Fossil hunting in United States

Pay-to-dig commercial fossil quarries (U-Dig in Utah, American Fossil Quarry in Wyoming, Mineral Wells Fossil Park in Texas) are the easiest path for new collectors — the landowner sorts permits, you pay a flat fee, you keep what you find. State and county parks usually permit surface collecting of common invertebrate fossils, but vertebrate fossils on federal land are off-limits without a permit under the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act.

Many of the world's most productive Cretaceous-Paleogene fossil beds are in the American West, but the Atlantic seaboard offers easier access for most of the population — Calvert Cliffs in Maryland (Miocene shark teeth) and the Peace River system in Florida (Pleistocene megafauna) are both day-trip destinations from major metro areas.

Top picks: Mineral Wells Fossil Park, TX (Carboniferous invertebrates, free); Penn Dixie, NY (Devonian trilobites and brachiopods, fee); Calvert Cliffs, MD (Miocene shark teeth, free with effort); Florissant Fossil Quarry, CO (Eocene plants and insects, fee).

Cross-border options: collectors in the northern states are usually a day's drive from one of the marquee Canadian sites covered at /countries/canada — Burgess Shale (BC), Dinosaur Provincial Park (AB), and Rock Glen Conservation Area (Ontario, the only Canadian souvenir-collecting site in the marquee set) are the easiest entry points by region.