Locality · Pay-to-dig (non-profit reserve)
Penn Dixie Fossil Park
Erie, New York, United States
Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve in Hamburg, New York, is a former cement quarry in the Middle Devonian Windom Shale (Hamilton Group) that operates as the largest fossil park in the United States, where visitors collect Eldredgeops rana trilobites, brachiopods and horn corals and keep them. Enrolled trilobites are the prize. It is legal, family-friendly and the main source of new Eldredgeops for hobby collectors.
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State / province | New York |
| County | Erie |
| Land manager / status | Hamburg Natural History Society |
| Access | Admission fee; open seasonally; keep what you find |
| Formations | Mahantango Formation |
| What is found | Eldredgeops, Greenops, Mucrospirifer, Heliophyllum, crinoids |
| Coordinates (public site) | 42.76, -78.84 |
Rules
Pay admission and collect with hand tools in the designated quarry; everything you find is yours. Penn Dixie also runs guided digs and the 'Dig with the Experts' events.
Source: https://penndixie.org/ (checked 2026-09-16).
Collecting rules
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Penn Dixie Fossil Park" (Locality). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/localities/penn-dixie-fossil-park. Accessed 2026-09-20.
@misc{stratum-penn-dixie-fossil-park,
title = {Penn Dixie Fossil Park},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/localities/penn-dixie-fossil-park}},
year = {2026},
note = {Locality article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.