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Don’t worry newbie, collecting sites are all around you!


FossilNerd

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Don’t worry, fossil collecting sites are all around, and may be easier to find than you might think!

Here in my area of Kentucky, we have landscape rock that is sold as “local river rock” at about every garden/landscape center. This “local river rock” contains a lot of fossils. From brachiopods, to horns (corals), and bryozoans, etc. It is also very inexpensive.

 

Many people in my area also use crushed limestone as a covering for driveways and parking areas. I have found many a trilobite in someone’s driveway. 

 

Finding fossils this way isn’t the most glamorous or scientific, but for someone new, or someone who is thinking about starting to collect, it may just be the spark that gets them into it. Finding a few fossils this way is what brought me back to the hobby. It’s a lot easier to ask a friend/family member to give up a rock out of their driveway or landscaping than to ask a complete stranger to go dig around on their property. What are some of the other newbie friendly “sites” are that you have come across? 

 

P.S. I’ll try and post a few pictures of some of my finds when I get a chance later tonight. 

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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As a youngster I found most of my fossils in parking lots, on gravel roads, beaches and creek banks in Illinois. Actually found a pretty good assortment of species. Had close to a hundred specimens by the time I hit high school, some of them quite impressive corals and crinoids. 

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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You know what you would have if you collected in parking lots around Here?

A pocket full of rocks!

Most are filled with decomposed Granite. :(

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I think it depends on the area you live in, like caldigger says.

There are some roadcuts around here that can produce, but you might need to spend 1/2 hour to an hour to find anything, and by then most kids would be discouraged (bored). That and the fact that most kids are into dinosaurs and there ain't no dinos in this place! (despite it being the right age)

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I agree. Your location has a lot to do with what you can find and where. Kentucky used to be on the sea floor many moons ago so we have a lot of fossilized sea life.

 

i just wanted to point out to newer people that fossils may be easier to find than they might think, at least in certain areas anyway.

I can’t walk up someone’s driveway, or walk by their landscaping without picking up a rock or two to examine. Drives my wife nuts! 

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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Ha! Tell her to get used to it.

That area in the Central/Midwestern US is littered with Paleozoic fossils, it must be hard not to find anything there. Over here I have to play Vulture and keep an eye out for newly disturbed shale areas that I can access to find fossils, and if I am too late, the other vultures will have already cleaned up the easy pickings.

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Back in July or August of 2015 I drove from my home in Bakersfield, CA, to Nebraska for a week. We then drove to Bloomfield, MO. Along the way we stopped at a McDonalds in western/central St. Louis, mostly so I could get out to stretch my legs and have a smoke. I found a couple of fossil bits--- a Spirifer and something else-- laying in the gravel parking lot behind McDonalds. I also noticed some orange colored boulders lining the edge of the parking lot. One was filled with trilobite parts and other ancient sea creatures. I didn't dig them out of the rock and since it was busy I didn't go inside seeking permission. I even forgot to take photos :DOH::DOH:. Driving on from there I noticed many roadcuts along the freeways that were the same color as the rocks in McDonalds but I never found one that had anywhere to park! Fossils are where you find them--- even in the middle of a city!

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:popcorn: John

I had a friend once, but the wheels fell off. Sad, very sad. - Nightwing

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I think she could get used to me picking up the occasional rock, but not our 4 year old. He likes to pick up every neat rock he finds to bring it home for me to examine. Most are not fossils, but sometimes he gets lucky. On occasion he will literally come home with pockets full! It makes me smile (and more than a little proud :) ), but I can just see him stopping every 5 seconds to pick up a rock and her trying to get him moving. Cussing me under her breath. :default_rofl:

 

I do feel lucky to live in the area that I do. At least for fossil hunting. I tend to take it for granted that fossils are not as prevalent in other areas.

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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8 minutes ago, FossilNerd said:

 but I can just see him stopping every 5 seconds to pick up a rock and her trying to get him moving. Cussing me under her breath. :default_rofl:

LOL, you've corrupted him!

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35 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Eric, watching the highway crew widen the road.

 

Yeah, except it's usually like I said - I'm too late. Last time they widened a road near me it was probably a month before I drove by it and noticed, and I discovered that someone had already gotten there: As a poked along, I found the impression of an ammonite on the bedrock with chisel marks around it!  I think other locals might be more like vultures than me. This is right in my neighborhood, too.  :angry: GRRR

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16 minutes ago, JohnBrian said:

Back in July or August of 2015 I drove from my home in Bakersfield, CA, to Nebraska for a week. We then drove to Bloomfield, MO. Along the way we stopped at a McDonalds in western/central St. Louis, mostly so I could get out to stretch my legs and have a smoke. I found a couple of fossil bits--- a Spirifer and something else-- laying in the gravel parking lot behind McDonalds. I also noticed some orange colored boulders lining the edge of the parking lot. One was filled with trilobite parts and other ancient sea creatures. I didn't dig them out of the rock and since it was busy I didn't go inside seeking permission. I even forgot to take photos :DOH::DOH:. Driving on from there I noticed many roadcuts along the freeways that were the same color as the rocks in McDonalds but I never found one that had anywhere to park! Fossils are where you find them--- even in the middle of a city!

