show little of their original structure.

Good luck on the hunt.

Probably.....Still learning what rock that might have potential fossils hidding within.

[PaleoDan]

Here is the Google directions I use...

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=

107034879593051811021.00044b768e8c08d52d0e0

Good luck

[NJ Mary Ann]

Hi Dan,

I tried following the link to your map, but I all could get was your very nice blurb about the site, but just a big map of the US with no pointer to the site. The concept is very cool...I didn't know you could do what you are doing with Google Maps. Neat! But, I have been very anxious to make a trip to St. Clair. Is the site open to the public now, or do you have to get permission to go there? (someone had told me it was now posted due to the owner's liability concerns, but I don't know if that was accurate or not.) If you are willing to give me directions, I'd really appreciate it! In return, I can give you directions to Mont Clare, which is a Triassic site about 45 minutes south of St. Clair. Thanks!!

[PaleoDan]

It's odd - I still have not figured these maps out yet on Google. When I look at it, I get the map from my house to St. Clair. I tried it not logged in and got what you said. I must still be doing something wrong. Anyway, I was told that the area is posted but that the owners are fine with people collecting there. They just do not want to deal with all the paperwork. When we were there, there were probably about 30 or so people collecting and another large number riding Quads and Dirt Bikes. Everyone got along well and all said the same thing.

Go into the town of St Clair (Route 61) north of Pottsville and make a right onto Hancock Road. (Google Rt 61 N and Hancock Road) I think you are on Hancock Rd about 2.8 miles and then you will see a parking area off to the right (across the street will be a big open area where mining trucks are - up ahead the road will curve up and to the left.) Park on the right and head down the trail about 300 yards. You will hit another big trail and make a left on it. Head another 300 yards down and an opening will appear on your right into the fossil field.

I highly suggest you bring something with large wheels like a wagon or something to carry out your finds. I is a very long walk back carrying 80 pounds of rocks!

I will email you a topo map that will help.

Good luck.

[TheFossilHunter]

I haven't been to St. Clair, but here is a link to a site that lists directions to several other PA sites for fossil collecting.

http://www.pennminerals.com/collecting.htm

If you do a quick search there are probably other web pages that can help you as well. Also, there is an OOP book that is not too hard to find if you search a bit called "Fossil Collecting in PA" (I have a copy on the way that I just ordered from Amazon for $12 - a real steal, it usually goes for a good bit more!) that could help. Where do you live? the NJ Paleontology group is going on a fossil trip to Beltzville, PA on June 20 and it might be a fun trip for you and your child to participate in...it is a good Trilobite site and easy for children to access. You can find their website at

http://www.njpaleo.org

There is another site in PA as well that has fossil ferns and such...I can give you directions to it if you PM me. It is a little town called Mont Clare, PA. It is a Triassic site. There are not many of those on the East Coast!

Best of luck!

Mary Ann,

FYI, the book "Fossil collecting in PA" doesnt feature the st. clair site.

Also, the web page you are quoting lists obsolete site info. For example saville township site is posted, closed, and closely watched. if you ask for permission , they will refuse. locus lane site is small and hopeless - dont wastte your time on it. I think york haven site doesnt exist any more eiither , but i have to check on that one. Joliet still has some potential, but you'll probably find more ferns there than petrified wood.

Mike

[TheFossilHunter]

It's odd - I still have not figured these maps out yet on Google. When I look at it, I get the map from my house to St. Clair. I tried it not logged in and got what you said. I must still be doing something wrong. Anyway, I was told that the area is posted but that the owners are fine with people collecting there. They just do not want to deal with all the paperwork. When we were there, there were probably about 30 or so people collecting and another large number riding Quads and Dirt Bikes. Everyone got along well and all said the same thing.

Go into the town of St Clair (Route 61) north of Pottsville and make a right onto Hancock Road. (Google Rt 61 N and Hancock Road) I think you are on Hancock Rd about 2.8 miles and then you will see a parking area off to the right (across the street will be a big open area where mining trucks are - up ahead the road will curve up and to the left.) Park on the right and head down the trail about 300 yards. You will hit another big trail and make a left on it. Head another 300 yards down and an opening will appear on your right into the fossil field.

I highly suggest you bring something with large wheels like a wagon or something to carry out your finds. I is a very long walk back carrying 80 pounds of rocks!

I will email you a topo map that will help.

Good luck.

