Fossil Hunting in Huntsville Alabama?

[Saltylmnop]

Hi everyone - I'm a relatively new member here. I live in the MD area and frequently visit the Calvert Cliffs and Potomac for fossil hunting excursions with my two daughters. We even ventured down to Aurora, NC for the Fossil Festival this year and had a blast. My oldest daughter will be attending the week-long Space Camp in Huntsville at the end of August and thusly I will be in town while she is there. I've poked around in the forums and found this question asked before, but without a lot of specifics outlined. I'm looking for specifics on hunting for fossils solo in the area. I have no delusions of finding something remarkable simply laying on the ground, but I'd prefer not to have to spend a week chiseling at bedrock

 

Any suggestions or simply pointing me to better resources would be appreciated. 

 

Note: I found the Alabama Paleontological Society's page but there doesn't seem to be any contact form there. 

Edited July 10, 2019 by Saltylmnop

[aplomado]

I found some unidentifiable (to me) fossils imbedded in limestone on top of a mountain in the area.

My son found a bryozoan fossil on the side of the road in Huntsville (in the dark!)

I am sure someone will be around directly to give you more info, but there are defintely fossils around!

[digit]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Calvert Cliffs and Aurora are two wonderful areas for fossils. I've never (not yet, at least) had the pleasure of fossil hunting in Alabama. Understand, that any of our members in the area are not likely to give up the locations of their favorite spots on a public forum (a quick way for small honey holes to get wiped out). Some members in the area may choose to get in contact with you via PM and discuss potential plans for meeting with an out-of-town member. Understandably, these offers tend to come to members who in good standing on the forum and have a history of contributing here. The more time you are on the forum the more offers you may get to meet-up with others outside of the forum (I've met several great TFF members this way).

 

Initially, you might have some success reading through the regional sections of this forum (if you scroll down the home page you'll see them). Here's the direct link to the Alabama section:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/90-alabama/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[digit]

I see that Space Camp is in Huntsville, AL which is pretty far north in the state so you may also look for possible hunting locations in southern Tennessee or northern Georgia.

 

I believe the Conasauga Formation famous for its Cambrian trilobites is somewhere in Murray County, GA which looks to be not too far a drive from Huntsville (for a day trip). Never hunted there myself so I'm unaware of the specifics but I believe this is one of the well known (non-secret) localities and so you should be able to dig up some information here on the forum or elsewhere on the net--search both for the keywords "conasauga formation" and "trilobite" and you should turn up plenty of information.

 

Last month the forum's very own Kyle (aka "Duckman") @addicted2fossils made a stop to fulfill a lifelong dream to collect trilobites while passing through on a roadtrip north. You can view his exploits here (which may just convince you to put this on your bucket list):

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Peat Burns]

Huntsville is rich in Mississippian fossils.  I hunted there once with a friend who lives there, but I don't recall off hand where all we went.  But I remember a number of roadcuts with horn corals, blastoids, shark teeth, brachiopods, etc.  A little research on the internet and Google Earth ought to yield some roadcuts to check out.

[Saltylmnop]

4 hours ago, digit said:

Welcome to the forum!

 

Calvert Cliffs and Aurora are two wonderful areas for fossils. I've never (not yet, at least) had the pleasure of fossil hunting in Alabama. Understand, that any of our members in the area are not likely to give up the locations of their favorite spots on a public forum (a quick way for small honey holes to get wiped out). Some members in the area may choose to get in contact with you via PM and discuss potential plans for meeting with an out-of-town member. Understandably, these offers tend to come to members who in good standing on the forum and have a history of contributing here. The more time you are on the forum the more offers you may get to meet-up with others outside of the forum (I've met several great TFF members this way).

 

Initially, you might have some success reading through the regional sections of this forum (if you scroll down the home page you'll see them). Here's the direct link to the Alabama section:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/forum/90-alabama/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

thank you for the welcome and info Ken. I completely understand the idea of not giving up their secret spots, especially to a new member of the forum. I'm happy to continue wading through the internet for nuggets as well. I'll also take a look at the regionally specific link above. thank you!

 

[Mark Kmiecik]

Google Earth and look for roadcut exposures. Focus on a dozen within a short driving distance of each other and cover as many as you can spending up to 30 minutes per location (unless you hit the mother lode of something you really want) and then move to the next. By the end of the day you should have some good finds. Do not hunt interstates -- look for county roads and such.