Doesn’t it drive you crazy when a person or place has a fossil and they don’t even know it?! Or worse, maybe they do know it, but don’t appreciate it. Ive seen many local businesses here have large rocks for landscaping, or parking barriers, or whatever, that are just full of fossils. Similar to your McDonalds example.

A lot of people here like to use fossiliferous limestone as yard decor. Just full of brachiopods, crinoids, and everything in between. I just want to scream sometimes! 

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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8 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Yeah, except it's usually like I said - I'm too late. Last time they widened a road near me it was probably a month before I drove by it and noticed, and I discovered that someone had already gotten there: As a poked along, I found the impression of an ammonite on the bedrock with chisel marks around it!  I think other locals might be more like vultures than me. This is right in my neighborhood, too.  :angry: GRRR

Dang Wrangellian! That’s no good! It’s always aggravating when someone gets there before you. Especially in your own backyard! 

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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FossilNerd,  I live in Louisville, what part of KY do you live in? I can tell you some locations.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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Here in Palos Verdes, the most common locally natural rock is Monterey Fm. shale and can even be found littered in the yards of many houses due to its past popularity as house decor. These shales commonly hold bits of fossil fish scales (and others) which can easily be split with a hammer and any chisel-like tool. Quite literally you can find fossils in your backyard. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that fossil-hunting doesn't seem to be a very popular activity here.

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If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM!

 

 

Mosasaurus_hoffmannii_skull_schematic.png

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3 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Dang Wrangellian! That’s no good! It’s always aggravating when someone gets there before you. Especially in your own backyard! 

More or less.. it is a busy secondary road, so it's not surprising, but irritating for sure - not knowing who took it or what they did with it (I hate to think of all the unsavory possibilities). Even more irritating, and shocking even, was about 10 years ago when an ammonite was stolen right out of our wheelbarrow while my dad and I were just around the other side of the shale pile up at my usual site! I get the impression fossiling is a dog-eat-dog world. Probably not another fossiler, most likely just some sticky-fingered kid walking through, but still...

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6 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

A lot of people here like to use fossiliferous limestone as yard decor. Just full of brachiopods, crinoids, and everything in between. I just want to scream sometimes! 

Understandable, but no need to scream?

What about tracking down the source, and select and buy the best boulder directly at the source?

Franz Bernhard

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14 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Don’t worry, fossil collecting sites are all around, and may be easier to find than you might think!

 

I wish it was this easy for me :envy:

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png MotM August 2023 - Eclectic Collector

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8 hours ago, Herb said:

FossilNerd,  I live in Louisville, what part of KY do you live in? I can tell you some locations.

Hello Herb. Nice to meet you! I live in Elizabethtown, but grew up in the Bardstown area (so most familiar with those areas) I visit Louisville from time to time to see friends, take the wife shopping, etc. 

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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2 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Understandable, but no need to scream?

What about tracking down the source, and select and buy the best boulder directly at the source?

Franz Bernhard

True. There really is no need to scream. I’m just envious that they are laying in someone’s yard and not my collection! Lol

 

I have asked some of these people about the origin of the rocks. Most of them seem to be pulled from local creeks and river banks. One such asking did lead me to be able to hunt a dried creek bed on a local farm. It turned out to be a one shot deal, but I got a couple of nice specimens.  Such as this cephalopod. It’s around 12 in (30.48cm) long. 

C830BF82-0046-407B-AF11-6631CC5D927A.jpeg

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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Not my best photo, or specimens, but I did promise a pic of some of the things I had found in driveways and landscapes. Hard to take good pictures or hunt through your collection with kiddos pulling at your legs! Hahaha

0BBA6556-3BAC-455C-AD68-AD8AFC87CE0D.jpeg

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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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11 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

Hello Herb. Nice to meet you! I live in Elizabethtown, but grew up in the Bardstown area (so most familiar with those areas) I visit Louisville from time to time to see friends, take the wife shopping, etc. 

Try the low road cuts on Veterans Prky near the housing platt road entrance for Mississippian corals. and the third to the  last road cut on the left side of 313 going to I-65

SR 313 Mississippian site.jpg

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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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14 minutes ago, Herb said:

Try the low road cuts on Veterans Prky near the housing platt road entrance for Mississippian corals. and the third to the  last road cut on the left side of 313 going to I-65

Thank you very much Herb! I drive down 313 all the time and have been eyeing a few spots near the one you mentioned. I have hunted on one road cut on 313, but it was closer to the 31 (Dixie Highway) side. It produced a few crinoids and some brachiopods if memory serves me correctly. Not very much, but it was a good day out with my brother. He is into gems and minerals, so we go out together and play in the rocks from time to time.

 

Haven’t paid much attention to Veterans Parkway, but I’ll definitely check it out now.  Thanks again!

Edited by FossilNerd
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The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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Good to see some fellow Kentuckians on here! I live in Northern Kentucky, about fifteen miles south of Florence. Haven't had the opportunity to look around the Louisville/E-Town area.

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Contact me if you are going to be in the Louisville ,KY area and if possible we can get together and collect some Ordovician sites.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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