NPS Website; Local Website
WHAT IS IT?The fossilized remains found in an Eocene Epoch (37-58 million years ago) lakebed. The unique Fossil Butte circumstances have produced remarkably detailed skeletons of thousands of prehistoric fish.
BEAUTY (6/10)
As you drive up to the Fossil Butte Visitor Center, there is not much to distinguish the land around you from what you have been driving through for hours (and hours). Scattered sagebrush and large flat buttes pick up light and shadows and occasionally become quite colorful.
What gives Fossil Butte its beauty lays inside the walls of the Visitor Center. Replica and original fossils collected from the ancient lakebed could easily be mistaken for exhibits in a gallery. They are almost perfectly preserved and artistically displayed. Turtles and sting rays look more like Indian pictographs or stylized sculptures than what they really are – a bunch of bones.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (6/10)
Like at Florissant Fossil Beds NM, conditions at Fossil Butte combined to create some of the most perfectly preserved remains of ancient plant and animal life in the world. Scientists are still debating exactly what those conditions were. The site video shows paleontologists lifting layers and cutting sections of limestone and pulling out fossilized imprints of fish so detailed you can count their scales and teeth. Fossils from Fossil Butte provide clues to climatic and environmental changes 50 million years old.
Fossil Butte is one of the coolest kinds of National Park areas, one where research and discovery are still taking place on a daily basis.
CROWDS (6/10)
More people than we expected on this dreary Sunday morning, but they didn’t affect our visit in any way. The Visitors Center isn’t large, but it uses its space nicely. We don’t think there way anyone on the two walking trails.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (1/5)On the condensed Rand McNally Wyoming map, Fossil Butte NM seems deceptively close to Grand Teton NP to the north. It is not, clocking in at about 150 miles south down scenic two lane U.S. Route 89 and then U.S. Route 30. The biggest town along the way is Afton, Wyoming. Haven’t heard of it? It’s the hometown of gold medal Greco Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner.
60 miles to the south is Interstate 80 where Salt Lake City lies about 90 more miles to the southwest. You will not happen onto Fossil Butte NM, you have to find your way there.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (4/5)
Cool stuff here. An entire shelf was dedicated to titles about teaching children how to appreciate nature and essays on environmentalism. The intriguing Correlated History of Earth poster was for sale here. Gab purchased a book of anecdotal stories entitled, Oh Ranger! written by the man himself, Horace Albright.
The signature item at Fossil Butte NM are framed replicas of several fish fossils available in several sizes and price ranges. We told you they looked like art.
COSTS (4/5)
Michael tried to give the Ranger the National Parks Pass to no avail; the Site is free!
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (3/5)
One Ranger greeted us as we entered the Visitor Center. Just as we were wondering if he was alone, two more emerged from the back room where they were avidly following the Chicago Bears football game. We laughed when we realized that we weren’t the only ones sneaking back to the radio to hear how our teams were doing this Sunday morning.
TOURS/CLASSES (7/10)
There wasn’t too much on offer in the off-season. From June to August, however, there are daily 20-minute “summer porch programs,” evening programs, including programs on the cultural history of the area on Thursdays. Every Saturday and Sunday in the summer paleontological staff actually take visitors out to the quarry and let them observe the collection of fossils.
The 30-minute film was very well done. Gab even took notes.
Fossil Butte NM offers not only a Junior Ranger program, but a Senior one as well!! We wish we had noticed this during our visit. More than once we have wished for a younger traveling companion so we could cash in on those cool stickers and patches. We could have here! Curses!
Part of the Visitors Center is a windowed room dedicated to the preparation of fossils, complete with cleaning tools and microscope. To get your Junior or Senior Ranger badge, you need to make use of this room. We have not seen many sites that offer so many hands-on opportunities.
FUN (8/10)Once again, a site we thought we would breeze through took over two hours to enjoy. That’s without walking the trails. Gab was mesmerized by the film, which tells the history of the area and walks you through a modern day preparation of a fossil removed from the lakebed. Michael, although pre-occupied with the St. Louis Rams poor performance, still found time to dwell in the museum. The bookstore, although small, was worth perusing.
Fossil Butte was distinct from the other fossil-based sites that we had visited. It didn’t follow the mold of: here is the Visitors Center and there is the quarry and just trust us, the fossil are there. Many of the fossils in the museum are the real deal. And had we been there a little earlier in the year, we could shared in the scientific collection of the fossils out in the field. How cool is that?
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (7/10)
Fossil Butte is off the beaten path. If fossils are your thing, there are few other places that will let you get this up close and personal with remnants of prehistoric America.
TOTAL 52/80
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