For Immediate Release

October 10, 2014

Media Contact: Tammy York

tammy@landsharkcommunications.com

Celebrate National Fossil Day October 15, 2014

with a Fossil Filled Hike

Cincinnati, OH—Go for a hike in the Greater Cincinnati area and you’ll likely be stepping over fossils some 450 million years old. The Greater Cincinnati region is a unique land area, referred to as the Cincinnati Arch. In fact, the Greater Cincinnati is world renowned for Ordovician fossils.

If you want to go fossil hunting, where can you go and what are the collecting rules?

In Ohio, you can go to the following state parks and get a collection permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center at the respective park you are visiting. Rules are typically the same from place to place.

• No tools are allowed in the spillway. No breaking of rocks or hitting of one rock against another.

• You may keep fossils (or rocks containing fossils) that fit in the palm of your hand. Larger specimens should be left for others to enjoy. You may photograph, draw, or take rubbings of larger specimens.

• Fossils may only be collected in the emergency spillway. Collecting in any area other than the spillway is not permitted.

When you go park in the designated areas in the emergency spillway. Parking on the shoulder of the road is prohibited. Don’t be tempted the climb the walls. The walls are crumbly and unstable and the rocks have sharp and often jagged edges. 

What should you bring with you to collect fossils? Water to drink, sunscreen, old pillow case, hat, and a good pair of gloves for each person. The shale and limestone where fossils are found is usually sharp and will tear through plastic bags.  Also, you won’t find any restrooms or shade in the wide open spillway.

Places to discover fossils but collect only with a permit and in designated areas:

Caesar Creek State Park: Collecting rules apply. A permit must be obtained at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center. Collecting is only allowed in designated areas. This is a great visitor center that also has a display of fossils found at the park. For more information about fossil hunting at Caesar Creek, call (513) 897-1050. You can hike and see the geology of the area by heading out on the Caesar Creek Nature Preserve trail.

East Fork State Park: Collecting rules apply. A permit must be obtained at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Visitor Center. Collecting is only allowed in designated areas. For more information, call (513) 734-4323. Take the Prairie Trail or the Cedar trail when hiking with little ones.

Hueston Woods State Park: Collecting rules apply. For more information, call (513) 523-6347. Collecting is only allowed in designated areas. The Sugar Bush, Blue Heron, and Big Woods trails weave through the Hueston Woods Nature Preserve. Wipe your boots to remove any possible weed or invasive seeds before you enter this stunning sugar maple forest.

Stonelick State Park: Collecting rules apply. For more information, call (513) 734-4323. Collecting is only allowed in designated areas. Hike the many miles of trails at Stonelick State Park especially the Red Fox Trail.

A local park is Trammel Fossil Park in Sharonville. For more information, call (513) 563-2985. You can keep what you find and there are several informative educational signs. Nearby, is Sharon Woods which has the lovely Gorge Trail with views of several waterfalls created from the small layers of limestone and shale seen at Trammel.

Need help figuring out which fossils you have?

The Cincinnati Dry Dredgers is an association of amateur geologists and fossil collectors.

Good fossil books include:

The Cincinnati Fossils book is an Elementary Guide to the Ordovician Rocks and Fossils of the Cincinnati, Ohio, Region.

Fossils of Ohio

A Sea without Fish: Life in the Ordovician Sea of the Cincinnati Region (Life of the Past)