East Coast Road Trip- looking for suggestions

[fossilnoggin]

Hi all, in a few weeks I’m going to be driving down to Charleston with my two boys and our dog.  We are planning to make the drive over several days, fossil hunting at each stop. First stop will be Calvert cliffs area. It’s about a 4-5 hour drive for us. I’ve only been there twice, would love some suggestions on which area to hunt.  Other than that, I haven’t planned where else to go.  We will try to stick to the I-95 corridor, happy to make excursions off the route for anything that would be interesting. My kids are really excited for this, and so am I!   Thanks!

[Miocene_Mason]

Brownies beach is the best area on the cliffs, though it’s expensive this time of year. The rains may make all the cliffs unstable so be mindful. At brownies, go as south as you can, beyond the turn are the best fossils. If you haven’t been to Purse state park or Douglas point one of those is a good experience, many more teeth usually, and from the paleocene. Have a good time!

[PaleoNoel]

Greenville, NC is just under an hour from I-95 in Rocky Mount, NC. Last time I was there I found tons of shark teeth, whale bone and other fossils. I would recommend it as the closest site to the interstate while going through NC. Aurora, NC has a fossil museum which is certainly worth checking out and although you can no longer collect in the nearby Lee Creek Mine, the spoil piles at the museum still have abundant fossils similar to those in Greenville (but generally higher quality). 

[Miocene_Mason]

5 hours ago, PaleoNoel said:

Greenville, NC is just under an hour from I-95 in Rocky Mount, NC. Last time I was there I found tons of shark teeth, whale bone and other fossils. I would recommend it as the closest site to the interstate while going through NC. Aurora, NC has a fossil museum which is certainly worth checking out and although you can no longer collect in the nearby Lee Creek Mine, the spoil piles at the museum still have abundant fossils similar to those in Greenville (but generally higher quality). 

Greenville* is Eocene I believe whereas Aurora is Miocene. Eocene whales? That is pretty cool.

 

*(The following confusion comes from mixing-up Greenville, NC, with Harleyville, South Carolina.)

[Gizmo]

15 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Greenville is Eocene I believe whereas Aurora is Miocene. Eocene whales? That pretty cool.

Greenville is Cretaceous thru Pliocene.

[Miocene_Mason]

6 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

Greenville is Cretaceous thru Pliocene.

That’s a long time, sounds like green mill run. Must be confusing at times.

[Gizmo]

41 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

That’s a long time, sounds like green mill run. Must be confusing at times.

No, I'm confused. Where is your Eocene site in Greenville?

[Miocene_Mason]

4 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

No, I'm confused. Where is your Eocene site in Greenville?

Not my site, but I bought an O. auriculatus from there. There was a phosphate mine like lee Creek there, similarly it shut down and still brings sediment to a museum there. The tooth didn’t come with formation but I think there were two there, I want to say that one was the Castle Hayne FM?

[Gizmo]

11 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Not my site, but I bought an O. auriculatus from there. There was a phosphate mine like lee Creek there, similarly it shut down and still brings sediment to a museum there. The tooth didn’t come with formation but I think there were two there, I want to say that one was the Castle Hayne FM?

The only museum I'm aware of in Greenville, NC is the art museum. http://gmoa.org. Where is the sediment brought to?

[Miocene_Mason]

Just now, Gizmo said:

The only museum I'm aware of in Greenville, NC is the art museum. http://gmoa.org. Where is the sediment brought to?

I’m sorry I’m confused, I was thinking of Harleyville

Not my typical hunting place.

[MeargleSchmeargl]

The Charleston area in and of itself is a great place to look for Miocene Shark teeth. In particular, the town of Summerville is a hot spot, in certain creeks and dredge spots you find. 

[Auspex]

On 7/28/2018 at 2:38 PM, WhodamanHD said:

I’m sorry I’m confused, I was thinking of Harleyville

Not my typical hunting place.

Please be careful about accidentally spreading misinformation on TFF. We have 30-40,000 visitors a month, and this stuff roots and spreads like a weed.

[Miocene_Mason]

4 minutes ago, Auspex said:

Please be careful about accidentally spreading misinformation on TFF. We have 30-40,000 visitors a month,and this stuff roots and spreads like a weed.

I’m very sorry, I could edit or hide the posts if that is what you would like. It was a mistake. 

[Auspex]

3 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

I’m very sorry, I could edit or hide the posts if that is what you would like. It was a mistake. 

I know you did not do it on purpose; mistakes happen!
Just work on the habit of thinking twice & posting once.

[Miocene_Mason]

38 minutes ago, Auspex said:

I know you did not do it on purpose; mistakes happen!
Just work on the habit of thinking twice & posting once.

I do, and the second time I thought I still had Greenville. Don’t know why, but in my head they were switched. I looked it up and corrected it.

[fossilnoggin]

6 hours ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

The Charleston area in and of itself is a great place to look for Miocene Shark teeth. In particular, the town of Summerville is a hot spot, in certain creeks and dredge spots you find. 

We will definitely will be doing some collecting while in the Charleston area. May hire a guide. My little guy really wants to find a meg!

[fossilnoggin]

3 hours ago, WhodamanHD said:

I do, and the second time I thought I still had Greenville. Don’t know why, but in my head they were switched. I looked it up and corrected it.

I’m confused, Greenville or Harleyville?  And where would be a good place to look?  At the museum?

[Miocene_Mason]

2 minutes ago, fossilnoggin said:

I’m confused, Greenville or Harleyville?  And where would be a good place to look?  At the museum?

Sorry I caused so much confusion. There are two fossil sites, one in Greenville, NC (which is Cretaceous-Pliocene) and one in Harleyville, SC (Eocene). The Harleyville has a museum with sediments dumped next to it. I don’t know much about Greenville, but I believe there is a place called green mill run in the town which holds many fossils.  Sorry again.

[Scylla]

You didn't specify how far north your trip started, but Big Brook and Shark river in NJ might be worth it. I have been to Shark river 3 times and never found a shark tooth there. My kids have though. Big Brook isn't what it used to be either. The C & D canal in Delaware isn't worth stopping at anymore. Green Mill Run is worth the time. The time we went there had just been a huge flood and all the sediments were churned up so we did well that day. Aurora for sure, even without fossils you need to go to the museum there. Charleston and Summerville area are my favorite sites. I hired a guide many years ago and the boys (men now) still talk about that trip. Book the guide early, we did it last minute and almost couldn't work it out.

[fossilnoggin]

3 hours ago, Scylla said:

You didn't specify how far north your trip started, but Big Brook and Shark river in NJ might be worth it. I have been to Shark river 3 times and never found a shark tooth there. My kids have though. Big Brook isn't what it used to be either. The C & D canal in Delaware isn't worth stopping at anymore. Green Mill Run is worth the time. The time we went there had just been a huge flood and all the sediments were churned up so we did well that day. Aurora for sure, even without fossils you need to go to the museum there. Charleston and Summerville area are my favorite sites. I hired a guide many years ago and the boys (men now) still talk about that trip. Book the guide early, we did it last minute and almost couldn't work it out.

Thanks, we are in north nj. So Big brook is local for us. Sound like gmr and aurora will be a stop, and will do some collecting in Charleston.