UTAH Summer Fossil Dig

Unbelievable fossil hunting, huge geodes to find and keep, topaz gemstone hunting, beautiful agates, petrified wood, plus lots more! Call for details!!

Contact us at 1-800-411-DINO (3466) for more info.

2010 Dinosaurs Rock Utah Fossil Dig Group

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WARNING: This Fossil Dig is
Not for Everyone! Please Read below
prior to signing up:

1. You must be in good enough physical shape to walk a 1/2 mile without being winded.
2. You must be able to withstand long car rides (with your kids) for sometimes up to 3 hours.
3. While we make every attempt to stop at bathroom facilities along the way to a dig site, if going to the bathroom in the "field" makes you grossed out, this is not for you.
4. There is absolutely NO ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION while we are in the field together.  You may however do whatever you like when we return to the hotel.
5. Somewhere, at sometime, you or someone else will experience a  "FLAT TIRE".   Are you willing to help, or will you complain?
6.  If your are used to fancy hotels and being catered too and want to sit at a pool and eat all day - please don't sign up!
7. This is a REAL FOSSIL & MINERAL DIG. You may or may not always find specimens. We may decide at the last minute to investigate a new location which is quite adventurous but no guarantees. So far everyone took home loads of specimens. It may be better for some of you to purchase our EXCAVATION KITS that replicate a real fossil dig and do this right in your own air conditioned comfortable home.
8. You must be open minded so if we say we should be back to the hotel at 6PM or 7 PM and it turns out to be 8PM or 9PM, is this too much for you to handle?
9. Utah is dry and hot. So far our Fossil Digs were in the mid to upper 80's. Is heat a problem for you?
10. You need to follow directions carefully such as keeping your gas tank full in the morning and making sure your kids don't stray too far from the group.
11. Finally, can you do this whole thing on your own? YES! Remember though, there is NO CELL PHONE SERVICE on many of the roads. You are driving for the most part on dirty, dusty roads that often times gives you a flat tire (mostly on passenger car tires). Maps are hard to follow and the sites you try to find may or may not exist anymore. We travel in caravan style and work with walkie-talkies for communication.

OK - that was the bad part and I wanted to cover this first.
Now for the cool stuff.

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What an amazing experience this will be – I’m Leslie Freund.  My husband (Neil Brown) founded Dinosaurs Rock 10 years ago.  Neil has been a fossil/mineral fanatic since he was a child and he brings his passion to all our educational programs….especially to this adventure travel tour.  He has an amazing connection with kids and that’s why this trip is so unique…we’ve made what could be a “watching paint dry” experience into one that is fun, interactive, as social as you’d like it to be and totally memorable for both the adults & kids.  And, yes, everyone finds lots and lots of fossil and mineral specimens to take home.  There’s something totally awe-inspiring about making these discoveries in their natural environment.  It’s hard to convey in writing (I think some of the visuals/testimonials on our site do a better job.  

 

Pricing is $699 per person which includes 

- Welcome & Pre-tour evening orientation approx 7PM  -  the night before Day 1 

- 3 day guided tour led by founders of DINOSAURS ROCK and local Utah-based geologists/fossil & mineral experts who know the lay of the land and have access to ideal sites where we are sure to make discoveries.  

 

Each day starts with an overview of our itinerary led by DINOSAURS ROCK founder Neil Brown, a brief, informative learning session about the local geology of the sites we’ll be visiting and specimens we’ll be finding.  Over the course of the 3 days, we’ll be visiting sites to uncover fossils such as dinosaur bone, petrified wood - excavating trilobites from shale and discovering minerals such as wonderstone, giant crystal-filled geodes and topaz….and gaining insights along the way. 

We do a daily drawing for cool fossil & mineral prizes (everyone wins something each day) either in the AM or at our dig/rock hunting site. 

 

Each day is unique and different.  We travel in a “caravan, “ following each other’s vehicles on open roads (no chance of getting lost!) to 1 or 2 different local sites each day to discover different fossils like dinosaur bone, petrified wood, trilobites…..and minerals like geodes, wonderstone, topaz. 

 

Magnificent Scenery while driving to our locations.

 

We make provisions for facility breaks along the way.  We stop for Lunch (included) – there are various box lunch menu choices and we can arrange for special dietary needs.  

Once we return to the hotel (home base is Delta Best Western) it’s free time – some families hang at the hotel pool with members of the group, grab local eats or catch a local movie…your choice. 

 

The typical day starts anywhere between 6:30 and 8AM and ends at about 3-5PM (just a guesstimate, depends on final itinerary) 

 

Each family will take home a 12” x 12” box of their fossil finds ($35 UPS fee if you elect to have us ship for you). 

 

Last time kids ranged in age from 5-15.  Our 3 kids will be there again!  Some families came as complete units, some as partials (mom & son, dad & son, mom & daughter). 

 

Thank you Weisberg Family for the great photos and being absolutely wonderful on the Dinosaur's Rock Utah Fossil Dig.

 

Temperature should be in the 80’s during the day – it’s dry heat (we had 90’s in Aug ’80 and it was totally do-able). 

 

Additional expenses include: 

-Hotel we use is Days Inn (formerly Best Western) Delta - $81 per nite (Dinosaurs Rock Rate)-  includes Breakfast –  It has an outdoor pool, wi-fi, laundry facilities.

