Affordable multi-day family dig sites?

[abctriplets]

Hi there - Quick question for everyone.

My wife and I will be out West with our 10yr old triplets during the 2nd week of July, and we are looking for a multi-day dinosaur dig to join. Our family previously worked a "Citizen Paleontologist" event where we spent hours unpacking and cataloguing the summer's finds by the paleontologists at Virginia Tech, and the kids always have their eyes glued to the ground, trying to find cool rocks, arrowheads, and fossils. There's not much in our area, so we're indulging their interest this summer. While finding dinosaur bits would be great, I'm sure they'll love any era of fossil hunting.

 

We think we'll be in the Wyoming/South Dakota/Montana area. Do you happen to know of any good, *affordable* programs/sites? 

 

[JohnJ]

Welcome to The Forum.  @jpc may have some suggestions if he sees this. 

[Fossildude19]

Welcome to the Forum.

The Fish Quarries in the Kemmerer Wyoming area can do multiple day digs, and fossils are always found. 

The Trilobite quarries in Utah are only 4-6 hours away from Kemmerer. 

Search this forum for information on these sites. 

Regards,

 

[abctriplets]

Oh thanks! (neither of those had come up in my google searches, so I'll use this to expand my searches!)

[Fossildude19]

LINK 1

LINK 2

 

 

 

[FossilDudeCO]

If you plan to do fish, maybe message @sseth

[Susan from PA]

I would suggest contacting Walter Stein of Paleoadventures Dinosaur Digs.   The dig site is on the Hell Creek Formation near Belle Fourche, South Dakota.  I don't know the fees involved.  I do know that you don't get to keep much of what you find, but he does seems do have quite a few kids on the digs, and it seems very educational as well.  

[jpc]

every one's version of 'affordable' is different.  The Tate Museum does week long dino digs but we the minimum age is 16.  I usually send folks with kids to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis.  

[abctriplets]

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions! (and now I'm wondering about hitting two locations to look for fish *and* dino bones....)

[digit]

Splitting oil shale slabs to find Green River Formation fishes is good fun and I suspect kids (above a certain young age) would really enjoy it--I did. With a hammer and a thin splitting blade you form a crack along one edge of a slab of rock around the size of a sheet of newspaper (or thereabout). Once the crack is formed all along an edge you gently pry apart the halves like opening a book. If there are no fossils revealed inside, you attempt to re-split each half till they are too thin to split again. When you are lucky (and the fishes are relatively common) you are rewarded with being the first to see the fossil in 50 million years. It might be a bit too difficult for very young kids but kids that age could work with a parent to start the split and the kids could finish and be involved in finding fossil fishes. A friend of mine took his pre-teen a few years back and they had a blast (as did I when I hunted the Green River Formation a couple of times over the last decade).

 

Finding trilobites out of the Wheeler Shale in Delta, UT was also fun but the shale is harder and a bit more work to locate the bugs (but would probably be fun for teens and above).

 

I've searched for "dino digs" before and the ones I've found in the past were either working with universities on dig sites where bones are slowly uncovered and then jacketed to be prepped back in the lab (fossils staying with the university) or quite expensive digs where one gets to keep the bones they find (which are usually not of great scientific interest--common species). It has been several years since I've looked into this type of dig (other dig opportunities have kept me busy). I'll probably get some experience with dinos in the next year or two. I have a friend in Florida who volunteers with a group out in the badlands to dig dinos with a university. It is expensive (pay to volunteer seems odd but it is a novel experience). Once you have put in enough volunteer time you can go out on digs with them when they do their fieldwork each year and uncover interesting specimens.

 

A bit closer to home (east coast, anyway) is volunteering with the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) in Gainesville, FL. They have two dig sites they are actively working: the Thomas Farm sink hole site and the new Montbrook site (an old freshwater river system). They are more active at the Montbrook site at the moment (as it is on private land not owned by the university so they are making the most of it while they can). Volunteers must be at least 15 so no young kiddies can dig there. Again, you get to dig at the site but all of the specimens go to the museum's collection (with you listed as collector). No dinosaurs in Florida (underwater during that time) but great fun. If you are interested in Montbrook you can read more here:

 

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/museum-voices/montbrook/get-involved/

 

You can also see what it was like in my earlier trip report:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/63056-volunteer-dig-with-the-flmnh/

 

 

 

I've been following this thread because I too would be interested to hear if anybody suggests opportunities to dig dinos out west.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[digit]

There's also this that came up in another topic. I think I looked into them before. The initial query was for "affordable" dino digs so this probably doesn't meet your current needs.

