Fossil Collecting in the Mid-Atlantic States: With Localities, Collecting Tips, and Illustrations of More than 450 Fossil Specimens

This book lists many places to collect fossils. I have been to some areas but check with property owners to see if collecting is still allowed.

Boik in grear condition.

I knew I was going to travel to the mid-Atlantic states, so I ordered thia book from an Amazon vendor. Then my trip got fast-tracked, and I had to go before the book arrived. Luckily I had a few weekend hours to see the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum, and there I found the same book for twice the price, so I had a copy while I was there. My acquaintances in Virginia share my interest in fossils, and we easily picked out a few weekend field trips from the many collecting sites in the book. I've executed one of them already--the road cut on Rte 60, a couple of miles east of Lexington, VA. The Shenandoah Valley in mid-October is sublime, and the section of road-cut with the fossiliferous face exposed was dead-on right where the author described it. Based on my limited experience hunting mid-Atlantic fossils, I'd say this book is worth the price because it is right about the location information it gives. If you read carefully and go, things will probably be just like the book says. The book did everything for me except holding my hand--it organized sites by area, identified parking places, showed detailed sketches of common finds, ... Not any maps to speak of, but the author's good communication skills, and power of observation, make the book pretty darned easy to follow to a collecting site. The sketches provides good visual information to prime your eyes with, to know in advance what you're looking for. The drawings of fossils are instructive with lots of examples showing the textures and shapes of fossils found in the sites. Here is a fossil coral I found in the road cut outside of Lexington:[...] Next field trip: The Harrisburg, PA area for trilobites, as described in the book, it sounds promising and easy to reach and collect from. I do wish the book provided a concise discussion of Miocene fossil sites, I know there are many incredible things, like dinnerplate-sized scallop shells, and Megalodon teeth, found in grey marl clay of tidewater Virginia and Maryland. This fossil-bearing clay is common, so common that at times it has been mined for its high calcium content (from the fossil shells) and spread on agricultural plots to "sweeten" the soil, where soil acidity is higher than desired for crops. Perhaps USGS mineral maps or state-sponsored geological/mineral surveys would help me, but this book didn't go very far in that direction. But it is a great book about a topic that isn't nearly represented well enough in the book stores. I will use over and over!

the book is brand new and is exactly the one i want.

just what I wanted. Explicit directions and descriptions. Have just moved to VA and can hardly wait until spring comes when we go exploring. Both parents and children enjoy this outdoor activity and learn basic facts about geography and geology.

Great illustrations make this book shine. Practical and interesting information. Useful for the person interested in fossils even if they he or she never gets to the locations.

Very informative book. I used the book to take my son fossil hunting.

lots of information, but it is an old book and fossil sites often shut down. I have yet to find a way to check these before we make a trip .