Good Fossil Sites In Central/west Texas?

[Johnny75]

I'm a geologist with a dinosaur and fossil crazy 6 year old little girl. In the past I've found some pretty good fossils near Ft. Worth and a small town near Brownwood called Bangs while working in the oil field. I can't remember exactly where I was near Bangs when I found a great outcrop of Penn. gastropods, ammonites, crinoids, bryzoa, etc.....I was looking for a site within a reasonable distance for a day trip to fossil hunt with my daughter. I'd love to go back and look for more Penn. ammonites, but she'd love finding all the cool gastropods and everything else. How hard are the good sites near the Brownwood dam to get to? Restrictions? Also, I think I read something a while back about a shale pit somewhere near Coleman, TX where you could find shark teeth. That would be fun for her too.

Thanks in advance for any information.

[sward]

Welcome to the forum!

If your daughter is interested in Pennsylvanian ammos, gastropods, crinoids, "and everything else" as you mention, you can't beat the spillway at Jacksboro. It may be a bit of a drive, but well worth it. Quantity and quality, to boot.

Hopefully, some other members will chime in with some possible locations a little closer to you.

Keep us posted on your adventures and show us some of your finds.

[mikecable]

I'm a geologist with a dinosaur and fossil crazy 6 year old little girl. In the past I've found some pretty good fossils near Ft. Worth and a small town near Brownwood called Bangs while working in the oil field. I can't remember exactly where I was near Bangs when I found a great outcrop of Penn. gastropods, ammonites, crinoids, bryzoa, etc.....I was looking for a site within a reasonable distance for a day trip to fossil hunt with my daughter. I'd love to go back and look for more Penn. ammonites, but she'd love finding all the cool gastropods and everything else. How hard are the good sites near the Brownwood dam to get to? Restrictions? Also, I think I read something a while back about a shale pit somewhere near Coleman, TX where you could find shark teeth. That would be fun for her too.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Being from Abilene, we are virtually next door neighbors. The Lake Brownwood spillway is out for your purposes since they require a waiver, and only allow adults. You can collect on an exposure near the parking lot of the spillway, and on the various State Park Roads leading into the park before they enter the park. The pit you ask about is Wilson's Clay Pit. Search on this forum and you will learn a lot about the site. The shark teeth aren't common, and are of the sort that excite collectors, but wouldn't do much for the average six-year-old. It's a private site, and you have to crawl through the fence, but the owners have welcomed fossil hunters for years--no permission in advance needed. Crinoid bits and other small fossils are everywhere. If after you search the forum you need more detailed info pm me.

Sward's suggestion of Lake Jacksboro is a fine one, and the Mineral Wells Fossil Park is a good choice too. We do these as day trips from Abilene, but from San Angelo with a child I might choose to leave on Friday after work/school, get a motel, hunt all day and make the drive home. Great sites, especially with kids. Again, pm me for more info.

Throughout the Callahan Divide, Taylor County and to the east, are big exposures of Walnut Clay, Comanche Peak limestone, and Edwards limestone. Most of the old road cut sites have been heavily hunted. But if you can get access to privately owned caliche quarries the results can be superb.

You are also in the neighborhood of lots of Permian red bed exposures. I'm just learning these formations. Figure them out and let me know.

Once the weather cools back down in the fall I might join you with my older granddaughters at Wilson's Clay Pit or Jacksboro. We could have a dad's and granddad's day out.

Mike