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/70328-experience-with-paleo-prospectors/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[abctriplets]

Thanks for the great replies!

I've now made a list that others might find helpful, though many on these haven't updated their plans for Summer 2017 yet...

 

1) Museum of Western Colorado (CO?)

Nothing on the schedule?

https://museumofwesternco.com/things-to-do/category/dinosaur-journey-expeditions/

 

2) Children's Museum of Indianapolis (Faith, SD)

7/7-7/8, 7/9-7/10 (8+) $400/session

7/13-7/16 (adults only) $995

*Museum keeps finds??*

https://www.childrensmuseum.org/content/dinosaur-digs-families-and-adults

 

3) PaleoAdventures (SD)

$150/day adults, $125/day kids

*You keep $50 worth of finds*

Will know 2017 schedule in December

http://www.paleoadventures.com/dinosaur-dig-site-tours.html

 

4) Wyoming Dinosaur Center (Thermopolis, WY)

$150/day adults, $100/day children

*museum keeps finds*

http://www.wyodino.org/

 

5) Paleo Park (Niobrara County, WY)

$25/adults, $10/kids

http://www.paleopark.com/

 

6) Great Plains Dinosaur Museum (Malta, MT)

$230/day (age 11+)

$115/day (junior program)

*museum keeps finds*

Will know 2017 schedule in Jan/Feb

http://greatplainsdinosaurs.org

 

7) Paleoworld Digs (MT)

Under new management

http://www.paleoworld.org/

 

8) North Dakota Geological Survey (ND)

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndfossil/digs/

 

9) Baisch's Dinosaur Digs (Glendive, MT)

$100/day $75/half-day (12 and under free)

*you keep most*

www.dailydinosaurdigs.com

 

10) Mammoth Site (Hot Springs, SD)

Junior Paleo Dig $20? (still active?)

http://mammothsite.com/

 

11) Fossil Butte National (Kemmerer, WY)

Free on Fridays/Saturdays

*park keeps finds**

https://www.nps.gov/fobu/learn/kidsyouth/index.htm

[jpc]

Heck, I will add the Tate Museum digs  to this list.  I like to think abctriplets didn't list us because our minimum age is 16, but since she has listed these for others to enjoy, I will do a shameless plug here.

 

I am currently working on our 2017 schedule and will have it posted maybe before Xmas.  We will be digging in the Lance Formation (late Cretaceous) of eastern Wyoming and the Morrison (Jurassic at the famous Como Bluff), in southern WY.  Fossils are collected for the Tate Museum.

 

We are also doing a special pre-eclipse trip.  As some of you may know, next Aug 21st the USA will have its first toal solar eclipse since... fill in this blank... the center line is passing 100 meters south of the Tate Museum, so we are doing a dinos dig that will end the day before the ecliipse and leave folks here in Capser in one of the best places to hope to see the eclipse.  

 

12) Tate Museum Dino Dig (Casper, WY)

$900 per week, includes transport form Casper, hotel and food.  

$1000 for the August trip

*museum keeps fossils*

http://www.caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum/events/digs (lists last summer's digs)

 

 

 

 

[Fossildude19]

You could also look into Black Cat Mountain for trilobites. in Oklahoma.  

[abctriplets]

Great additions! It does seem like this forum should have a pinned list of similar organizations (even could link to member reports for personalized recommendations...)

[digit]

Thanks all for generously planning my 2017. My fossil bucket list just got longer.

 

I say that only half in jest as I will likely try to visit many of these sites in the next year or two. If I have some "spare time" (I think that is still a thing?) I may try to dig up a little information on these well-known locations for fossil hunting and put them on our new Maps feature on the forum. This is underutilized at the moment. I don't expect everybody to give up the GPS coordinates of their favorite secret honey holes (at least not till they let me know first ) but we should strive to make some of this common knowledge available in the Maps section. I'd be wary of posting any smaller sites where fossils weather out slowly and which might get overrun if more broadly known, but at least for the "pay to play" commercial sites or those saturated with fossils (like the Ordovician St. Leon road-cut) it would be a great service to pin these on the map for ease in locating them.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[abctriplets]

1 hour ago, digit said:

I'd be wary of posting any smaller sites where fossils weather out slowly and which might get overrun if more broadly known, but at least for the "pay to play" commercial sites or those saturated with fossils (like the Ordovician St. Leon road-cut) it would be a great service to pin these on the map for ease in locating them.

