
Reviews & Testimonials

All in all, I would highly recommend Fossil Lake Safari. My friends in PA want me to organize a trip to come back.
Thanks Shondra!!
Some things to keep in mind:
- bring water or a water bottle! (They have a water refill station)
- bring a hat
- bring a folding chair or ask to borrow one of theirs
- bring a box and some packing material for your fossils
- the restrooms are port a potties
The owner cuts cubes of sea bed, roughly 2/3 meter X 2/3 meter, out of the seabed and sets them on the quarry floor for fossil hunters to splinter into hundreds of sheets of sandstone using small hammers and chisels supplied by the owner.
One in ten splits reveals a meaningful fossil.
Don't romanticize hunting fossils by yourself. You'll have to dig a 250-meter deep hole or violate a national monument at Fossil Butte! This place is legit, and you leave satisfied that your own hard work uncovered the ancient fossils you'll take home with you.
See the 4 inch fossil in the photo i have attached. It was on the edge of a two foot slab of sandstone that I split off a larger cube. The owner sawed the slab down to something I could easily carry home. I got 8 of these in 2 hours.
Bring a change of clothes and face masks. The quarry can stir up sand storms.
The staff and the owner, Matt, are enthusiastic and kind. You'll love these guys.
Also get there early so you can claim your spot next to the roped off area so when/if they open it you can move quickly into it and not just work in someone else's tailings.
We do A LOT of rock hounding and I'm not usually disappointed but I'm sad to say overall I was here.
I will say though that the staff was nice, helpful, and friendly.
We would definitely like to go again.
TripAdvisor REviews
Very Fun - Very fun and informative. The staff was very friendly and always available to help or answer questiins. We found many small fish fossils. Expect to get dirty and... read more have a good time. They also allowed us to use a tile saw to trim our samples down after our time was up.

October 1, 2024
Great way to dig into WY! - Lovely drive out on well maintained dirt road. Friendly and informative staff. We were able to get many complete fish and found tons of partials. Only did the 2 hours... read more dig and that was plenty for us including our 6 yr old.

September 9, 2024
Fishy Fossil Family Fun!!! - My family (parents in 70s, 2 "kids" in 40s) came out to Fossil Lake Safari for 1 day. My folks had been before a few years back, and wanted us... read more to come enjoy the fun. We highly recommend coming on this fossil adventure. I found 2 great fish for my classroom after 2 hours. My folks, having been before, found lots of little fishesnright away. My sis had the drustration of mostly little crinoid fossils for the 1st 3 hours, but finnaly got her fishy. We also saw lots of discarded broken fish laying about and in a busket at the saw station. The family running the dig on our day (young daughter included) were bery helpful and very friendly.
THINGS TO KNOW TO ENJOY YOUR FOSSIL ADVENTURE:
1. Summer in WY, especially out in the quarry, is dry, hot, and can be VERY windy. So, dress to protect skin and eyes, bring work/garden gloves if you want to protect your hands, and bring water. Understand that it's fun even if it is crazy windy! We had the place to ourselves for the last hour because the wind was severe and we were the only ones ready to tough it out. If it's windy on your day, put your finds on the bottom of the metal rack they assign to you so they don't have far down if the wind blows the racks over. Also, on a windy day you amd your car WILL be infused with fine sand particals, lol. Get thee to a car wash asap! Lol! We spent 2 hours cleaning out the RV back at the RV park, and still had dust foe 2 more weeks. I got to clean my car mid July, and it made it harder to get clean. I still have it oozing out when it rains. Don't wait to clean your car of that fine sand.
2. Keep in mind that it's likely that you will find a lot of tiny crinoid and shell fossils before you find a fishy fossil friend. Don't get too frustrated, and keep at it.! Habe fun!! Enjoy the experience! The staff on hand are also very friendly and able to direct you to help you be more successful. Even if you find a broken fish it's still very cool to take home!
3. Don't forget to take your finds to the saws at the back. There are clear plexiglass square stencils so they can help you cut down your fish and shell fossil slabs to a more manageable size for transport and display.
4. PLEASE, make sure you have checked your gas levels, tire pressure, and that you have what you need (tools AND how-to knowledge) before you get off the main road onto that LONG and sometimes rough dirt road. THERE'S NO CELL SERVICE, so AAA ain't comming for you. I needed to use my cars emergency tire air compressire to top of 1 of my tires on this trip. AND we were the last guests out of the quary and ended up out stopped out on that road an extra 2 hours helping a single dad (with 2 young kids in the hot cab) helping him figure out how to change his own trucks punctured tire. Know your car, people! You do NOT want to be stuck out there until the next day's shift, hoping for a rancher to pass by, or that there was someone still at the quarry behind you that didn't take a crossroad in another direction away from that main road.
5. PLEASE drive carefully with an eye out for the beautiful wild horses. Slow down for them, watch them frolic by. :)
Happy slab cracking and fish finding!!

September 8, 2024
Fossil Adventure! - It was a great experience, the people running the quarry were knowledgeable, helpful and a lot of fun. We have been telling our friends it is worth the drive.

September 2, 2024
Amazing! Must do! We had a once in a lifetime experience there today! - Omg this is a must do. Felt like family there. Great signs to find the place. They just put more up this week. New owners and the managing... read more team is amazing. Caden was always there to help and teach. Doug was so knowledgeable too. We had a private dig and loved it so much went back for a four hour dig the next day. First day found 90 fish. Second dig after we became proficient at splitting the rocks in 4 hours we found almost a 100 fish. My son who is 16 found a crayfish, complete 22 in phareodus and a complete 14 inch phareodus. No joke had a once in a lifetime experience today. Stop thinking about and go here. Tile saws worked amazing too. They also have drinks available to purchase. Thanks fossil lake safari for the memories today!

July 9, 2024
AMAZING place to have fun finding fossils!! - This family owned Fossil Quarry was amazing. Mt husband and I had the BEST time finding soooo many great Fossil treasures. We will most definitely be going back.

Margaret SJuly 6, 2024
You’ve gotta go! - That was a great time! If you are into fossils, then you can’t pass this up. My wife and I went for an anniversary getaway and had a blast. The... read more staff were kind, and helpful, and in spite of all of the fossils that they see every day, they were excited with us. I highly recommend these guys!

July 5, 2024
Fossil Fun - Had an amazing time. Will definitely be back with family and friends. I could absolutely tell that everyone loved what they were doing by their interactions with the... read more people digging. Everyone was so helpful and attentive.
This is at least my 10th time at the quarry and September/October of 2023 visits weren't so great. This trip took all the less than optimum memories away and gave me back my joy in coming to Fossil Lake Safari.
Thank you and please tell George hallo from his Arizona teacher friends.
Linda C. from AZ

July 3, 2024
YELP REviews
Such a fun day with my kids we sat out and got to chisel and pound rocks to find fossils. Definitely helps if you have anger issues lol. The kids... read more were hoping for a manta ray but we got a lot of fish poop and fish. The workers were great and super informative. It does get warm in the baking sun and you will have to drink lots of water due to the elevation so please hydrate! You have the option to do full days, half days, 4 hrs, or 2 hr digs. Very fun and inexpensive adventure

Janet D.9/14/2024














