Where to Find Fossils in Ohio
Ohio has 9 mapped collecting spots that report fossils, spread across 8 counties. The largest share sits in Ottawa County with 2 spots. 9 of the spots are on land mapped as publicly accessible.
Map of 9 fossils collecting spots in Ohio
Standout fossils spots in Ohio
Hand-picked from the full list below, with the reason each one earns a trip.
Oakes Quarry Park
Greene County
Oakes Quarry Park exposes the Silurian Brassfield Formation, roughly 440 million years old, and preserves two ancient patch reefs that have yielded 29 species of crinoids, some among the largest ever described.
Trammel Fossil Park
Hamilton County
A graded hillside at Trammel Fossil Park lays bare several formations of Upper Ordovician Cincinnatian limestone and shale, over 440 million years old, in a suburb of the city that gives the Cincinnatian Series its name.
Medusa Quarry in Sylvania
Lucas County
This five-acre former Medusa cement quarry, now the Olander Park District's Fossil Park, is set into the Middle Devonian Silica Formation, a shale famous worldwide for beautifully preserved trilobites and more than 200 species of marine invertebrates about 375 million years old.
Hueston Woods State Park
Preble County
Hueston Woods is one of the few Ohio state parks that permits fossil collecting, and it is regarded as one of the best places in the world to find Upper Ordovician fossils.
Caesar Creek Lake Spillway
Warren County
The emergency spillway below Caesar Creek dam cut through Upper Ordovician bedrock and exposed one of the richest fossil beds in the eastern United States, packed with brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, horn corals, and the trilobite Isotelus, the animal Ohio adopted as its state invertebrate fossil.
Best counties for fossils in Ohio
Ranked by the number of mapped fossils spots. County links open the full rockhounding page for that county.
- Ottawa County2 spots
- Erie County1 spot
- Greene County1 spot
- Hamilton County1 spot
- Lucas County1 spot
- Preble County1 spot
- Seneca County1 spot
- Warren County1 spot
Every fossils spot we track in Ohio
Sorted by county. Coordinates open in Google Maps.
| Spot | County | Minerals | Coordinates | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SanduskyEast Strub Road | Erie County | 41.4170, -82.6803 | Public | |
| Oakes Quarry ParkEast Xenia Drive | Greene County | 39.7901, -83.9821 | Public | |
| Trammel Fossil ParkTramway Drive | Hamilton County |
| 39.2806, -84.4028 | Public |
| Medusa Quarry in SylvaniaBrint Road | Lucas County | 41.7005, -83.7474 | Public | |
| Clay Center limestone quarryNorth Bolander Road | Ottawa County | 41.5744, -83.3635 | Public | |
| GenoaMain Street | Ottawa County | 41.5080, -83.3544 | Public | |
| Hueston Woods State ParkFour Mile Creek | Preble County |
| 39.5810, -84.7490 | Public |
| Maple Grove QuarryCr42 | Seneca County | 41.2256, -83.2137 | Public | |
| Caesar Creek Lake SpillwayNorth Clarksville Road | Warren County |
| 39.4878, -84.0640 | Public |
Fossils in Ohio FAQ
Where can you find fossils in Ohio?+
How many fossils spots are mapped in Ohio?+
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Where else to find fossils
More minerals to hunt in Ohio
Hunt fossils in Ohio with the map in your pocket
RockHoundR puts these spots on an offline map with BLM and Forest Service overlays, geology layers, and a log for your finds.
