Prohibited
Garden Park Fossil Area
Colorado, Fremont·Fossil hunting
Fossil collecting is prohibited across all of Garden Park Fossil Area — a BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern where even invertebrate fossils, normally open to casual collecting on BLM land, cannot be removed.
- All fossil and rock collecting is closed across the entire Garden Park Fossil Area, not just vertebrate material — the site carries a triple protective designation (BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern since 1996, Colorado Research Natural Area since 1991, and National Natural Landmark, expanded to 3,208 acres in 2013) that closes the area to consumptive resource use altogether
- This is stricter than the PRPA default most BLM fossil sites on this list follow, where invertebrate and plant fossils stay open to 25 lb/day casual collecting while only vertebrate material is restricted — Garden Park's ACEC/Research Natural Area status removes that invertebrate carve-out entirely at this specific site