Fossil Hunting: Delta, Utah

KID RATINGS

Fun: ⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Difficulty:     Very Easy    Easy    MODERATE    Hard    Very Hard

KEY FEATURES

Terrain: Dirt, rocks, shale. Bumpy dirt road to access fossil area.
Time Needed: 1 to 2 hours
When to Go: Spring, Summer (morning or evening), Fall 

COST

Free on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

U-Dig Fossil Quarry 

There is a paid option up the road about a mile from the BLM land called U-dig Fossils. This private, 40 acre quarry provides tools and instructions on fossil hunting. We went fossil hunting when U-dig wasn’t open so I can’t speak to the success of fossil finding there. However, other blogs have mentioned that the overall fossil quality is better there than on the BLM land.

Prices at U-dig Fossils (as of April 2021):

2 Hours – Ages 7 to 16: $19 Age 17 and older: $33

4 hours – Ages 7 to 16: $33 Age 17 and older: $49

8 hours – Ages 7 to 16: $58 Age 17 and older: $90

Ages 6 and under are free with a paying adult

Personally, I think 2 hours is plenty of time to fossil hunt. Especially when you are in a paid quarry where there are more fossils. 

AMENITIES

• There are no bathrooms or water on BLM land. The closest amenities are about an hour away in Delta, UT. However, the U-dig quarry does have toilet facilities if you pay to find fossils.

THINGS TO BRING

• Bucket

• Shovel

• Pickaxe or hammers

• Lots of water, especially in the summer months

• Snacks

• Sunscreen, no shade in the area

• Spare tire, just in case

• If going to U-dig Fossils they will provide all the tools you need to find fossils. 

DETAILS

During the social distancing of COVID-19 our family found out about a place to hunt for trilobites and fossils in Utah for free! So much fun!

This area is on BLM land, about 1-hour outside of Delta Utah. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, but don’t worry, I have directions, maps and GPS coordinates below. The last 45 minutes of the drive is on a dirt road. We take our mini-van everywhere and it did just fine on the dirt and gravel. Keep your eyes out for wild horses. We saw a few on the drive!

How to Find Fossils

The location for fossil hunting is in a ravine where the side of a hill has been visibly cut out by a tractor. There are mounds of rock where the side of the hill has been removed, exposing layers of shale. 

There are a few different methods to find fossils

1) Simply pick up pieces of shale that is already broken and inspect to see if you find a fossil. This is how we found the majority of ours.

2) Break apart the shale with your hands to find fossils in between the layers of hardened mud.

3) Using a shovel, hammer or pickaxe you can chip away at shale that is either still attached to the hill or larger pieces that are on the ground.  

We spent only an hour looking and found many plant fossils, one full trilobite and several imprints of trilobite fossils. A couple of my kids spent most of the time just climbing up the shale hill, only spending a few minutes looking, and they still found a few fossils.

A bit of patience is required to find quality fossils. Our 10 year old had this patience and was able to find a whole trilobite.  

PROS & CONS

PROS

• Fairly easy to find fossils

• Fun place to explore

• Free!!

• Paid quarry near-by 

CONS

• Long drive on a mildly bumpy dirt road

• No amenities nearby unless going to private quarry

DIRECTIONS

We went fossil hunting about 60 minutes west of Delta, Utah. The GPS coordinates are 39.345756,-113.275586. You can also follow my map below.

From Delta, head west on Highway 6 (also called Highway 50). You will turn north on a dirt road called Death Canyon Road. You will then follow this for about 45 minutes. Off Death Canyon Road you will see a fork in the road to the right, head to this fork and then take a left at this fork. The area we searched for fossils is about 0.1 miles off of this fork. 

MAPS

To BLM Land

U-Dig Fossils

To get to the U-Dig Fossils private quarry, stay on Death Canyon Road for another mile after the BLM quarry. There will be signage to direct you when to turn for the quarry.

MORE INFO

As I was looking at other blogs about trilobite hunting afterward, I found that there is another BLM quarry about 1 to 2 miles from where we were hunting that looks awesome. I wish I would have known about it before we went. Follow this link for info and directions to the additional location. Also, here is the approximate GPS coordinates: Lat: 39 Deg 21′ 29″ N and Long: 113 Deg 15′ 58″ W.

OTHER NEARBY ADVENTURES

Rock hounding for sunstones at Sunstone Knoll (1 hour)

Great Basin National Park (1.5 hours)

Fort Deseret State Park (1 hour)