Fossil Hunting at Calvert Cliffs State Park, Maryland
ALLOWED
No permit required
Key Conditions
- Collecting is limited to fossils already lying loose on the beach and in the surf zone, plus material in blocks that have fallen from the cliffs — no permit and no fee beyond parking.
- Collecting from the cliffs themselves is illegal, and climbing on or walking beneath them is prohibited outright because of active landslide risk.
- The beach is reached only on foot: 1.8 miles each way on the Red Trail from the parking lot, so everything you sift with has to be carried in and out.
- Sieves and shovels may be used to sift beach sand — a meaningful contrast with the tool bans at many collecting sites.
- Day use is $5 per vehicle plus $2 for out-of-state vehicles, cash only; the park is open dawn to dusk.
The cliffs are closed — all of them, all year
Climbing upon and walking beneath the cliffs is prohibited at Calvert Cliffs State Park, and collecting fossils from the cliffs themselves is illegal. This is not a seasonal or conditional closure and it is not about protecting the outcrop for science. Maryland DNR closes the area because the cliffs erode actively, slump without warning, and have caused serious injuries.
What that leaves is genuinely generous: everything already on the beach, in the surf zone, or inside blocks that have already come down is fair game. The cliffs do the excavation. Your job is to be there at the right tide afterwards.
Maryland's general state park rule says you may not remove a rock or a mineral from a State park at all. COMAR 08.07.06.13(B) is blunt about it, and it is the reason a lot of visitors arrive here unsure whether they are about to break the law by pocketing a shark tooth.
The answer is that subsection C of the same regulation lets the Park Service permit removal, and DNR publishes beach fossil collecting at Calvert Cliffs as an allowed activity. So the permission is real, but it is narrow and it is local. It covers fossils, on this beach. It does not turn into a right to take rocks, driftwood or live shells, and it does not travel to the next Maryland state park down the road.
The geology behind all of it is three stacked Miocene units — the Calvert, Choptank and St. Marys Formations, oldest to youngest, running north to south along 24 miles of shoreline on the west side of the Chesapeake. Roughly 6 to 20 million years of shallow marine deposition, and more than 600 identified fossil species. The park owns about a quarter-mile of the beach at the bottom of it.
What you are actually walking past
The three formations exposed along Calvert Cliffs are all Miocene marine sediments, laid down when this part of Maryland was a shallow, warm sea:
- Calvert Formation — the oldest, exposed at the northern end of the shoreline. The source of most Ecphora material.
- Choptank Formation — the middle unit, rich in Chesapecten scallop beds.
- St. Marys Formation — the youngest, exposed to the south.
The teeth everyone comes for are shed shark teeth, not skeletal remains: sharks replace teeth continuously through life, which is why a single beach can produce them by the thousand while intact shark fossils remain vanishingly rare. Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae is Maryland's official state fossil shell, and its rust-brown ribbing makes it the one Calvert Cliffs fossil that is unmistakable in the hand.
Getting to the Beach
Fees and access confirmed against Maryland DNR's park page, September 2026. The cash-only entrance is the single most common logistical failure for first-time visitors.
Where else the Calvert Cliffs teeth wash up
| Site | Who runs it | Cost | Cliff access | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvert Cliffs State Park | Maryland DNR | $5/vehicle (+$2 out-of-state), cash | Closed — no climbing, no walking beneath | 1.8-mile walk each way; sieves and shovels permitted on the beach |
| Flag Ponds Nature Park (Lusby) | Calvert County Parks & Recreation | $5/vehicle Nov–Mar; Apr–Oct $5 in-county, $15 others | No cliffs on the beach | Shorter walk than Calvert Cliffs; teeth wash in rather than falling in |
| Matoaka Cottages | Private property | ~$10/person, cash, generally 8 a.m.–sunset | Beach and cliff area accessible by the owners' permission | The usual answer for visitors who specifically want cliff-adjacent collecting; call before traveling |
| Bay Front Park ("Brownies Beach"), Chesapeake Beach | Town of Chesapeake Beach | Resident verification required | n/a | Currently closed to non-residents; violators are cited for trespass |
| Purse area, Nanjemoy WMA (Charles County) | Maryland DNR | Free, sunrise to sunset | Undeveloped Potomac shoreline | Paleocene material on the Potomac, not Miocene Chesapeake — a genuinely different fauna, not a substitute |
Fees and access verified September 2026. Only the first and last rows are DNR land; the others run their own rules and can change access without notice.
