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Where Do I Look For Fossils In Indiana?


TFM

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I live in Indiana and I need some good spots in Indiana. I've been searching some road cuts and all I've seen is broken rocks and a snake. Due to my research you need to find rocks that look like they don't belong in that place. All I need is some info about some places I can go to find fossils in Indiana?

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TFM Welcome from Galveston Island.

Look at this link it should help.

http://igs.indiana.edu/Geology/index.cfm

Galveston Island 32 miles long 2 miles wide 134 bars 23 liquor stores any questions?

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Erose said - What part of the state are You in? I know several great spots in the SE.

Answer to that - I live in Greenwood, Indiana (it's close to Indianapolis)

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I heard a rumor that the state of Indiana passed a law that there is to be no more digging or collecting in road cuts. Is this true?

I've only hunted once on a private farm near Spencer. We found lots of lepidodendron casts in the creek beds and I'm pretty sure that would hold true for about any creek in the area.

If the rumor isn't true, road cuts south of Bloomington provided some crinoid parts and blastoids.

Oh, Yeah, also hunted near Boonesbough (I think that was the town) all I found there were ticks and chiggers and they loved me..........yuck, still makes my skin crawl.

Jim

Old Dead Things

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FYI I heard that "rumor" as well but have yet to hear it confirmed as fact. Friends I know in SW Ohio still hit the road cuts and have not been hassled. But even if it is not true always make sure you pull well off the road, don't excavate huge holes or roll rocks onto the berm and don't liter. And stay on the road cuts, don't wander onto private land. Oh, and for all states: US Interstate Highways are 99% off limits.

Here are a few great spots for Cincinnatian (Upper Ordovician) fossils in the SE part of your state:

A huge road cut on Indiana Rt 1 just north of St. Leon and south of US-52. Major section thru most of the Richmond Group (top of the Cincinnatian) and loaded with great stuff!

Then take 52 north to Brookville and pick up IN-101. There are numerous cuts along 101 going north exposing more of the Richmond Group. See the Dry Dredger's web site for details on some of these locals.

Another great cut in the uppermost Richmond, Whitewater Formation, is on US-27 just south of Richmond. You can follow 101 up to Liberty and continue north on 27 from there. This cut has excellent stuff including great horn corals and a wide variety of well preserved brachiopods. I have also seen a few rare echinoderms come out of that cut.

There are also some great Ordovician cuts just north of Madison on US-421.

The only other local in Indiana that I have spent time at was a Mississippian site at I-64 & IN-37. There are road cuts with benches set back from the intersection rich in blastoids, crinoids and brachiopods. This is another "classic" site that can be really good or you might get there after a group has picked it over. The NW corner was most popular but we heard the other 3 were as good.

From your location you might first try the US-27 cut near Richmond and see how you like the Cincinnatian. It's awesomely rich with fossils!

Good luck.

FYI: I know the rest of the state has good collecting but I am not familiar with it.

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Yeah, the NE corner is where I pulled the blastoids - a nice little colony grouping from large to small, out of rotted stone by hand. That is one cool road cut, for sure.

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  • 2 years later...

Hello,

I spoke with the Indiana state troopers office and the law was passed. There is no digging allowed. They stated that they would not bother surface collectors.

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SR1 in the SE area of the state has some good Ordovician collecting. Tunnel Mill has some good Silurian material. Western side of the state has good Penn. collecting in the old mine spoil piles. Salem area has Miss. outcrops. Sulfur exit at I64 has Mississippian. As long as you follow Eroses' excellent advice you won't be bothered by the police. The Indiana Geological Survey has a booklet "rocks and fossils in the hoosier state" for sale for a couple bucks.

"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

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I heard a rumor that the state of Indiana passed a law that there is to be no more digging or collecting in road cuts. Is this true?

True ... unfortunately. They are unlikely to bother surface collectors but I would be careful around road cuts regardless. Also, road cuts on major highways are pretty much out regardless.

"They ... savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things."

-- Terry Pratchett

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  • 6 months later...

Several years ago when I took my wife to Sugar Creek near Crawfordsville and showed her what I was looking for (crinoids) she exclaimed that when she was a child her family would park their boat in a cove on Lake Monroe and swim to the beach. She said the area was covered with rocks "just like those!"Unfortunately she cannot remember exactly where this cove is however I think it is probably where Allen's Creek dumps into the lake.

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  • 6 years later...

Any chance anyone knows of any decent spots in NW Indiana? I'm currently in school, so I don't necessarily have the time or means to head down south to check the road cuts or other formations down there.

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Join a local paleontology/mineral/rock society.    They usually have field trips with knowledgable guides. The cost to join is usually less than a tank of gas plus you save lots of time not having to find sites.

 

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