Entry Points:
About Fossil Butte
Buried in layers of stone under the high desert plateaus of Wyoming lies a fossil record of a prehistoric time when skeletons of animals and remains of plants were buried in sedimentation at the bottom of a sea. Because of the number and high quality of the fossils, a National Monument was established on October 23, 1972. It covers 8,198 acres, located some 15 miles west of Kemmerer.
Today the surface is primarily covered by sagebrush, with some limber pine and aspen on the higher slopes. The elevation ranges from 6500 to 8000 feet. Cream-colored slopes separate high plateaus from lower valley floors.
In 1897-1937, a man by the name of Lee Craig quarried fossil fishes and sold them for a living at the nearby railroad town called Fossil.
For More Information:
See the National Park Service's official Fossil Butte National Monument site, or Wikipedia's Fossil Butte_National Monument article.
Street Index
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Chicken Creek Road Fossil Lake Quarry Trail Fossil Quarry Trail Fossil Quarry Turnout |