Terms of use

1. Acceptance of terms

By accessing or using GoFossilHunting (the “Site”) you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Site. We may update these Terms from time to time as described in section 11.

2. Content accuracy disclaimer

GoFossilHunting publishes informational guides about fossil sites for educational and recreational purposes. Conditions at fossil sites change constantly. Cliffs erode, access roads close, regulations change, sites become protected or restricted, tides cover and uncover beach exposures, and weather makes some sites unsafe to visit on any given day.

Before visiting any site listed on GoFossilHunting, you must independently:

• Verify current access policy with the official site or landowner
• Check tide times and weather for any coastal site
• Obtain all necessary permits, licenses, and permissions
• Follow all posted signage, local laws, and landowner restrictions
• Make your own assessment of safety conditions on the day of your visit

Our guides are starting points for research, not real-time status reports. Do not rely solely on information from this Site for any safety, legal, or trip-planning decision.

3. Assumption of risk

Fossil hunting involves inherent and substantial risks. You voluntarily assume all of those risks when you use this Site to plan or undertake a fossil hunting trip.

These risks include, but are not limited to:

• Falls and impact injuries from unstable cliffs, loose rock, slippery surfaces, deep water, sinkholes, and crumbling overhangs
• Drowning, hypothermia, and tidal entrapment at coastal and water-adjacent sites where tides, currents, and weather can change rapidly
• Environmental hazards including extreme heat, cold, sun exposure, dehydration, lightning, flash floods, falling trees, and altitude sickness
• Wildlife encounters with venomous, predatory, or disease-carrying animals
• Remoteness and lack of services at sites that may be hours from cell coverage, medical care, or rescue
• Tool injuries from rock hammers, chisels, and other collecting equipment
• Legal exposure from collecting in protected areas, on private land without permission, or in violation of local fossil collecting laws
• Vehicle and travel risks on rural and unpaved access roads

You are solely responsible for evaluating your own physical fitness, experience level, and equipment for any site you choose to visit. You are responsible for the safety of any minors or guests in your party. You waive any claim against GoFossilHunting, its operators, contributors, and affiliates for injury, illness, death, property damage, or legal consequences arising out of your use of information published on this Site or your visit to any site listed here.

4. Intellectual property

The text, original photographs, design, code, and overall compilation of GoFossilHunting are the property of the Site operators and are protected by United States and international copyright law. You may view, print, and share individual pages for personal, non-commercial use. You may not republish, redistribute, scrape, or use our content for commercial purposes (including AI training, search-engine competition, or data aggregation services) without prior written permission.

Hero images on site detail pages are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under their original Creative Commons licenses. Each image carries its photographer credit and license terms on the page where it appears; reuse must comply with the license under which the image was originally released.

5. User submissions

When you submit content to GoFossilHunting through the submission form, email, or any other channel (a “Submission”), you represent that you own that content or have the right to share it, and you grant GoFossilHunting a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to publish, reproduce, edit for clarity or length, translate, and distribute the Submission as part of the Site.

You retain ownership of your Submission and may continue to use it elsewhere. We reserve the right to decline any Submission, edit it before publication, or remove it later for any reason. We do not guarantee that any Submission will be published.

6. Prohibited conduct

You agree not to:

• Scrape, crawl, or otherwise extract the Site’s catalog data, map data, or article content in bulk without prior written permission
• Use the map or any extracted dataset for commercial purposes (including reselling, embedding in commercial products, or training commercial AI systems)
• Impersonate GoFossilHunting, claim affiliation with us, or misrepresent the source of our content
• Submit information you know to be false, misleading, or which promotes illegal collection on private or protected land
• Interfere with the Site’s operation, attempt to access non-public portions, or probe its security
• Use automated tools to submit forms or generate fake traffic

7. Third-party links and services

GoFossilHunting links to external websites, parks, organizations, and services. We do not control, endorse, or take responsibility for the content, accuracy, or privacy practices of those external sites. When you follow an outbound link, you are subject to that destination’s terms and privacy policy, not ours.

8. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY. GOFOSSILHUNTING SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF ANY INFORMATION ON THE SITE.

9. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, GOFOSSILHUNTING AND ITS OPERATORS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR ITS CONTENT, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Where law does not allow this limitation, our total liability is capped at one hundred US dollars (USD 100), or the amount you have paid us in the past twelve months, whichever is greater.

10. Governing law and venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Site shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms at any time. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be highlighted with a banner on the Site for 30 days. Your continued use of the Site after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the new Terms.

12. Severability and entire agreement

If any part of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining parts continue in full force and effect. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and GoFossilHunting regarding your use of the Site and supersede any prior or contemporaneous communications.

13. Contact

Questions about these Terms: gofossilhunting@gmail.com.