Fossil sites

Alberta 6

• Devil’s Coulee
• Dinosaur Provincial Park
• Horseshoe Canyon
• The Albertosaurus bonebed, Dry Island
• The Pipestone Creek bonebed
• The Royal Tyrrell Museum and Midland badlands

United Kingdom 5

• Compton Bay
• Dob’s Linn
• The Fossil Grove, Glasgow
• The Jurassic Coast at Lyme Regis
• The Rhynie chert

Australia 4

• Riversleigh
• The Age of Fishes, Canowindra
• The Ediacara Hills
• The Emu Bay Shale

Colorado 4

• Dinosaur Ridge
• Florissant Fossil Beds
• The Purgatoire River tracksite
• The Snowmastodon site

Ohio 4

• Caesar Creek spillway
• Fossil Park, Sylvania
• Hueston Woods State Park
• Trammel Fossil Park

Texas 4

• Dinosaur Valley State Park
• Ladonia Fossil Park
• Mineral Wells Fossil Park
• Waco Mammoth National Monument

Wyoming 4

• Como Bluff
• Fossil Butte National Monument
• Fossil Lake quarries, Kemmerer
• Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite

British Columbia 3

• Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park
• The Burgess Shale
• The McAbee Fossil Beds

China 3

• The Chengjiang fossil site
• The Shanwang National Geological Park
• The Zigong dinosaur beds at Dashanpu

Kenya 3

• Koobi Fora
• Olduvai Gorge
• Rusinga Island

South Africa 3

• Golden Gate Highlands National Park
• Sterkfontein, the Cradle of Humankind
• The West Coast Fossil Park

Utah 3

• Dinosaur National Monument
• Jurassic National Monument
• U-Dig Fossils

Chile 2

• Cerro Ballena
• Cueva del Milodón, Patagonia

Germany 2

• Solnhofen
• The Messel Pit

India 2

• The Ghughua Fossil Park
• The Shivalik Fossil Park, Suketi

Indonesia 2

• Liang Bua
• Sangiran

Iowa 2

• Devonian Fossil Gorge
• Fossil and Prairie Park Preserve

Maryland 2

• Calvert Cliffs
• Flag Ponds Nature Park

North Dakota 2

• Pembina Gorge sea-monster dig
• The petrified forest, Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Oregon 2

• John Day Fossil Beds
• Wheeler High School fossil beds

South Dakota 2

• Badlands National Park
• The Mammoth Site, Hot Springs

Vermont 2

• The Charlotte whale
• The Chazy Fossil Reef, Isle La Motte

Virginia 2

• The Purse Area, Nanjemoy
• Westmoreland State Park, Fossil Beach

Argentina 1

• Ischigualasto, the Valley of the Moon

Arizona 1

• Petrified Forest National Park

Azerbaijan 1

• The Binagadi asphalt lake

Brazil 1

• Toca da Boa Vista

California 1

• La Brea Tar Pits

Colombia 1

• La Venta and the Tatacoa badlands

Connecticut 1

• Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill

Delaware 1

• Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, Reedy Point

Egypt 1

• Wadi al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales

Florida 1

• Peace River

France 1

• The Atapuerca Mountains

Georgia 1

• Dmanisi

Hawaii 1

• Makauwahi Cave

Idaho 1

• Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

Illinois 1

• Mazon Creek

Italy 1

• Monte Bolca, the Pesciara

Japan 1

• The Kitadani dinosaur quarry, Katsuyama

Kansas 1

• Little Jerusalem Badlands

Kentucky 1

• Falls of the Ohio

Lebanon 1

• The Lebanese fossil fish

Mongolia 1

• The Flaming Cliffs

Morocco 1

• The Kem Kem beds

Nebraska 1

• Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

New Jersey 1

• Big Brook Preserve

New Mexico 1

• Ghost Ranch and Coelophysis

New York 1

• Penn Dixie

Newfoundland and Labrador 1

• Mistaken Point

Niger 1

• Gadoufaoua, the Elrhaz beds

North Carolina 1

• Aurora Fossil Museum spoil piles

Slovenia 1

• Krapina and the Hušnjakovo shelter

South Carolina 1

• Cooper River megalodon teeth

Spain 1

• Las Hoyas

Switzerland 1

• Monte San Giorgio

Tennessee 1

• The Gray Fossil Site

Venezuela 1

• Urumaco

Washington 1

• Stonerose Interpretive Center

Can I keep fossils I find?

Sometimes. On federal land you may collect reasonable amounts of common invertebrate and plant fossils for personal use, but vertebrate fossils require a permit and never leave public ownership. Each site is colour-coded by what is allowed.

Where can I legally collect?

Fee-dig quarries and some BLM land allow it. National parks and monuments do not. The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009 is the governing rule.