Permitted Pursuits

Fossil Hunting in North Carolina

1 verified location for fossil hunting in North Carolina. Each page includes exact permit requirements, restrictions, and what to know before you go.

1 Allowed

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Allowed

Aurora Fossil Museum Fossil Park

North Carolina, Beaufort·Fossil hunting

Fossil collecting is free at the Aurora Fossil Museum's two public pits, and everything you find is yours to keep — shark teeth and whale bone included.

  • Collecting is confined to the two public pits in the Fossil Park across Main Street from the museum. The Nutrien phosphate mine that supplies the material is an active industrial site and has not admitted public fossil collectors since 2009.
  • Digging tool handles must be under 36 inches — a garden trowel or small hand rake, not a shovel. Screens are capped at 12 in × 12 in with 1/4-inch maximum mesh.