Hunting fossils by the creek at Site 1.
What beautiful weather we had for these two first fossil hunts of the season through the Eagle Bluff Skills School! Friday was our traditional afternoon class and Saturday was our first morning class. The morning classes are great for those who want to buy one of the three fossil hunting maps I have compiled for Fillmore and Winona counties and go hunting on their own the rest of the day.
Site 1 offers an abandoned quarry, cave, a hidden stream where rare Silurian fossils can sometimes be found and great roadside hunting!
Hidden stream at Site 1 and more fossil finds!
Off to Site 2 and lots of fossils found here! It was hard to get people back into the Eagle Bluff van to get to our last site!
On the rocks at Site 2.
Pounding rock is always fun! He’ll get that fossil out yet! 😀
Beautiful brachiopods, sea shells, from an ancient sea shore when Minnesota was on the equator and under a shallow sea.
Site 3 always yields lots of fossils!
On the rocks at Site 3. This site is located just above a continuously occupied Native American Village for over 1,000 years, so occasionally Native American artifacts are found here also.
And sometimes we get to meet the local inhabitants! LOL 😀
We encountered several Garter Snake nesting sites.
Ben found a great Fisherites!
This lady found a beautiful Hormatomas sp. gastropod and lots of other fossils!
This gal found a stunning hash plate of the Ordovician sea bottom and a complete Fisherites among other fossils!
In my opinion, a must see before you come and fossil hunt is the documentary video, 26 minutes, “The Mysteries of the Driftless”. Fossil hunting is a great family outing! I put together this post on fun things to see and do in Bluff Country which includes this video and others with lots of links:
Want to visit Bluff Country and come fossil hunting? Contact Eagle Bluff for their next fossil hunting classes, or contact me at bcfossillady@gmail.com for 507-922-0083 to book a private hunt or purchase some maps!
I also host guests and campers through Airbnb.com – Whispering Winds.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16054561?s=vau9UGtT
