Advice for fossil hunting in New Hampshire

[citronkitten]

I am hoping for some advice regarding locations to find fossils in New Hampshire. We are taking a trip out as a family to visit my grandfather in August (when the weather should be fairly reliable), who fortuitously lives near the Grafton county area. I've read online that there are very few fossil formations in the state, and that the main one is located around Franconia/Littleton. This website has some good location information:

 

http://www.fossilspot.com/STATES/NH.HTM (notable locations in Grafton county are: Coos, Beaver Brook, Enfield, Franconia, Hanover, Lebanon, Lisbon, Littleton, and Woodsville)

 

Likewise, this website does a surprisingly good job summarizing the area, although with less specifics:

 

https://kids.kiddle.co/Paleontology_in_New_Hampshire (specifies Fitch Formation 1.7mi northwest of Littleton, Ammonoosuc River, 1mi north of Lisbon, 1mi west of Franconia, Tip Top Farm, Mormon Hill, and NE side of Dalton Mountain)

 

Other resources I've found seem to repeat the same information, so I am wondering if anyone could confirm or expand upon good hunting locations. 

 

Thank you for reading!

[Fossildude19]

I've read those sites, but have yet to meet anyone who has actually collected in New Hampshire. 

I'd say look around, but keep your expectations extremely low.

 

[Isotelus2883]

The Bernardston fossil locale in MA I think is still productive, but it is located on private property.

[Jeffrey P]

Sorry. Although some fossils have been found in New Hampshire, the state lacks any "good" fossil sites as far as I know. All of the bedrock is metamorphic which tends to distort or destroy any fossils present. On the other hand, New Hampshire is supposed to be an excellent state for finding minerals. Good luck, whatever you do. 

[Misha]

I spent the summer in New Hampshire, unfortunately fossils in the state are extremely scarce to pretty much completely absent as others have already said.

There is a pretty nice smoky quartz and other minerals site I got to visit there but to collect fossils your best bet would be to look at going to Maine, Massachusetts or New York. Vermont has some fossils but they're mostly on the NY border and from what I've collected it isn't anything too crazy.

Unfortunately either way you chose the fossil sites aren't going to be particularly close, a few hours of driving at least.

[citronkitten]

19 hours ago, Isotelus2883 said:

The Bernardston fossil locale in MA I think is still productive, but it is located on private property.

Ah, that makes it difficult, then. We will be starting off in Boston and traveling northwards from there, so will have a look if there's anything south of New Hampshire along our route that will be possible to investigate. Thanks for the tip!

[citronkitten]

16 hours ago, Misha said:

I spent the summer in New Hampshire, unfortunately fossils in the state are extremely scarce to pretty much completely absent as others have already said.

There is a pretty nice smoky quartz and other minerals site I got to visit there but to collect fossils your best bet would be to look at going to Maine, Massachusetts or New York. Vermont has some fossils but they're mostly on the NY border and from what I've collected it isn't anything too crazy.

Unfortunately either way you chose the fossil sites aren't going to be particularly close, a few hours of driving at least.

Thank you! I'll have a look at sites in Massachusetts as we will be traveling through the state, and will look into mineral hunting perhaps as an alternative to fossils, as it sounds like an uphill task to find any good fossils! 

[jpc]

Massachusetts is not easy either.  But if you fly into Boston from the Atlantic side, you might get a great view of Cape Cod from the air.  It looks just like the maps.... (imagine that).  

[Isotelus2883]

For Mass, your might like to visit Nahant, though large portions of the cliffs are not accessible. Pridolian fossils are found in Newbury, but even with detailed instructions I was unable to locate the mudstones. There is a farm field (private property, sadly) that is supposed to contain slabs of ostracodal shale. There are several good fossil track localities in the Connecticut River Valley, and with moderate research you will definitely find some.