Must See Fossil Sites

Quarry Exhibit Hall at Dinosaur National Monument.

NPS photo.

Introduction

Much of the nation’s fossil heritage is preserved and protected within the National Park System. Fossils in parks range in age from more than a billion years old to just a few thousand years old. They include fossils of marine invertebrates, dinosaurs, petrified wood, as well as delicate fossils of insects. The National Park Service is mandated to preserve the all fossils present in parks for the benefit of future generations, just like other park resources including wildlife, plants, and historic objects.

With at least 286 parks containing fossils, national parks offer visitors great opportunities to see fossils where they naturally occur or in park museums, visitor centers, and exhibits. The fossils may be a shell of a marine organism in a block of building stone in a historic building, a giant petrified log next to a trail, or the skeletal mount of a prehistoric reptile in a visitor center.

This page provides information on some of the “Must See” fossil sites and exhibits within the National Park System.

Experience Fossils in Person

• 

  See Park Fossils "In Situ"
• 

  See Park Fossils on Display
• 

  See Fossils in National Natural Landmark

Leave No Trace—Protect Fossils for Science and Future Generations

Fossils and paleontological sites are irreplaceable and nonrenewable. They are invaluable to science as they provide our only evidence of the history of life on Earth. A single fossil may be the only evidence of the existence of an entire species. Like rocks and other natural and cultural objects, collecting fossils for recreational, commercial, or educational use is prohibited in all units of the National Park System.

Learn more about how you can use Leave No Trace principles to help protect paleontological resources in national park.