Scott S. Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 Hi Everyone, My wife and I will be heading out to California (Santa Barbara through San Diego area) with our niece and nephew (10 and 12 years old) in August. I've collected some odds and ends from a few places around San Diego but I was hoping someone on the forum could recommend a few sites that may keep them interested within the region. A few years back we took them out to Texas, which I'm a bit more familiar with, and these kids just gobbled it up. They can handle some pretty reasonably strenuous collecting so no worries there. They kept us out on a full 8 hour day at Jacksboro in August (with a lunch break to Subway) and were still geared up for collecting in Sansom Park the next day in Ft. Worth! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If someone would like to meet us for an outing that would be excellent. I'd be happy to bring out some nice fossils from the Midwest for anyone willing to take us out. Admittedly I'm a brachiopod junkie and I saw some fascinating Cambrian fauna listed for the Marble Mountains but to my understanding the site no longer permits collecting. We'd be up for any site that is reasonably productive with good preservation. Thanks in advance!
TyrannosaurusRex Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 Shark tooth hill. Although you can't collect yourself go to la brea tar pits.
siteseer Posted January 10, 2015 Posted January 10, 2015 Good sites are sparse along that coast. You probably know the situation in San Diego. It used to be a fossil collector's paradise. A friend lived there in the 50's and found Pliocene shark teeth in his neighborhood, but over time, urban sprawl covered up numerous sites. A few sites still existed in the 80's but then they got landscaped over. Temporary construction sites still reveal a few things from time to time but it's tough now. That's how it is all along the coast. There used to be an area where people collected Pliocene sand dollars on/near the beach at Lompoc. You might ask about that at a local gift shop. Something you should check out is the natural history museum in Santa Barbara. I've never been to it (closed every time I went to visit) but you can try asking someone about places to take kids to look for fossils. You should definite go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History (big dinosaur hall and a mammal hall) as well as the San Diego Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park (a planetarium with IMAX theater, car museum, and air/space museum too) and George Page Museum (La Brea Tar Pits). Hi Everyone, My wife and I will be heading out to California (Santa Barbara through San Diego area) with our niece and nephew (10 and 12 years old) in August. I've collected some odds and ends from a few places around San Diego but I was hoping someone on the forum could recommend a few sites that may keep them interested within the region. A few years back we took them out to Texas, which I'm a bit more familiar with, and these kids just gobbled it up. They can handle some pretty reasonably strenuous collecting so no worries there. They kept us out on a full 8 hour day at Jacksboro in August (with a lunch break to Subway) and were still geared up for collecting in Sansom Park the next day in Ft. Worth! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If someone would like to meet us for an outing that would be excellent. I'd be happy to bring out some nice fossils from the Midwest for anyone willing to take us out. Admittedly I'm a brachiopod junkie and I saw some fascinating Cambrian fauna listed for the Marble Mountains but to my understanding the site no longer permits collecting. We'd be up for any site that is reasonably productive with good preservation. Thanks in advance!
Scott S. Posted January 11, 2015 Author Posted January 11, 2015 Thanks for the tip about Lompoc Siteseer, I'll look into that one a bit. We have museums on the agenda already but I was hoping to confirm a few other actual field sites. I have a few road cuts I've spotted on Google Earth that should be fossiliferous but is there anyone in the San Diego area that may be able to let me know if they are productive or not? SHoot me a PM and I'll let you know what I've spotted thus far.
siteseer Posted January 12, 2015 Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) I went through a box of my fossil echinoids from CA to see if I could give you another place to check out. I collected some of them, others came in trades or as gifts (sometimes when people find out you collect fossils, they give you a few things they picked up here and there). You might try the Crown Point area of San Diego. There's a Pleistocene layer exposed in a cliff there and you have a shot at a complete sand dollar - lots of broken ones around. I've never been there so the info may be old and the area could be off-limits now but it's something to check out. I'm afraid one complete sand dollar that will also need to be carefully cleaned is what passes for "reasonably productive" in much of CA these days. For me the Ernst quarries in Bakersfield have been one of the best areas to collect but that is outside of the range you specified. In any case you may have to do some prospecting yourself. Don't forget to check the "Fossil Sites" section of this forum as well. Thanks for the tip about Lompoc Siteseer, I'll look into that one a bit. We have museums on the agenda already but I was hoping to confirm a few other actual field sites. I have a few road cuts I've spotted on Google Earth that should be fossiliferous but is there anyone in the San Diego area that may be able to let me know if they are productive or not? SHoot me a PM and I'll let you know what I've spotted thus far. Edited January 12, 2015 by siteseer
Scott S. Posted January 14, 2015 Author Posted January 14, 2015 I've spotted many sites either through journal publications, topographical geo-maps and old field trip guides, but not being from the region my biggest concern is the legalities of course. As far as I'm concerned there's nothing worse than hunting a site without first finding out if it is indeed public or properly requesting access from the landowner. I've seen too many excellent localities being put off limits because of irresponsible collecting. Secondly, I prefer not to impinge on research sites. Thankfully I've got time on my side to do some real research. Thanks again Siteseer
AncientEarth Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 The Lompoc spot has been over collected, but occationally you find something there worth taking home at the echie locality. Might want to try Rincon Hill as you go south, the beaches of Santa Barbara do have some nice collecting areas too. Carpenteria has another tar pits and park maybe worth checking out with kids, the Capenteria Tar Pits.
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