Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve is this shale quarry located in Buffalo, just a few minutes from Lake Erie. We have been looking forward to visiting Penn Dixie Fossil Park, and we were not disappointed. I know it’s not professional to gush about one particular destination over the others that we visit, but I really can’t help myself in this case. My son loves anything to do with paleontology, and he just had a blast at Penn Dixie. As a parent, that is something that I love to see.
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Tons of Fossils
I wasn’t prepared for how awesome this park was. This place is a fossil lover’s dream. I didn’t expect to find the number of fossils at Penn Dixie would be so abundant. When I think about fossil hunting, I don’t expect the odds to be in my favor. I figured that we would have to dig and shuffle through the stone only to find one here and there, but not the mass amount of fossils we found. It was unbelievable. You are 100% guaranteed to find fossils. They are literally everywhere. We found some great ones too. Even better, you get to keep what you find.
When we arrived, we were given a card to help us identify the fossils and a trowel to dig with. As it was our first visit, a volunteer walked us to the quarry from the visitor center and showed us where to dig to find the different kinds of fossils, and helped us identify to find them. Once we got the hang of it, he left us to our searching.
A Long Time Ago…
When you think fossils, naturally your mind thinks…dinosaurs. Those aren’t the kind of fossils you will find here at Penn Dixie. Roughly 380 million years ago, during the Devonian Period, this area of New York State was covered in water. The fossils here are those of ancient sea creatures, shells, and corals. Not exactly a T-Rex, but you would never know the difference based on my family’s reaction. They were completely riveted and spent hours searching.
What Fossils are at Penn Dixie
There are several varieties of fossils that can be found at Penn Dixie. They are most famous for their Trilobites. However, there are lots of other fossils to be discovered in the quarry such as brachiopods, corals, clams, gastropods, cephalopods, crinoids, and bryozoans. These are all prehistoric ocean-dwelling creatures that lived in this area 280 million years ago. After a few minutes, you get pretty adept at recognizing fossils. We had a great time examining and then displaying all of our fossil treasures when we got home.
Plan for your Visit
Planning ahead to visit this destination is important. The fossil quarry has little to no shade, or shelter, so the weather is going to impact your visit in a big way. Boots are a must here as well as clothing that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. It had rained the day we visited, so we were pretty muddy when we left.
Tools you will need:
- a bag or bucket to carry your fossils
- a trowel (they supply these for free)
- a hammer (rock hammer is best)
- safety glasses (if you plan to use the hammer to break stone)
- a sledgehammer
- a chisel
Penn Dixie rents toolsets which includes: safety goggles, chisel, geologist hammer, small sledgehammer, and a bucket for $5/day. They also sell fossil collecting bags for $2 to keep all your finds in.
Nature Reserve
There is a nature trail that you can walk at Penn Dixie as well. We were so busy digging up fossils that we decided to forgo hiking the trail. We thought about taking the trail back to our vehicle, but we were pretty muddy and tired.
Hours
Open Daily from June 12th to September 4th, and returns to weekends-only until October 22nd.
The park opens each day at 9 am and closes at 4:30 pm. The first tour departs at 9:15 am and the final tour departs at 2:45 pm. There is no non-member entry after 2:45 pm. The park is open rain or shine.
