How To See What Is Lying Around Utah That Is Just Under Your Feet

Living in Utah there are all kinds of fossils sitting in the dirt and rocks all around you. If you are looking for something fun to get your kids outside and exciting their brains and their muscles, hunting fossils can be the perfect activity. 

Utah Deserts Are a Great Place to Find Fossils 

Because much of Utah was covered in water at one time in ancient history, finding fossilized shells, trilobites, and shark teeth isn’t too hard. There are places you can hunt fossils like U Dig Fossils near Delta. 

This is an area where there are tons of trilobites, and they make it easy to hunt around for these fossils. It is a good place to get a feel for what a fossil looks like and how to locate them. Then you can do some of your own hunting. 

Rules for Collecting Fossils in Utah 

The first thing you need to do before heading out on a fossil hunt is to determine who owns the land. If you are on private land, you need permission. Anything cool you find belongs to the landowner and you should work it out with them beforehand. 

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Public land is regulated as well. The Utah Geological Survey lists the rules for rock and fossil hunting on public lands. You can’t collect dinosaur or vertebrate fossils, and arrow heads and pottery are not to be taken. 

Read More: Weird Camelope Bones Discovered in Utah

Still, there are many little shells and imprints of ancient sea life that can be discovered. These can be found all over the rocks and cliffs of Utah. Training yourself to see what is imprinted in the rocks can lead to a whole new level of hiking.