Correction - the area is NOT posted, but the owners are not totally fine with people collecting. They prefer that people go to their office and ask permission. However most people don't, and get away with it.

[suprmatch]

Thanks for all of your replies. I went on Sunday with my Dad, my daughter stayed home smart move it was hot. We had very limited sucess cause we went to the wrong spot. PaleoDan posted directions, about 5 hours to late, that I will have to try out in the future. We found a small amount of ferns, annularias, and branches of some sort (they were in about every rock we cracked open) and a sunburn. We certainly didn't come home with 80 pounds of fossils if we did my daughter's school would probably be getting 70 pounds of fossils. Oh well better luck next time.

[PaleoDan]

Correction - the area is NOT posted, but the owners are not totally fine with people collecting. They prefer that people go to their office and ask permission. However most people don't, and get away with it.

FossilHunter - do you know where the office is? I did not see anything that resembled one. If they prefer you stop by first, I am fine with that, just need to know where to stop.

Thanks

Dan

[TheFossilHunter]

FossilHunter - do you know where the office is? I did not see anything that resembled one. If they prefer you stop by first, I am fine with that, just need to know where to stop.

Thanks

Dan

I have to look them up - I will get you the office directions. I believe they are gonna ask you to donate part of your finds; there may be some other restrictions too. You decide for yourself if you wanna go through this...most people just go there without asking permission without any problems.

[Beach]

When are you going back? I know where the site is. It can be hard to find.

[suprmatch]

I'm want to go back in a couple of weeks. I don't want to overwelm my daughter with this I will do it at her speed. You know how kids are. If you show excitment in something you both like......well they all of a sudden don't like it anymore . Go figure.

[-EJ]

It's been almost 30 years since I was there but there was a strip mine that was closed but there were no signs and the locals used it as a hangout. There was no reason to go near the cliffs except to look for quartz crystals and pyrite.

What was mind blowing is that the slate you would walk on was nothing but fossils. I have a 12 inch square piece that is total snarge from what I remember. We were limited on time and I remember 10 ft sections of logs... we're talkin' pennsylvania era. I was trying to carve out a complete fern frond about 12 inches long and as wide... never did get it out.

I was wondering if anyone had been to a similar place?

Ed

[Eero59]

What was mind blowing is that the slate you would walk on was nothing but fossils. I have a 12 inch square piece that is total snarge from what I remember. We were limited on time and I remember 10 ft sections of logs... we're talkin' pennsylvania era. I was trying to carve out a complete fern frond about 12 inches long and as wide... never did get it out.

Ed

Yep, was there 2 days ago: just amazing how much beautiful fossil material is underfoot. Problem is, finding a specimen separate and complete on the slate, everything is crowded together, and the material is rather brittle.

Got a load of hand specimens in no time. Given time, and with the right tools, would like to cut out some slab to work on carefully at leisure, as evidence of others working on some virgin material with saws at the site.

Art

[suprmatch]

I almost got back to St. Clair, Schuylkill Haven. My daughter adopted a hampster.......before you say anything I know. On the way back from the area I made a 5 min. pit stop in Deer Lake on the side of route 61 and started picking up rocks that had marine fossils in them. At first it looked like rust spots but at further inspection there were sea shells on the rock. I have to get my camera out to show you guys what I will explain next. On the front of the rock lies a dozen shells then you can see little cavities with more inside and I don't know how to split the rock to show the surprise inside. Looking at the audubon fossil field guide it looks like "slatty shale" that the fossils are in. Any idea what to do? Let it be and enjoy as is or slow and tedious work to reveal what waits inside.

[Auspex]

Do you have more than one sample (ie: an extra to experiment with)?

[suprmatch]

Do you have more than one sample (ie: an extra to experiment with)?

Yep. The wife was ticked cause I picked up about 300 pounds of rocks. It killed my mileage.

[Auspex]

Yep...about 300 pounds ...

In that case, pick a less attractive one & start hacking! (Then post pics of the before & after).

[TheFossilHunter]

I almost got back to St. Clair, Schuylkill Haven. My daughter adopted a hampster.......before you say anything I know. On the way back from the area I made a 5 min. pit stop in Deer Lake on the side of route 61 and started picking up rocks that had marine fossils in them. At first it looked like rust spots but at further inspection there were sea shells on the rock. I have to get my camera out to show you guys what I will explain next. On the front of the rock lies a dozen shells then you can see little cavities with more inside and I don't know how to split the rock to show the surprise inside. Looking at the audubon fossil field guide it looks like "slatty shale" that the fossils are in. Any idea what to do? Let it be and enjoy as is or slow and tedious work to reveal what waits inside.