 

 

St. Leon, you say? Huh. I guess I need to do quite a bit of research before heading out west, as it'd be frustrating to find out about this *after* our trip. Of course....loading up the minivan with rocks *before* traveling four thousand miles isn't the best idea...

[digit]

The famous St. Leon road-cut is only halfway there (in the Midwest). It is a well-known Ordovician site in southern Indiana for finding brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoid stems, and the occasional trilobite. I learned about it on the forum and made a side-trip there from a Chicago visit and had great fun (though it was a long day). More info here if you are interested if this spot is not too far out of your travel plans. There is no cost--it's just a stop at a road-cut where you can surface hunt (just don't dig--and park well away from the road on the exceedingly wide shoulder).

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/65939-hunting-the-roadcuts-of-indianas-ordovician/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[abctriplets]

Well, looks like that's the road we're taking, or just half an hour off the path. Halfway on Day 1 of the trip, no less. Maybe we don't have to go all the way out west after all!  

 

How long would you budget for this side-trip? More or less than an hour?

(Nevermind...I'll read up on it now that I know it exists)

[digit]

The fossils there (brachiopods, crinoid stem pieces and bryozoans) are incredibly dense--quite literally everywhere. Horn corals and trilobites (or pieces thereof) are quite a bit less common but definitely there if you search for them. If you could only budget an hour's time as a break in your travels, you'd surely collect a nice quantity and diversity of fossil material from the Ordovician. If you gave it a couple of hours you'd increase your chances of finding some of the less common things (corals and trilobites). My sister's family took a break on a roadtrip to Cincinnati for less than an hour (they are not really fossil hunters) just as an activity to break up the drive. My brother-in-law collected some nice pieces and the kids had more fun running up and down the slopes.

 

There are several other road cuts and other fossil locations along this latitude. I've got my eye on some sites just east of St. Louis where you can apparently find blastoids fairly easily. If you've never heard of blastoids, search this forum and you may find something else you might need to add to your trip itinerary.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[abctriplets]

Hm. Saint Louis is on the list for the way back....hoping to see Cahokia....maybe blastoids instead  (if the minivan's shocks haven't given out by then...)

[Nimravis]

12 hours ago, jpc said:

Heck, I will add the Tate Museum digs  to this list.  I like to think abctriplets didn't list us because our minimum age is 16, but since she has listed these for others to enjoy, I will do a shameless plug here.

 

I am currently working on our 2017 schedule and will have it posted maybe before Xmas.  We will be digging in the Lance Formation (late Cretaceous) of eastern Wyoming and the Morrison (Jurassic at the famous Como Bluff), in southern WY.  Fossils are collected for the Tate Museum.

 

We are also doing a special pre-eclipse trip.  As some of you may know, next Aug 21st the USA will have its first toal solar eclipse since... fill in this blank... the center line is passing 100 meters south of the Tate Museum, so we are doing a dinos dig that will end the day before the ecliipse and leave folks here in Capser in one of the best places to hope to see the eclipse.  

 

12) Tate Museum Dino Dig (Casper, WY)

$900 per week, includes transport form Casper, hotel and food.  

$1000 for the August trip

*museum keeps fossils*

http://www.caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum/events/digs (lists last summer's digs)

 

 

 

 

JP- that is a very good price for a week.

[abctriplets]

On 11/27/2016 at 5:29 PM, Susan from PA said:

I would suggest contacting Walter Stein of Paleoadventures Dinosaur Digs.   The dig site is on the Hell Creek Formation near Belle Fourche, South Dakota.  I don't know the fees involved.  I do know that you don't get to keep much of what you find, but he does seems do have quite a few kids on the digs, and it seems very educational as well.  

 

Thank you for the suggestion! PaleoAdventures just had a contest on their facebook page last week, and my kids won a couple of day-passes to their site!

Here's their winning video:

https://vimeo.com/194621335

 

It now looks like this summer we'll be trying to do:

1) 1 day at PaleoAdventures (Belle Fourche, SD)

2) 1 day at Baisch's Dinosaur Digs (Glendive, MT)

3) 1 day at South Dempsey Quarry (Kemmerer, WY)

 

...and we'll probably have to remove the adjective "affordable" from this vacation....

 

[minnbuckeye]

PaleoAdventures made a great choice for their contest winner!!! Tell your children that their video was wonderful. Have fun out west.

[digit]

Great video. The kids are going to have an epic summer vacation next year. We want to follow along so take lots of photos and write up some nice trip reports so we can experience the wonder.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken