Reading deep time
Fossil & Dinosaur Sites for RV Travelers
Real fossil and dinosaur sites the public can visit — quarries, bone beds, and trackways where deep time surfaces in the rock, with the science each site tells and how to find a rig nearby. Facts are sourced from official NPS, BLM, state-park, and museum pages.
Hours and access vary, and collecting fossils is illegal on most public land — confirm on the official site before you go.
- 17
- Field guides
- 13
- States covered
- 4
- Managing agencies
The fossil sites
Every fossil & dinosaur site in the guide
Nebraska
Agate Fossil Beds
Nebraska
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument in western Nebraska known as the world's leading source of full-skeleton Miocene mammal fossils, plus the Cook Collection of Lakota artifacts. Open to the public with a visitor center and hiking trails.
Read the field guideNebraska
Ashfall Fossil Beds
Nebraska
Ashfall Fossil Beds: An RV Traveler's Guide
A National Natural Landmark in northeast Nebraska where Miocene-era animals lie entombed in volcanic ash. The park is a joint project of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the University of Nebraska State Museum, and it operates seasonally — typically closed mid-October through April.
Read the field guide
South Dakota
Badlands National Park Fossils: An RV Traveler's Guide
A South Dakota national park with one of the world's richest fossil beds, where the NPS says ancient horses and rhinos once roamed. The park spans 244,000 acres and holds extensive museum collections. Open to the public year-round, with seasonal services.
Read the field guideNew Mexico
Clayton Lake State Park & Dinosaur Trackways
New Mexico
Clayton Lake State Park & Dinosaur Trackways: An RV Guide
A New Mexico state park near Clayton with well-preserved dinosaur trackways near the lake spillway, plus a visitor center on the region's geology. Managed by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, State Parks Division.
Read the field guideUtah
Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry
Utah
Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry: An RV Traveler's Guide
A BLM-managed dinosaur bone bed at Jurassic National Monument in Emery County, Utah, roughly 30 miles south of Price. Its visitor center features an Allosaurus skeleton mount and bone-bed exhibits; the quarry's fossils are overwhelmingly from Jurassic predators.
Read the field guideUtah & Colorado
Dinosaur
Utah & Colorado
Dinosaur National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument spanning Utah and Colorado, famous for the Quarry Exhibit Hall — a cliff face with over 1,500 dinosaur fossils still in the rock. The wider monument covers 210,000-plus acres of canyons and rivers. A memorable, science-rich stop for an RV family.
Read the field guideTexas
Dinosaur Valley
Texas
Dinosaur Valley State Park: An RV Traveler's Guide
A Texas state park near Glen Rose where dinosaur tracks are preserved in the bed of the Paluxy River. Track visibility depends on river and trail conditions, so check the official Texas Parks & Wildlife page before you go.
Read the field guideIndiana
Falls of the Ohio Fossil Beds
Indiana
Falls of the Ohio Fossil Beds: An RV Traveler's Guide
An Indiana DNR state park in Clarksville, on the Ohio River, protecting roughly 220 acres of 390-million-year-old Devonian fossil beds — among the largest exposed in the world — with an interpretive center. More than 600 fossil species have been documented here.
Read the field guideColorado
Florissant Fossil Beds
Colorado
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument in central Colorado preserving petrified redwood stumps and over 1,800 described fossil species — insects, plants, fish, birds, and mammals — from roughly 34 million years ago. Open to the public with trails and a visitor center.
Read the field guideWyoming
Fossil Butte
Wyoming
Fossil Butte National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument in southwest Wyoming holding some of the world's best-preserved fossils, formed around a 52-million-year-old freshwater lake. Fossils include fishes, insects, plants, reptiles, birds, and mammals — among them stingrays, turtles, and early horses.
Read the field guideUtah
Grand Staircase-Escalante Paleontology
Utah
Grand Staircase-Escalante Paleontology: An RV Traveler's Guide
A large BLM-managed national monument in southern Utah whose Cretaceous-age badlands, including the Kaiparowits region, hold a rich and actively studied fossil record. Discoveries here include dinosaur material and even tiny dinosaur eggs reported from the Kaiparowits Formation.
Read the field guideIdaho
Hagerman Fossil Beds
Idaho
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument in south-central Idaho preserving Pliocene fossils from about three to four million years ago, famous for the Hagerman Horse (Equus simplicidens). Open to the public via the Thousand Springs Visitor Center, with scenic overlooks and fossil exhibits.
Read the field guideOregon
John Day Fossil Beds
Oregon
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument: An RV Traveler's Guide
An NPS monument in Oregon with three units — Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno — recording the Age of Mammals. Fossils include brontotheres, three-toed horses, saber-tooth cats, and camels. The Thomas Condon Paleontology Center displays unearthed fossils.
Read the field guideCalifornia
La Brea Tar Pits
California
La Brea Tar Pits: An RV Traveler's Guide
An active Ice Age fossil excavation and museum on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, managed by the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County. Visitors can see the Lake Pit asphalt seep, the Fossil Lab, and exhibits of dire wolves, mammoths, and mastodons recovered on site.
Read the field guideTexas
Mineral Wells Fossil Park
Texas
Mineral Wells Fossil Park: An RV Traveler's Guide
A free city park near Mineral Wells, Texas, where eroded sediments expose abundant Pennsylvanian-Period marine fossils. Open daily year-round; the city states that visitors may collect fossils for personal use. Confirm details on the official City of Mineral Wells page.
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Arizona
Petrified Forest National Park: An RV Traveler's Guide
An Arizona national park managed by the NPS, protecting fossil logs over 200 million years old that have turned to almost solid quartz, colored by iron, carbon, and manganese. The park also takes in part of the Painted Desert — a striking, fossil-rich RV destination.
Read the field guideNew Jersey
Riker Hill Fossil Site
New Jersey
Riker Hill Fossil Site: An RV Traveler's Guide
A county-managed dinosaur tracksite and National Natural Landmark in Roseland, New Jersey. The dinosaur portion is not open to the public for casual visits; Essex County Parks runs guided field trips to the late-Triassic Grallator trackways. Check the official Essex County Parks page to arrange a visit.
Read the field guide
Where deep time surfaces
Fossil country, state by state
The richest fossil beds lie where erosion strips the West bare — badlands, river cuts, and high-desert basins that both lay down the rock and expose it. Pick a state to plan the drive.
Routing a trip past a window into deep time?