 

-Daily dinner (Delta is a small town with inexpensive, family-friendly restaurants, supermarkets, fast food options) 

-Travel to/from Delta, Utah (airfare if needed) –  it is 110 miles from Salt Lake City 

 

-Vehicle rental – we highly recommend a 4-wheel drive vehicle -- some of the places we go are off-road –  it’s the “real deal” - we visit places no tour bus can reach! 

 

We don’t get involved in arranging flights/hotel reservations simply because each family has unique travel needs in terms of timing and where they want to visit before/after the dig tour.  Our expertise is in fossils & minerals!  But, I personally love to research travel ideas and personally planned our extended 8 day stay in ’08 and am happy to assist by sharing ideas and travel resources with you. 

 

 

Please feel free to call us to answer any additional questions you may have. 

Leslie 

DINOSAURS ROCK 

845-368-3466 

800-411-3466 

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Check out the photos below from one of our previous Fossil & Mineral Digs
DINOSAURS ROCK Fossil Hunt & Dig
& Gemstone Hunt in UTAH
 

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Dear Neil, Leslie and the gang,

I wanted to thank you for the amazing time that we had. We have not yet stopped talking about it. The kids keep asking if we can go again next year!

Our box of wonderful keepsakes arrived last week and they are as beautiful to us as they were when we found them. We have great memories of the trip and hope to see you all again sometime. Thank you again for everything. You are a wonderful family and we are glad to have taken part in the Dinosaurs Rock experience!

Thanks for everything. We can only imagine how much work went into putting the trip together.

 Your friends,
 
Gayle, Mike, Julia and Jason 

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Jurassic Dinosaurs of Utah

The Morrison Formation

Day 1 started out with a drive through the most beautiful country and
through 6 miles of dirt road to reach our Dinosaur Dig - here we are before we start.

Walking and searching the ground for Dinosaur Bones.

DAY 2
HUNTING TRILOBITES

All the kids made friends very easily and worked together
to find some great fossils to keep and take home.

 
Parents had a great time discovering Trilobites as well.

DAY 3
TOPAZ GEMSTONES
GEODES
WONDERSTONE

Topaz and other minerals found at Topaz Mountain, Juab County

Topaz Mountain

Geologic Information: Topaz, Utah's state gem, is a semiprecious gemstone that occurs as very hard, transparent crystals in a variety of colors.

The topaz crystals at Topaz Mountain are naturally amber colored, but become colorless after exposure to sunlight. The crystals formed within cavities of the Topaz Mountain Rhyolite, a volcanic rock which erupted approximately six to seven million years ago (Tertiary Period) from volcanic vents along faults in the area.

Other minerals that can be found at Topaz Mountain are red beryl, amethyst, garnet, pseudobrookite, bixbyite, opal, and hematite.

These rocks didn't give up their cool gemstones easily!

Close up view of a geode embedded in the soft earth. 

Everyone was successful at finding really cool geodes
to keep and take home. 

Wonderstone in the Vernon Hills, Tooele County
 

Wonderstone found at Vernon Hills.

 

A striking feature of Vernon Hills wonderstone is its intricately folded bands that create colorful designs in cream, yellow-brown, and multiple shades of maroon.

Geologic information: The Vernon Hills wonderstone is a welded-vitric tuff (vitric means glassy) of rhyolitic composition. It is a volcanic rock composed predominantly of volcanic glass particles which have been welded or stuck together by heat and compacted by the weight of overlying material. Alteration of the rock by circulating ground water produced the colorful banding. The maroon and yellow-brown colors are due to the presence of iron oxides.
 

 

Sarah and I both had a marvelous time on the trip. The geology and scenery, especially on the first (mars-like) day, were so spectacular that they would have made the trip worthwhile even without the fossils. However, finding that femur, rib bone, etc. positioned to suggest a whole giant skeleton under the surface was a thrill of a lifetime! The trilobites, topaz, wonderstone, and geodes were also fantastic, as were all the little extras: the ancient amphibian tracks, the abandoned mars rover training site, the unexpected picnic by the lake. Sarah was delighted with everything -- including your prize raffles, the motel, and all the other children. In fact, she loved everything so much that she can't decide on any single favorite moment after the femur, and wants to go back again next year. Three days of adventure traveling with a child and not a single bad moment must be some kind of record. For me, I think the most fascinating thing was probably seeing the geodes embedded in the rock as round stone bubbles in their natural state. I learned a great deal on this trip, and even the flat tire we got on one of the unpaved roads on Day 2 turned out to be virtually painless, as the guides, the two of you, and all the members of the group were all so wonderfully kind and helpful. So thank you once again for designing and organizing this great experience, and I look forward to meeting again some time. All the best, Maude and Sarah

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Thanks for traveling with us.

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A sad goodbye to my friend, business partner, and Utah Dig Guide Loy Crapo
who passed away on May 29.
You were the most honest person I have ever known.
Your Friend
Neil

LOY CRAPO   | Visit Guest Book   Loy D. Crapo 6/11/1946 ~ 5/29/2011 Loy DeLon Crapo, 64, passed away on May 29, 2011. Born June 11, 1946 in Roosevelt, UT to Delbert and Syrelda Works Crapo. Raised in Fillmore, UT. Married Althea Holman on August 26, 1966 in Manti LDS Temple. Raised their six children in Delta, UT where they developed a successful rock and fossil business. Loy was a wonderful, noble, hard-working, honest man who passed too soon-- leaving a void which will never be filled. Words cannot express how much we will miss him in our day to day lives