Please note that masks may be required for classes while in enclosed areas, such as vehicles and buildings, based on local and regional health conditions.

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Petrified Forest Field Institute

Learn - Explore - Discover

  • Home
  • Custom Trips
    • Guided Custom Trips
    • “Step-On” Bus Tours
  • Classes
  • Upcoming
  • Instructors
  • FAQs
  • Webcam
  • Interactive Map
  • Contact
    • General Contact Form
    • Class Registration
Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Dig Fossils for a Day

August 13, 2016 @ 8:00 am - 4:30 pm MST

  • « Every Picture Tells A Story: Photo Journaling
  • Long Exposures, Short on Light: The Painted Desert at Dusk »
Dig Fossils for a Day Class | NPS Photo

Instructor: Bill Parker

Prepare to get dirty digging in the Triassic Chinle Formation for fossil bones of giant amphibians, reptiles, and even early dinosaurs. Join the park paleontologist for a fossil dig in the Petrified Forest National Park. This one day excursion provides an introduction to paleontology field work.

The trip starts with a behind the scenes tour of the park fossil collections and then travel ‘off the beaten’ path to the dig site. We provide the training and the tools. This is a real-life adventure where participants participate in a real paleontological dig. Collected specimens become part of the park’s museum collection.

Schedule

  • 8:00 AM – Painted Desert Visitor Center (Exit 311, I-40) – Introduction and tour of collections.
  • 8:45 AM – Travel to dig site
  • 9:30 AM–3:30 PM – Partake in a fossil excavation (includes 1/2 hour lunch)
  • 3:30 PM – Return to Painted Desert Visitor Center
  • 4:30 PM – Class dismissed

Cost:

  • $159 – Non-Member
  • $130 – Member

 

Registration Form

 

Class Notes

We provide training, equipment, tools, transportation, and lunch.

Participants should provide their own sunscreen, insect repellent, hat, light sweater or jacket and sturdy shoes. There is no shade in the quarry, hats are recommended. During monsoon season, gnats and mosquitos are present and temperatures and conditions can change with little notice.

Maximum number of participants: 10
Minimum age of participants: 12 (must be accompanied by parent or guardian)

Fieldwork will involve walking/hiking into a remote areas with uneven terrain and may be strenuous for some. Quarry work includes use of hammers and chisels, pick axes, sledgehammers, trowels, brushes and awls. Fossil collection may involve casting fossils in the field using plaster and burlap, heavy lifting and transport of heavy, awkward objects. The participant may be exposed to extreme heat or freezing conditions, rain, hail, lightning or flashfloods. The volunteer will work in and around four-wheel drive vehicles in off road conditions.

  • Google Calendar
  • iCalendar
  • Outlook 365
  • Outlook Live

Details

Date:
August 13, 2016
Time:
8:00 am - 4:30 pm MST
Event Category:
Paleontology
Event Tags:
Bill Parker

Venue

Painted Desert Visitor Center
1 Park Road
Petrified Forest National Park, AZ 86028 United States
Phone:
(928) 524-6228 ext. 239
  • « Every Picture Tells A Story: Photo Journaling
  • Long Exposures, Short on Light: The Painted Desert at Dusk »

Primary Sidebar

Petrified Forest Field Institute

Petrified Forest Field Institute (PFFI) is a program of the official nonprofit park partner, the Petrified Forest Museum Association (PFMA). PFFI is proud to offer guided hiking tours exploring a variety of fun and compelling subjects led by world-class guides and field experts.

Newsletter

Stay up to date with park news. Unsubscribe at any time.

Hamsters spinning wheel...

Thank you for signing up!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Petrified Forest Field Institute · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Log in

Photos courtesy of Petrified Forest National Park unless stated otherwise.