Two days after a nor'easter, at low tide
The single variable that separates a good session here from a mediocre one is what the weather did 24 to 48 hours earlier. Storm surge cuts the toe of the cliffs, drops fresh material onto the beach face, and re-sorts the existing shell hash. Arrive on the falling tide after that and you are working freshly delivered gravel rather than a strip that four hundred people picked over last weekend.
On a calm week the same beach is thin. Check the Chesapeake Bay tide table for Cove Point and plan to be at the waterline for the two hours either side of low — the 1.8-mile walk means you need to leave the car park roughly 45 minutes before you want to be collecting.
Season by Season on the Bay Beach
Winter (Dec–Feb)
GoodThe strongest window. Winter nor'easters do the most cliff-face erosion of the year, the beach is close to empty, and there are no sea nettles in the water. Cold and exposed — the beach faces east across open bay — but the material is freshest and the competition is lowest.
Spring (Mar–May)
GoodStorm-reworked beach from the winter is still productive and the walk in is at its most pleasant. Crowds build from April onward as school groups and day-trippers from the D.C. and Baltimore metros return.
Summer (Jun–Aug)
PoorPeak crowds on a quarter-mile of beach, the calmest water of the year so the least fresh material, and Chesapeake Bay sea nettles through July and August make wading the shallows genuinely unpleasant. The 3.6-mile round trip in Maryland humidity is its own deterrent.
Fall (Sep–Nov)
GoodAtlantic hurricane season remnants and early nor'easters start reworking the shoreline again while temperatures stay comfortable, crowds fall away after Labor Day, and the sea nettles are gone. The best combination of conditions and comfort in the year.
What Actually Earns Its Place in the Pack
- OptionalSifting sieve— DNR specifically permits sieves and shovels for sifting the beach sand here. A hand sieve with roughly ¼-inch mesh over the waterline gravel is the standard setup.
- OptionalSmall hand shovel or scoop— For loading the sieve from the swash zone. Nothing larger is useful, and nothing at all goes near the cliff face.
- RequiredBackpack— 3.6 miles round trip on foot. A bucket that seemed fine at the car is a different proposition at mile three.
- RequiredWater shoes or old sneakers— The productive ground is wet cobble and shell hash, not dry sand.
- OptionalPill box or small screw-top vials— Sand tiger teeth run one to two centimeters and vanish in a jacket pocket.
- RequiredWater and food— There is nothing at the beach end of the trail — no tap, no kiosk, no bins.
- RequiredCash for the entrance— $5 per vehicle plus $2 out-of-state, cash only. There is no card payment at the gate.
Pre-Visit Checklist
- Checked the Cove Point tide table and timed arrival for the two hours either side of low tide
- Checked whether a storm or nor'easter passed in the last 48 hours — the best single predictor of a good day here
- Cash in hand for the entrance: $5 per vehicle, $2 more out-of-state
- Budgeted 45 minutes each way for the 1.8-mile Red Trail, plus daylight to walk back out before dusk
- Packed everything into a backpack — nothing gets driven to the beach
- Clear that the cliffs and the ground beneath them are closed, and that collecting is beach-only
- Aware the park's beach is a quarter-mile stretch; shoreline beyond it is private property
Permits & Licenses
| Permit | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fossil collecting on the park beach | No | No permit, license or registration. Maryland DNR publishes the allowance directly: fossil hunting is done at the open beach area at the end of the Red Trail, and material that has fallen or washed onto the beach may be collected. There is no published quantity limit for personal collecting on this beach. |
| Day-use vehicle fee | Yes | Cash only — there is no card reader at the entrance, which catches out a large share of first-time visitors driving down from the Washington and Baltimore metros. |
| Scientific or commercial collecting permit | Yes | Anything beyond personal beach collecting — excavating, working the cliff face, or collecting for sale or research — falls outside the recreational allowance and needs written Park Service permission under COMAR 08.07.06.13(C). Contact the park before assuming a project qualifies. |
Time & Seasonal Restrictions
- Climbing upon and walking beneath the cliffs is prohibited; the area beneath the cliffs is closed because of active erosion and landslides that have caused serious injuries.
