Fossil Hunting in Wyoming

3 verified locations for fossil hunting in Wyoming. Each page includes exact permit requirements, restrictions, and what to know before you go.

2 Allowed

1 Prohibited

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Allowed

Como Bluff

Wyoming, Carbon·Fossil hunting

Como Bluff is open for casual collection of invertebrate and plant fossils from the Sundance and Morrison Formations. The dinosaur fossils that made this site famous — Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, Stegosaurus — are vertebrate material and prohibited from casual collection under PRPA 2009.

Invertebrate and plant fossils: casual collection allowed up to 25 lbs/day on BLM land under PRPA 2009
Vertebrate fossils (dinosaur bones, teeth, tracks, and any fish or reptile material): prohibited from casual collection — all vertebrate material must be left in place

Prohibited

Fossil Butte National Monument

Wyoming, Lincoln·Fossil hunting

All fossil collecting is prohibited at Fossil Butte National Monument under 36 CFR 2.1 — the federal casual-collection allowance that applies to nearby BLM land does not extend to National Park Service units. Private fee-dig quarries three minutes from the visitor center offer the legal alternative.

Collecting any fossil, rock, or natural object is prohibited under 36 CFR 2.1(a)(1) — this covers surface fragments and loose shale pieces, not just intact specimens
PRPA 2009's casual-collection allowance for invertebrate and plant fossils applies only to BLM and Bureau of Reclamation land under 43 CFR Part 49 — it does not extend to National Park Service units, so 'it's just a fish fossil' is not an exception here

Allowed

Green River Formation (BLM)

Wyoming, Lincoln·Fossil hunting

The Green River Formation's famous Knightia fish are vertebrate material — casual collecting on open BLM land near Kemmerer does not include them, despite widespread mislabeling as an invertebrate fossil. Plant and insect fossils are casually collectable under PRPA 2009; the fish come only from fee-dig quarries on leased or private ground.

Common invertebrate and plant fossils (insects, plant impressions, ostracods) may be casually collected on open BLM land — up to 25 lb/day, no permit, under PRPA 2009
CRITICAL: Knightia and all other Green River fish are vertebrate material, not invertebrate, despite frequent mislabeling — casual collecting does not cover them on BLM land under any circumstance