Chinle Formation - September 23-25, 2022 (camp trip)
Chinle Formation - September 23-25, 2022 (camp trip)
DESCRIPTION
This trip is geared towards those with a passion for the outdoors and will be a CAMPING only trip. 4-wheel drive on your vehicle is also required.
Looking for a more adventurous fossil tour? This is the trip for you! Taking place in the lovely and colorful badlands of Northern Arizona, during this fossil excursion you will help uncover the remains of an ancient forest nearly 220 million years in the making!
INCLUDES
2 nights primitive camping
2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners
1 full day guided hike to explore the area
2 gallon bucket to fill with your finds (Up to 40 pounds)
Join the team for an amazing adventure as we cover hundred of acres of pristine Northern Arizona badland in search of beautiful fossilized forests! Nearly 220-million years ago Northern Arizona was a vast, lush land covered with towering Araucarioxylon arizonicum and several animals species that lived during the time the dinosaurs began to rule the Earth!
During your trip you will be taught what to look for and how to collect these gorgeous fossils. The main goal of this trip is send you home with up to 40 pounds of petrified wood pieces that you can tumble and work into lovely display, or even jewelry pieces! We may also even get a chance to come across some vertebrate fossils from things like Phytosaurs, the ancestors of modern crocodiles and alligators, or even lungfish, a group of amphibians ddating back to around 380 million years old!
We will start the day on Friday afternoon May 1, 2020 in the Visitor Center of Petrified Forest National Monument. From here, we will travel in personal vehicles to the camp site and get settled in. Once camp is set up we are free to explore! Our host and land owner will give us a short talk about the history of the area, during our first campfire dinner, and point out some of the areas that he has made some rather significant discoveries!
Saturday morning you will be treated to a camp breakfast before we head out into the field buckets in hand to collect some amazing fossils! We will pack lunches with us and be out and about until everyone is sufficiently exhausted! Returning to camp, dinner is provided and we will share our finds and stories. Sunday morning, breakfast is included and we will have a few hours, staying closer to camp, to hunt for a bit more wood before taking off for the day.
Four wheel drive is REQUIRED for your vehicles, as the badlands are no place you want to get stuck.
Camping equipment is NOT provided, but ask us for suggestions for rentals or see what we have available!
*Rare species or those deemed scientifically significant must stay with the quarry. There may be opportunity to purchase rare finds from the quarry owner.