Where To Go Fossil Hunting in North America (and What To Look For)

Among the most notable of Nevada’s many fossil spots is Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, just under 20 minutes’ drive from Las Vegas. Hop on the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) Fossil Canyon Trail loop, and you’ll be swimming in sea fossil–finding opportunities in this former ocean basin. Fossilized sponges, corals, crinoids, and other invertebrates are in high supply, while dinosaur footprints and mammalian remains are a rarer find.

Canada’s Yoho National Park, deep in the Canadian Rockies, is home to the Burgess Shale, a rock formation best known for its unusual ability to preserve the soft bodies of ancient specimens. This UNESCO World Heritage Site dates back to the time of the Cambrian Explosion, making it a fascinating record of Earth right at the brink of life as we know it.

Because the fossils are so prized, you’ll need a tour to hit the best spots. Yoho National Park, the Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation, and other local groups lead full-day hikes into the fossil beds, which are well worth the time and effort.

Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs, about 90 minutes from Baltimore, are the place to go in search of giant shark teeth and ancient invertebrates. Running for some 24 miles from roughly Chesapeake Beach to Drum Point, these fossil-bearing cliffs were once submerged under the sea. Today, some 600 species have been found here via their fossils, including megalodons and long-extinct whales.

Insider tip: Hit up Matoaka Beach or Calvert Cliffs State Park after a thunderstorm to better your chances of finding fossils, which you’re welcome to take home with you.

Long before Baja California rifted from mainland Mexico, much of the area was underwater, and evidence of the area’s unique geology still can be found today all over the peninsula. In the El Rosario area and toward the coast, you can find ammonites, petrified wood, and more among the sands and inland riverbeds. In the arroyos south of El Rosario toward Punta San Carlos, keep an eye out for petrified clams, oysters, and sand dollars—alongside prehistoric petroglyphs.

Insider tip: Taking fossils out of Mexico is strictly illegal and getting caught can land you in serious trouble. Fossil-hunting in Mexico strictly means fossil-searching, not fossil-taking.

Sailing on the Peace River in southwest Florida means floating above a world of ancient history. Arrive in winter or spring when the water levels are lower, bring along some sort of sifter, and scoop up a pile of river cobbles. Between all those rocks, you just might find a megalodon tooth, alligator tooth, or dugong bone.

Though any creek flowing into Lake Erie could be a fossil treasure trove, X marks the spot in one particular western New York deposit site: Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve. A former cement quarry in Hamburg, New York, visitors are invited to scope out the rocks for trilobites, brachiopods, crinoids, and more, then keep any they find.

Insider tip: The park provides a bucket and trowel with admission and requires a 15-minute tour. Additional tools can be rented for a small fee. Come after a good rain to improve your odds of finding something that’s been buried for millions of years.

With the highest tides in the world, a lot happens in Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy, including the churning up of fossils—especially around the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. Once a swampy forest, much of the rock-preserved material turned to coal, except in some spots where you can still see Carboniferous-era shrimp, ancient trees, tetrapods, and more.

Today, the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so tourists can’t take any of the fossils. Stop by the visitor center—located on a former coal mine—to learn more, or hop on a guided tour to scout out the best of the site.