Fossil Hunting In Eastern Pennsylvania

[DinoXChris]

Hey everyone, where can I find some good fossils in Eastern Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York? I'm relatively new, but I'm looking for anything animal related-preferably dinosaurs. The land is mountainous here, but there's a major river that cuts through a water gap. The terrain slopes down to sea level as you get to the Atlantic coast or down to Philadelphia, and there's at least one major river along the way. Apparently the mountains are poor spots for hunting, but what do you guys know? 

 

Happy Hunting

[DevonianDigger]

The only place you're going to find dino fossils is the New Oxford formation in York County. There are two dinos reported in that area that I'm aware of, Palaeosaurus fraserianus and Thecodontosaurus gibbidens. Dino tracks are a little more common and can be found in the Lockatong and Passaic formations.

[Plax]

Tons of paleozoic fossils where you reside but guess you aren't interested in invertebrates. Wilkesbarre has everything from plant fossils to trilobites. the latter just a bit downstream. There are a lot of paleozoic fossil sites in the Delaware Water Gap area. Almost all the road cuts with exposed rocks will have fossils there.

  Dino fossils have famously been found from the cretaceous of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. They are rare but you'll notice them even from Big Brook in NJ. Please don't forget that google is your friend. Also don't forget that the state geological survey is a good resource for information.

[DinoXChris]

Thanks. I'm interested in anything to whet my skills on. Wilkes-Barre sounds interesting. The Delaware River National Recreation Area has a site: the rangers will guide you to it, and you can't take anything. The website advertises criniods, but I'll have to check it out and take pictures when I get the time.

 

Are there any good books for learning how to identify fossils? Some of them look like bumps on a rock, and I can't even tell what they are, yet...

 

Chris

[Plax]

The book "Fossil Collecting in Pennsylvania" is the best for your area. If you live in or near the Delaware Water Gap there are road cuts with fossils almost everywhere. You don't have to go to Wilkesbarre but it isn't far and a few of the hotels even have fossils plants in the rock slopes around them.

[I_gotta_rock]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:48 PM, DinoXChris said:

Thanks. I'm interested in anything to whet my skills on. Wilkes-Barre sounds interesting. The Delaware River National Recreation Area has a site: the rangers will guide you to it, and you can't take anything. The website advertises criniods, but I'll have to check it out and take pictures when I get the time.

 

Are there any good books for learning how to identify fossils? Some of them look like bumps on a rock, and I can't even tell what they are, yet...

 

Chris

Devonian Fossils of New York is good for PA as well. In fact some of the same formations that run through NY run all the way down to WV.