Where is your favorite fossil hunting site?

[JustinFL]

On May 19, 2017 at 11:42 AM, verydeadthings said:

For sentimental reasons, Casperson Beach south of Venice, Florida. Just a really pretty, undeveloped beach. Never found anything really spectacular, but I could combine spearfishing and fossil hunting in one trip!

I second Casperson! You almost forget you're in the middle of a town being over ran with development. It's a great beach and you always find something, and for people like myself who have kids it's almost always a guarantee they will find teeth, may be battered and small but they have a great time! 

[Fossil-Hound]

On 5/18/2017 at 10:06 PM, Darktooth said:

My favorite fossil site is Brownies beach. Located in the town of Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. The reason it is my favorite site is the peacefulness I feel when I am there. Once you get out around the cliffs all you hear is the sound of the waves, the birds and maybe a boat or two. Also there is a variety of fossils to be had. 

I second that for all the same reasons. Always come away with some good stuff.

[Jeffrey P]

Deep Springs Road southwest of Hamilton, NY. Wonderful biodiversity and preservation of a late Middle Devonian marine invertebrate fauna. The bulk of the Devonian brachiopods, bivalves, and gastropods in my collection are from there and there's always the possibility of finding complete trilobites, goniatites, and phyllocarids. Plus the site is easily accessible- child friendly and the rock is breakable.

[Darktooth]

Even though my all time favorite site is Brownies beach, Deep Springs is my favorite New York site, for all the reasons Jeff mentioned.

[jpc]

On 5/19/2017 at 8:57 AM, Uncle Siphuncle said:

I'm a generalist and restless soul full of wanderlust, so I tend to stay on the move, chasing variety, untapped/underutilized sites, and solitude in nature to keep me grounded.  The common theme of my favorite sites is that they lack footprints, save for perhaps the cloven variety.

I agree with uncle siphuncle.  There are some great fossil sites in quarries and such, but good fossils and solitude is the best.  

[erose]

I have favorites scattered about where I have lived over the years. And I, as well, am loath to share them since I don't know all* of you. But I am also a bit like Dan in that I enjoy something new as much as the old producers. Just exploring is fun.

 

I can break them down by themes: Cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician) of SW Ohio; Helderberg Group (Lower Devonian) of New York; Cretaceous brooks of New Jersey; Walnut Formation (Lowe Cretaceous) Texas and the Pennsylvanian of Texas.  What makes all of these special is the VARIETY of fossils in each.

 

*There are too many sites that have been abused by collectors with poor judgement or lousy values. And I have been sadly surprised when folks I thought I could trust turned around and did something horrible.

 

PS one all time favorite spot in SE Indiana is the one I'm sitting on in my avatar. South of Richmond...

 

[hrguy54]

Any site that I am the first ever, or in a long time, to visit. Like erose and others, I love to explore. I go to Google Earth and search for potential sites.  I recently completed my "2017 I-75 Roadcut Tour" (Dayton to Cincinnati) and enjoyed it immensely. I'll share more on the Tour in the near future.

 

I would say my all-time favorites that are now closed or just gone are the "Trilobite Farm" in Mt Orab, OH, (Ordivician) a recently completed housing development in Dayton, OH (Ordivician) and a site in Sylvania, OH (Devonian).