This was a trip with my mom, so no camping on this trip even though this is the lady that introduced me to camping and coerced my dad into buying a little Siesta travel trailer. Now in her 80s she likes motels. I was a bit concerned about my mom enjoying this trip. Mom’s spry for her age, but she is no spring chicken. But when I asked her if wanted to go, she didn’t hesitate for a nanosecond.   So, we were off to Kemmerer, Wyoming eager to find fish fossils in the Green River formation.

There are commercial sites that you pay a fee and then start looking for fossils. There are no free public quarries. We went to the Fossil Safari quarry. Prepare to get dirty and hot, but it is well worth it for the excitement of finding 40- 60 million year old fossilized fish.

http://www.fossilsafari.com/index.html

 

 

The system is that the quarry owner removes the rock from the wall and places it on the ground. Then everyone picks up pieces and starts splitting them open looking for fossils. The best method is to gather a pile of rocks, then sit in a chair you brought or sit on the ground and start splitting. Finding fossils is random luck, but don’t worry, you will find some fossils.

 

 

 

 

 

Location Facts:

There are a couple of commercial RV sites in town which are really just simply parking lots.

• It is BLM land by the quarry so one can camp there. You will be camping next to a dusty road with no privacy.

Visit the Fossil Butte National Monument a bit west of Kemmerer.

• Everything you have will be covered with a fine layer of dust/dirt. I brought my dogs and they slept on the back seat of the truck while we searched for fossils. Because of that I left my windows down and the entire inside of my truck was covered with a layer of dirt. Some of that dirt will probably stay in the truck until it dies.