- Collecting fossils from beneath or out of the cliffs is illegal — only material already loose on the beach, in the surf zone, or in blocks that have already fallen may be taken.
- The park is day-use only, open dawn to dusk; there is no overnight access to the beach.
- The beach is a quarter-mile stretch reached by a 1.8-mile trail; there is no vehicle access and no drop-off point.
- Swimming is permitted but there is no lifeguard on duty at any time of year.
- The general state park rule against removing rocks, minerals, plants or animals (COMAR 08.07.06.13) still governs everything other than the beach fossil allowance — do not extend it to rocks, driftwood or live shells.
- Beach access north and south of the park's own stretch crosses onto private waterfront; the tall cliff sections most visitors photograph are not park land.
Equipment Notes
- A sifting sieve — DNR explicitly notes that sieves and shovels may be used to sift the beach sand here, which is not the norm at fossil sites
- A small hand shovel or scoop for working the waterline gravel; nothing heavier is useful and nothing goes near the cliffs
- A backpack rather than a bucket — 3.6 miles round trip on foot means everything rides on your shoulders both ways
- Water shoes or old sneakers; the productive zone is the wet swash where cobble and shell hash sit
- Small containers or a pill box for teeth — a Miocene sand tiger tooth is a centimeter long and disappears in a pocket
- A tide table for the Chesapeake Bay at Cove Point, checked before you leave home rather than at the trailhead
What People Find Here
- Shark teeth from the Miocene: sand tiger, tiger shark, hammerhead and, far less often, Otodus megalodon
- Ecphora — the ribbed, rust-colored gastropod that is Maryland's official state fossil shell, and one of the most recognizable Calvert Formation fossils
- Chesapecten, the large scallop that gives Calvert Cliffs material much of its bulk
- Miocene oyster shell, ray dental plates, and fragmentary bone and vertebrae washed from the same beds
- More than 600 fossil species have been identified from the Calvert Cliffs exposures as a whole, spanning roughly 6 to 20 million years
Penalties for Violations
← Scroll to see all columns
| Violation | Statute | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Removing or disturbing a rock, mineral, plant or animal in a Maryland State park outside a published allowance | COMAR 08.07.06.13(B); authority Md. Nat. Res. Art. § 5-209 | Citation issued by Maryland Natural Resources Police; Natural Resources violations are charged as misdemeanors and carry prepayable fines set by the District Court fine schedule |
| Climbing on the cliffs or walking through the closed area beneath them | Park closure published by the Maryland Park Service under COMAR 08.07.06 | Ejection from the park and citation. DNR's stated reason is injuries from landslides, not resource protection — enforcement here is a safety matter |
| Digging fossils out of the cliff face rather than collecting fallen material | COMAR 08.07.06.13(B) | Outside the beach allowance entirely; citation, and the collected material is subject to forfeiture |
| Collecting on the private shoreline north or south of the park beach without permission | Md. Criminal Law Art. § 6-402 (trespass on posted property) | Misdemeanor trespass; adjoining owners along this shoreline do post and do prosecute |
Etiquette & Leave No Trace
- Fill any hole you dig in the beach before you leave — the same stretch of sand gets worked by dozens of people a weekend
- Stay off the cliffs even where someone else has visibly climbed them; the closure exists because people have been hurt here
- Leave the large fallen blocks intact rather than breaking them up; they release material naturally over successive tides
- Don't crowd a fresh slump — wait for the person already working it to move on rather than sifting over their shoulder
- Carry your trash the full 1.8 miles back out; there are no bins at the beach end of the Red Trail
- If you turn up something clearly vertebrate and substantial — a large bone, an articulated section — photograph it in place and tell park staff before removing it
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I collect fossils directly from the cliffs at Calvert Cliffs State Park?
