Twentymile Creek: Fossil Hunting in Prentiss County, Mississippi
- Minerals reported
- 2
- Elevation
- 340 ft
- Best months
- Year-round
Twenty Mile Creek near Baldwyn cuts through the Campanian Demopolis Formation and the underlying Coffee Sand, exposing a marine fossil bed roughly 75 million years old. Erosion frees shark teeth, oyster and scallop shells, sponges, and occasional mosasaur, turtle, and crocodile material along the streambed. It is the state's most productive and accessible Cretaceous fossil locality, developed into a public county fossil park in 1995. Reported finds include fossil, petrified wood. Below: coordinates, access notes, nearby spots, and trip-planning links.
Plan your visit
Generally open to casual rockhounding
- County
- Prentiss County
- State
- Mississippi
- Nearest road
- County Road 7450
- Postcode
- 38824
- Coordinates
- 34.58542, -88.63065
Coordinates are approximate. Confirm the exact ground in the RockHoundR app, where land overlays show which agency manages the area.
Land & collecting status
Generally open to casual rockhounding
Most public-tagged spots sit on BLM, U.S. Forest Service, or other federal land where reasonable hand collecting of common rocks and minerals is allowed. Confirm posted rules and active mining claims before you dig.
Access note: Free and open to the public at the W.M. Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park, off U.S. Route 45 at Twenty Mile Creek near Baldwyn. No permit is required and visitors may keep common invertebrate finds. Collecting is surface and streambed screening; the county asks that vertebrate finds of scientific value be reported.
Public-land rules vary by agency, season, and field office. The RockHoundR app pulls live BLM, USFS, NPS, and tribal overlays so you can see exactly which agency manages the ground at this spot.
Best time to visit Twentymile Creek
Comfortable months (45 to 90°F highs)
Conditions here are workable year-round, with typical highs from 51°F in winter to 89°F in summer.
Climate normals: NOAA 1991-2020 monthlies, BOONEVILLE station (5 mi away), adjusted for elevation.
Geology at Twentymile Creek
This spot sits on Coffee sand, mapped as sand and clay that formed roughly 100 to 66 million years ago. Reworked sediments like these can carry fossils eroded from older beds upstream, typically as rolled bone fragments, teeth, and shell material.
- Mapped unit
- Coffee sand
- Age
- 100–66 Ma (Late Cretaceous)
- Rock types
- sand and clay
- Elevation
- 340 ft
Geologic mapping via Macrostrat and the underlying state geological survey maps (CC BY 4.0). Bedrock at the surface can vary within a mapped unit.
Today's weather
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Get the appSources & verification
Spot details combine the public RockHoundR location dataset, normalized mineral labels, agency land-status checks in the app, and community submissions. Coordinates are approximate until verified in the field.
- Mississippi Office of Geology
- National Forests in Mississippi
- Mississippi State Parks rules
- Community submissions reviewed against published agency rules
Found at Twentymile Creek
Each name opens all spots that produce that material; the encyclopedia link opens the full ID and field guide.
Nearby rockhounding spots
Other rockhounding spots within driving distance of Twentymile Creek.
- PadenTishomingo County, Mississippi · 19 mi awayAmber
- LukaTishomingo County, Mississippi · 28 mi awayRed Ocher, Yellow Ocher
- Tombigbee RiverItawamba County, Mississippi · 29 mi awayShark Tooth
- Holly Springs National ForestMarshall County, Mississippi · 41 mi awayPetrified Wood
- Mississippi RiverTunica County, Mississippi · 105 mi awayAgate, Fossil
Across the state line from Twentymile Creek
Twentymile Creek is close enough to the Mississippi border that the next-closest rockhounding spots are in a neighboring state. Worth knowing if you are already on the road.
- Coffee BluffHardin County, Tennessee · 52 mi awayAmber
- Tennessee River (Muscle Shoals)Colbert County, Alabama · 56 mi awayChert, Fossil, Chalcedony
- Tennessee River & StreamsDecatur County, Tennessee · 61 mi awayPearl
- BrilliantMarion County, Alabama · 63 mi awayPetrified Wood, Quartz
- Wayne CountyWayne County, Tennessee · 71 mi awayChert, Agatized Fossil, Flint
- Bankhead National ForestWinston County, Alabama · 73 mi awayQuartz, Chert, Fossil
Twentymile Creek FAQ
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More rockhounding in Mississippi
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