Amateur Fossil Hunting

[Zhuchengotyrant]

This thread is not only for my question, but also for any questions regarding amateur fossil hunting. Do you guys know of any places in the United States where I can dig for dinosaurs. Preferrably in the Morrison Formation. Thanks!

[Mononykus]

In the US, any vertebrate fossils on public land are considered property of the US Govt (or state government if on state land) and collecting is illegal without a permit (given to genuine researchers with specimens deposited in a public institution). There may be some exceptions for really common fossils such as shark's teeth in some places.

Fossils on private land are the property of the land owner, so all you would need is permission from the landowner to collect. However, fossils can be big business, so such permission is unlikely to be free.

Your best option is to seek out one of the commercial dig sites operated on private land, where you pay an hourly or daily rate and you can generally keep what you collect. Most of these seem to be Hell Creek formation (probably because that is where you get large bone beds of Triceratops and Edmontosaurus that make such operations viable). There are also dig experiences that teach you techniques but you don't keep anything (for the latter, check out the Wyoming Dinosaur Center).

Here are a couple of quick links. I haven't done any of these, so they are not an endorsement:
http://www.paleoadventures.com/dinosaur-dig-site-tours.html
http://www.dailydinosaurdigs.com/

[Zhuchengotyrant]

@Mononykus : Thanks. I'm wondering, do you have the names of any of those Hell Creek operations? That sounds interesting. Thanks!

[Mononykus]

The two I linked in my original post (which I found in a Google search) may be the best bets for dig sites that let you keep fossils. Or keep trying further Google searches (I think I just used "Dinosaur Dig") to see if there are others. Paleoadventures seems to be well known -- it was also mentioned in one of my fossil books, but you may have to reserve spots?
I haven't done dinosaur digs myself, just Green River (fish, etc.) and Florissant (leaves, insects) formations.


There seems to be far more variety for dig experiences (don't get to keep anything but might be working with more valuable or interesting fossils) and at least some are run by dinosaur related museums, for example: Wyoming Dinosaur Center -- I think that one is actually Morrison, also the Indiana Children's Museum (their sites are further west) and North Dakota Geological Survey and probably others.
I hope that helps

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Thanks! I honestly didn't even see those links on your first post lol

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

While it's not particularly useful as a fossil field guide, Ashley Hall's (AKA LadyNaturalist) new book "Fossils For Kids" is a great way to get youngsters excited about fossil hunting if you want to take your little ones with you.
https://dinodadreviews.com/2020/07/28/fossils-for-kids/