Thinking about some Colorado huntin'!

[joshuajbelanger]

Hey guys and gals,

In a couple of months I will have a break from the school work, and I'm planning a trip for the wife and I out west. As of right now, any place is open and up for suggestions.  I was thinking about Colorado, and was wondering about some pointers. I would love to hunt some dino bones and ammonites.  Really, I'm open to anything that is fossil related. Anyone know of a good area that has numerous exposures within hiking distance? I'll probably spread the trip out over a course of a week or two, and don't mind staying at multiple cabins and hotels. Let me know what you guys think.  Also, feel free to suggest other states.  I'm also willing to pay to dig sites.  DADDY NEEDS HIS MEDICINE!  If you guys can put me in the ballpark, I'll find those fossils.

Cheers

 

-J

[Miocene_Mason]

Perhaps you want something more exotic, but in Maryland we have many Miocene and Paleocene sites as well as nearby (as in within 3 hours) devonian sites and even some Cretaceous sites (NJ having most accessible ones). As for Colorado, I have no clue.

[joshuajbelanger]

23 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Perhaps you want something more exotic, but in Maryland we have many Miocene and Paleocene sites as well as nearby (as in within 3 hours) devonian sites and even some Cretaceous sites (NJ having most accessible ones). As for Colorado, I have no clue.

Well, thing with it is that I’ve done a lot of travel up the east coast already.  Not necessarily for fossil hunting, but just in general.  I will be taking two US trips this year, so I’ll keep that in mind for my second one. 

[Raggedy Man]

I hunt colorado every year and I can say, dinos unless on private land are a no go. Ammos can be found in the Pierre shale by Boulder and the Northeast part of the state. Do not collect dino fossils as the sites are still being studied and are off limits to collecting. Most of the sites I hunt are still under a few feet of snow and will be untill some time in June/July. There are several articles and scholarly articles that describe the Pierre Shale in Colorado that give site locations. Good luck!

 

Best regards, 

Paul

[joshuajbelanger]

34 minutes ago, Raggedy Man said:

I hunt colorado every year and I can say, dinos unless on private land are a no go. Ammos can be found in the Pierre shale by Boulder and the Northeast part of the state. Do not collect dino fossils as the sites are still being studied and are off limits to collecting. Most of the sites I hunt are still under a few feet of snow and will be untill some time in June/July. There are several articles and scholarly articles that describe the Pierre Shale in Colorado that give site locations. Good luck!

 

Best regards, 

Paul

Thanks @Raggedy Man,

I’m fairly respectful when it comes to the laws, so hopefully I can find some private land(I think my wife’s aunt owns some). I’ll defintely look into the Pierre shale, I believe I was reading something about it earlier.  Thanks for the heads up on the snow, I was just telling my wife that we would have to wait until it melted, and we didn’t quite know when that was. It’s alot different from Florida, where a few millimeters let’s me get in the rivers during the heart of our “winter”

[Raggedy Man]

1 hour ago, joshuajbelanger said:

Thanks @Raggedy Man,

I’m fairly respectful when it comes to the laws, so hopefully I can find some private land(I think my wife’s aunt owns some). I’ll defintely look into the Pierre shale, I believe I was reading something about it earlier.  Thanks for the heads up on the snow, I was just telling my wife that we would have to wait until it melted, and we didn’t quite know when that was. It’s alot different from Florida, where a few millimeters let’s me get in the rivers during the heart of our “winter”

When I get a chance, Ill send you some links on a few locations there.

[Sagebrush Steve]

Not exactly Colorado but in nearby Wyoming there are several quarries where you can dig for fish from the Green River Formation near Kemmerer. I’ve been to Warfield Fossil Quarry and I’ve heard good things about the nearby American Fossil Quarry.  Check out their websites for the latest prices and when they open for the season.

[jpc]

If you are driving form FL, the fish quarries are worth it.  You pay a bit but you will find more fish than you know what to do with.  (I have been known to take people dinosaur hunting, but I am extremely busy this year, and summer hasn't even started yet).  

[Malone]

Baculite mesa is one, the railroad tracks near Pueblo lake is where the usgs took samples for the stratotype boundary papers. I have a spot where you can find a bunch of inoceramus if your interested. There's baculites and Amonnites in the railway areas. 

[Sagebrush Steve]

On 3/31/2018 at 6:32 AM, Malone said:

Baculite mesa is one, the railroad tracks near Pueblo lake is where the usgs took samples for the stratotype boundary papers. I have a spot where you can find a bunch of inoceramus if your interested. There's baculites and Amonnites in the railway areas. 

And you are able to stay off the property of an active railway, right? 

[Malone]

42 minutes ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

And you are able to stay off the property of an active railway, right? 

I don't know if it's an active railway. I  walked down it when I was camping at the lake. The only area that was told was a non collection area was rock canyon in the lake area. The entire area around Pueblo is fossil rich. The Pueblo rock hound clubs website and another website said baculite mesa is privately owned but that the owner allowed people to hunt as long as you check with them. Right up the road in canyon city they have a place (tourist area) that has a bunch of dinosaur prints " in situation" and I think the area is considered a laggerstatte area. I can ask around to find out if there are any other areas to hunt. I haven't checked to see if there's a fossil club yet. I just started collecting. ( and I am already running out of room to store them) I have mainly found inoceramus. The usgs says the Pueblo area has a multitude of inoceramus types and foraminifera. Also baculites and ammonites. I am unaware of what else has been found in area due to being so new to collecting. If you do come through your welcome to stop by and look at the ones I've found so far.

[Malone]

They have a site that's pay to dig. Florrisant fossil quarry. It cost ten bucks an hour though.

[jcbshark]

I’d just like to vouch for Joshua,  been able to get out with him a couple times and he’s a stand up guy. 

[Malone]

Here's a good overview video of the history of Colorado. Still inept with posting links. So it's just a picture of the link. It talks about fossils a little, but the video should be helpful.

[joshuajbelanger]

Sorry for not replying to some of you guys, I can’t seem to get my notifications right on the forum.