300 MILLION YEAR OLD COLLECTIBLES

The Mineral Wells Fossil Park, located outside of Mineral Wells, offers visitors a unique fossil hunting and collecting experience. Bring zip bags, knee pads, a shade hat, water, snacks, and sunscreen because the rocks and fossils you’ll find in this park are keepers! The park’s treasures, three hundred million year old fossils from what geologists refer to as the Pennsylvanian Period, have been exposed as a result of erosion in the city’s landfill gravel pit, closed for use in the 1990’s. Years of rain, runoff, and wind have uncovered a trove of ancient seabed fossils, making the pit perfect hunting grounds for fossil enthusiasts and professional paleontologists, as well as gem and mineral groups and societies across the southern U.S.

What can you expect to find? The most common fossils are crinoids, or sea lilies - decorative, button-like fossils, often with holes through the middle - making them a favorite of jewelers and artists. While crinoids look like plants, they are actually marine animals. Other fossilized animals include ancient oysters, clams, snails and the odd Trilobite, one of the earliest known groups of invertebrates. Modern-day invertebrates include butterflies, crabs, and spiders. A favorite find among enthusiasts is the fossilized primitive shark’s tooth.