We will generally meet in Dickinson, at the parking lot of the Dickinson Museum Center. The museum is closed when we meet, but there are gas stations nearby if you need last-minute snacks or a restroom break. Exact time will be announced in your dig info email.
This dig is more strenuous than the other fossil sites we work at. Instead of a quarry, this site is a prospecting site. This means we’ll be wandering and hiking all day, potentially up and down scree slopes (can be like walking on marbles), across open grass, avoiding gopher holes, occasional cacti and rattleshanes, etc. We do not have an age maximum on any of our digs – just be aware of your own physical limitations, on whether you think you could hike all day carrying your pack / water / food.
Due to the wandering nature of this site, we will not have a shade tent set up. Your best course of action is to find shade under an overhang of rock, wear a good wide hat, and drink plenty of water.
Please bring more water than you think you will need – it tends to get hot, and we don’t want people to become dehydrated. You will also need to pack your own lunch. We ask that you not bring a giant cooler along, since there will not be a lot of extra room in the passenger van, and you would need to haul it everywhere with you. Hat, sunglasses, and of course a camera. We will provide all the tools you will be using throughout the day. We pack out what we pack in, so please take all garbage back with you. No littering!
The Dickinson Area is situated in a spot we call the Little Badlands. Much like the Big Badlands of South Dakota, this area includes creatures from the Oligocene (32-30 million years ago). Dinosaurs are extinct by this point, and mammals have exploded in diversity. We have found small nimravid and sabertoothed cats, pig-like entelodonts, hornless rhinos, dog-sized three-toed horses, weasel-sized dogs, rodents, miniature deer, bats, frogs, lizards, snakes, tortoises, alligators, and of course dung-beetle balls (baby beetle food!).
If we’re very lucky, yes. Most of the time we find parts and pieces – and at this site especially: teeth. The extra cool thing about these teeth is that they glow neon orange under UV light. Very fun for a midnight flashlight run.
No – all fossils found will return to the State Fossil Collection in Bismarck, ND.
Most of the land we search on is State, Federal, or Foundation land (US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Teddy Roosevelt Medora Foundation, etc.), and the NDGS curates whatever is found. This particular site is located on private land, and the owners want to see all the fossils available for public use. Feel free to take photos of whatever you find however!
Not at this site. Please make sure you go before we leave. If you need to go, hike away from others and find a spot that makes you comfortable. Bury anything left behind. Leave No Trace!
Yes, there is good signal in the area, but we ask that as courtesy to the other diggers, if you are going to use your phone to chat, please head away from others. It tends to get very distracting.
Yes, but just like the cell phone use, as a courtesy to the other diggers we ask that you smoke away from others. Please take your cigarette butts with you as well – we want to make sure the area stays clean. Plus, this area is ranched, and cattle are curious and will eat things left behind.
There are many places to stay. You may choose somewhere in Dickinson, and meet us at the Museum. Some people fly in to Bismarck, and rent a hotel there, then caravan out with us in the morning.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g49761-Dickinson_North_Dakota-Hotels.html
Dickinson has many restaurants to choose from, as does Bismarck. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g49761-Dickinson_North_Dakota.html