No. Collecting from the cliffs is illegal, and climbing on them or walking beneath them is prohibited outright. The cliffs erode actively and the slumps have caused serious injuries — DNR closes the area beneath them for that reason. Everything you may legally keep is material the cliffs have already delivered to the beach.
If Maryland state parks ban removing rocks and minerals, how is fossil collecting allowed here?
COMAR 08.07.06.13(B) is the statewide default and it does prohibit removing a rock or mineral from a State park. Subsection C of the same regulation lets the Park Service permit removal, and DNR publishes beach fossil collecting at Calvert Cliffs as an allowed activity. The permission is specific to fossils on this beach — it does not extend to rocks, driftwood, live shells or anything else, and it does not carry over to other Maryland state parks.
How far is the walk to the fossil beach?
1.8 miles each way on the Red Trail, so 3.6 miles round trip on foot. There is no vehicle access, so every sieve, shovel and bottle of water you want at the beach gets carried both directions — which is why a backpack beats a bucket here.
Am I likely to find a megalodon tooth?
Possible, not likely. Megalodon teeth do come off this shoreline, but the overwhelming majority of what a visitor picks up in a day are sand tiger and small tiger-shark teeth a centimeter or two long. The large teeth tend to appear after storm surge has stripped and re-sorted the beach, and the park beach is a quarter-mile of shoreline that gets searched hard every weekend.
Can I use a sifter and shovel on the beach?
Yes. Maryland DNR states plainly that sieves and shovels may be used to sift the sand at the park beach. That makes Calvert Cliffs unusually tool-permissive compared with sites that restrict collecting to surface pickup — but the permission covers the beach only, never the cliff face.
Is there anywhere nearby where I can get to the cliffs themselves?
Matoaka Cottages, a private property a short drive north, allows paid beach and cliff-area access for around $10 per person, cash, and is the usual answer for visitors who want cliff-adjacent collecting. Flag Ponds Nature Park, run by Calvert County, has beach collecting without cliffs. Bay Front Park at Chesapeake Beach — often called Brownies Beach — has been restricted to verified residents. None of those are state park land and each sets its own rules and fees.
When is the best time to search this beach?
Low tide, one or two days after a storm or a strong nor'easter. Storm surge cuts into the cliff toe and delivers fresh material, and low tide exposes the waterline gravel where teeth concentrate. Both conditions together are worth more than any amount of extra time on an ordinary calm day.
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Disclaimer
Information is provided for general guidance only. Regulations change frequently. Always verify current rules with the official jurisdiction before relying on this information for legal decisions. Permitted Pursuits is not a substitute for official agency guidance. Report an error.
Sources
- Maryland DNR — Calvert Cliffs State Park (collecting rules, cliff closure, Red Trail, fees)(accessed 2026-09-07)
- Maryland Geological Survey — Fossil Collecting Sites at Calvert Cliffs(accessed 2026-09-07)
- COMAR 08.07.06.13 — Use of State Parks: Plants, Rocks, Minerals, and Animals(accessed 2026-09-07)
- Maryland DNR — "Prehistoric Shark Teeth Can Be Found at Public Lands Near You" (September 2025)(accessed 2026-09-07)
- Maryland Geological Survey — Calvert Cliffs Fossils (Calvert, Choptank and St. Marys Formations)(accessed 2026-09-07)
Last verified: 2026-09-07 · Last updated: 2026-09-07