Texas Fossils

[josh]

I just moved to Arlington, TX. Does anyone know a good spot to find fossils around the DFW area?

[Gatorman]

Welcome to the forum Josh, we have several members here that I'm sure will point you in the right direction.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Josh,

Greetings from San Antonio. You are situated in some of the best Cretaceous outcrops in the state. My first suggestion is that you join the Dallas Paleo Society and go on their field trips. Here are a few suggestions to get you started on your own:

Creeks around the DFW airport - Woodbine ammonites

Trinity River downstream of Inwood Dr - Kamp Ranch shark teeth

Eisenhower Park at Lake Texoma - Duck Creek ammonites

Lake Benbrook Spillway - Goodland ammonites and echinoids

North Sulphur River upstream of 2990 in Ladonia - Ozan mosasaur material, shark teeth, gastropods, ammonites

Waco Pit near Lake Waco dam - Del Rio pyritized micromorphic ammonites, echinoids, shark teeth

Keep your eyes open for construction in SW Fort Worth and you could end up with good ammonites and echinoids from the Goodland, Duck Creek, and Fort Worth formations.

Also consider purchasing online some Atlas of Texas geological maps from the Bureau of Economic Geology for your area. That way you can concentrate your efforts on specific formations of interest, hitting creeks and current construction within the target area.

Have fun!

[Roz]

Welcome

Waco is a great place to hunt with the possibility of finding some great fossils. I just hunted there with a small group on Saturday and a member on here found a squid beak. It is still on my list. If you hunt there, you do need to get a permit though. On the link, on the right side, you just email them and they get some information from you and then either fax or mail the permit to you. It is a large place and you could easily spend the whole day there.

Waco

I think Arlington has some places too and like Dan said, look in new constrction areas, seems like houses are always going up. Don't overlook your local creeks too.

So what fossils are you hunting?

If you like Permian age stuff, I can give you info to Mineral Wells (old dump site) and Jacksboro Spillway, northwest of you. I haven't lived here that long, so I could be wrong on what direction from you. Both are great sites for very old fossils. Trilobites can be found especially at M.W.'s.

The link for Dallas Paleo Society

DPS Link

The pic is from Waco coming into the place.

[LanceH]

Josh I have a few custom geological maps posted below. The Eagleford (Kef) and Pawpaw (east part of Kpd) formations in Tarrant county are my favorites to hunt.

North Texas Geological maps