Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Site | Find Your Own Fossils

Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Site is a unique and engaging stop just off Highway 93 near Caliente, where you can hunt for trilobite fossils. This designated BLM area is a cool addition to any road trip through Nevada. Not only do you get to experience the excitement of the hunt, but you are allowed to keep the trilobite fossils that you find! But remember to only take as many as you intend to keep. Read on to find out more about trilobites as well as what to expect on your fossil hunt.

Quick Info: Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Area

Distance: About 1/4 mile hike to the main fossil hunt site

Difficulty: Easy

Directions: From Caliente, follow US-93 S for about 12 miles then turn right onto the dirt road. There will be a sign indicating the turn for Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Site. Follow this main dirt road to the parking area. Or click here to get directions.

Trailhead Amenities: Vault toilet, picnic tables, information sign, tool box

Know Before You Go: There is a tool box near the parking area that may have a hammer and gloves. But there’s no guarantee there will be tools when you visit. So if you can, bring a hammer with a chisel shaped blade to help separate the shale layers.

Our Experience at Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Area

We discovered Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Area on the map while we were camping nearby at Chief Mountain West BLM Campground. It was only about 8 miles away so we waited for it to cool down a bit and drove over.

The dirt road to reach the parking area for the fossil site is in great shape. Set back in the junipers, the parking area has a great view of the nearby mountains as well as vault toilets, picnic tables, helpful information board and even a tool box.

First things first, we checked out the information board to better prepare for the trilobite fossil hunt.

Helpful Information

What is a trilobite? A trilobite is a fossil of the invertebrate animals that lived in the sea. They had a shell like a horseshoe crab, jointed legs and antennae. Why are they here? About 530 million years ago, this area was actually a shallow sea. Ten millions later, there was an abrupt change in the environment causing the seas to dry up leaving trilobites fossilized in the mud. Heat and pressure helped the mud become shale where trilobite fossils can now be found.

What should you be looking for? When the trilobite died, the shells often separated so complete bodies are rarely found. As you’re breaking open the shale, it’s likely that you will find just the heads. But you may get lucky and find a whole specimen.

There are six types of trilobite fossil remains that can be found at the Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil Site.

Our Hunt for Trilobites

After learning about the areas backstory and getting an idea of what to look for, we were ready to begin our fossil hunt. At the start of the short 1/4 mile trail there is a trail log to sign in and a box of dig tools. When we were here there were several gloves, one in tact hammer and several pieces of broken hammers.

Liking this article? Pin it!

We followed the short trail to an area with an abundance of shale deposits and obvious signs of digging. Then we found some shade and got to hammering apart the shale layers. At first we weren’t finding anything. We moved around a bit. After a while we started finding a few heads here and there. And as we found more, we started to get some that were better than others.

Once we were satisfied with the specimens we found we headed back to the parking area feeling accomplished. Our visit to Oak Springs Trilobite Fossil site was a new experience for us. We enjoyed trying something new and it was pretty fun just swinging tools and separating shale layers. The views were nice, evening weather cooled down and we had the whole fossil site to ourselves. Definitely worth the trip!

Thanks for Keeping Up With The Lost Longboarder

We love exploring new areas. If you’d like to read about more hiking adventures like this one, check out the links below:

• Hiking Fantasy Canyon
• Dinosaur Trackway Trail near Vernal, Utah
• Exploring Subway Cave in Northern California
• Hiking to Little Zion

To sustain our on the road lifestyle, we create one of a kind hand painted longboards. And we also design and screen print our own t-shirts and long sleeve shirts. Head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop to see what we’ve created!

If you shop on Amazon, please use our link to get to Amazon. Then shop as you normally would. It won’t change your shopping experience but it will help us out! We appreciate it.