Editorial standards
How we verify, source, and correct our guides
Fossil hunting guides are only useful if they are accurate, honest about their sources, and kept up to date. Here is how we work.
How we verify sites
Every site is checked for genuine, legal public access before it is published. Sites without real public access are left out entirely.
Site details, including location, geology, fossil types, access rules, fees, and hazards, are researched against primary sources: official park and land-manager websites, state and national geological surveys such as the USGS and state geological surveys, university and museum publications, and established paleontological organizations. Where a detail cannot be confirmed from an authoritative source, we say so or leave it out rather than guess. The sources behind each guide are listed at the bottom of the page.
Field-checked and desk-researched coverage
We cover far more sites than one person could visit, and you deserve to know which is which. A small number of guides, mostly in California and Utah, are grounded in Edward’s own collecting trips. The rest are desk-researched: built from the official park pages, geological surveys, museum publications, and operator websites listed in each guide’s sources, not from a personal visit.
Honest desk research can tell you the access rules, the geology, and what has been found at a site. It cannot tell you how the parking lot looked last month. Where that difference matters we say so, and reader reports regularly correct on-the-ground details faster than we could. A recent example: a visitor told us that digging at the Werkforum quarry in Dotternhausen is free, tool rental included, and that guide now reflects it. If you know a site better than our page does, we want to hear from you.
Images and licensing
Hero images come from Wikimedia Commons under their original Creative Commons licenses, such as CC BY, CC BY-SA, and CC0, or from public-domain government sources such as the U.S. Geological Survey. The photographer and license are credited on every page. We do not use non-commercial-only images, and we do not publish images we do not have the right to use.
Original field photography by our own team is labeled “Photo: Edward Chen / GoFossilHunting” so you can tell it apart from licensed third-party images.
How we use AI
Our guides are researched and drafted with the help of AI tools, then reviewed and edited by a person against the primary sources listed on each page. AI helps us cover more sites and keep formatting and tone consistent. It does not replace human judgment, fact-checking, or the collecting-rules and safety information that has to be right. We do not publish unreviewed or unsourced content.
Corrections and updates
Access rules, fees, and site conditions change. When we are notified of a change, or spot one ourselves, we update the guide. If you find an error, email us at gofossilhunting@gmail.com and we aim to respond within 48 hours. You can also suggest a new site or a correction through the site submission form.
Who writes this
GoFossilHunting is written and maintained by Edward Chen, who has been fossil hunting since 2016. Read more about the project.