The rock at Deer lake site is not slaty shale. Ive been there many times and collected lots of stuff there. there is actually another site close to that one, a couple of miles away but it has similar stuff. I know exactly what you mean about not being sure how to split the rock. The rock layers are not really straight parallel layers in that rock. they form sort of like concretion - around something. That rock doesnt always split the way you want it to. if the crevice is big and you can see those crinoid stems in there...try hitting with the chisel side of your hammer on and along the crack...but it may not break the right way.

Basically with that rock, you just bang it with the hammer anywhere and it opens up usually revealing some fossils.

I know it may have been unclear whote i wrote here, i am just in a hurry...email me and I can tell you more about it.

Thanks

Mike

[Shawn71]

Cool thread.

I miss digging there, it's been awhile It's the one thing I hate about moving out of PA.

Summer is not the time to dig there though, way too hotwith all the black rock and no shade . Also, there is a back way to 4x4 in with a jeep or truck...some parts are real rocky though. For the good layers, you have to know where to dig, and you must dig a lot through the overburden to get big pieces. Long pry bars(I think they're called "murder bars") are the best for removing the shale from the layers. You gotta attack about 2-3 iches below the surface of the rock.

No need for a rock saw, although some people use them. Noisy, dirty, and unnecessary.

[flyguy784]

Hi Dan,

I tried following the link to your map, but I all could get was your very nice blurb about the site, but just a big map of the US with no pointer to the site. The concept is very cool...I didn't know you could do what you are doing with Google Maps. Neat! But, I have been very anxious to make a trip to St. Clair. Is the site open to the public now, or do you have to get permission to go there? (someone had told me it was now posted due to the owner's liability concerns, but I don't know if that was accurate or not.) If you are willing to give me directions, I'd really appreciate it! In return, I can give you directions to Mont Clare, which is a Triassic site about 45 minutes south of St. Clair. Thanks!!

Mary Ann, if you're finding ferns at Mont Clare with any quality/size/quanity you're doing better than me. I'm there alot and have only found a few specimens (see my Triassic fern ID post in Fossil ID). It's hard rock and tuff conditions, with a substantial high wall at alot of areas. Not sure it's daughter territory. If you found a spot that produces mobetter ferns PM me please, it's my passion.

[JimmCapp]

I grew up in St. Clair (now live in Phoenix, AZ) and thought it was funny when I found a few fossils from St. Clair in a rock shop in Quartzite, Az. a few years back.

Finding good locations can be difficult if you don't know where to look, I would suggest asking some locals to point you in the right direction.

One place that I found that may be still viable and easy to get to was the slate banks rising up behind the Fairlane Village Mall on Rte 61 behind the auto center. The slate there used to be loaded with ferns. Any other places may be a bit a a trek with a younger child.

Oh, and my mom still has some of the fossils with the sea shells from near Deer Lake. At the time we found them we weren't sure if they were native or were dumped as fill.

Generally, it's easier to get forgiveness than permission if you find a nice site, as long as it's not in someone's back yard, heh heh.

[suprmatch]

Go into the town of St Clair (Route 61) north of Pottsville and make a right onto Hancock Road. (Google Rt 61 N and Hancock Road) I think you are on Hancock Rd about 2.8 miles and then you will see a parking area off to the right (across the street will be a big open area where mining trucks are - up ahead the road will curve up and to the left.) Park on the right and head down the trail about 300 yards. You will hit another big trail and make a left on it. Head another 300 yards down and an opening will appear on your right into the fossil field.

I finally got back to St. Clair. Sorry I have had no time to post. I have signed up for classes at college (I don't want to deliver mail forever) and the one class is film editing. The project is make a short documentary. So I thought what a better thing to do it on. These directions were almost perfect. The area across the street is completely rehabed. No trucks are there at all. So make sure you go the 2.8 miles and park, the parking area is very small maybe 5 cars total will fit. O.K. the bad news now. Are you sitting down for this.....they, I don't know if its the county or the town, wants to turn the area loaded with fossils into a garbage dump. Yep you heard it right a dump . The town people are fighting it. In one way I can't blame them because the town folk use that area to dump all their unwanted trash. In another way it would be such a great loss for everyone that enjoys the area for biking and fossil hunting. Oh by the way I found some amazing specimens.