NPS Website; Local Website
WHAT IS IT?An extraordinarily rich collection of fossilized animals dating back to the Pliocene Era, about 3.5 million years ago. The fossil beds are famous for their collection of ancient zebra-like horses, named the Hagerman Horse.
BEAUTY (5/10)
This portion of Central Idaho is strange country. Huge round black boulders, called melon gravels, lie in farmland next to grazing cattle. The land on the opposite shores of the Snake River looks nothing alike. Here, cliffs expose various colored layers of soil, ash and rock like a slice of chocolate torte then slip into lazy shrubby hillsides. Not your average rural landscape but not as striking as its more handsome neighboring Idaho sites.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (5/10)
The Hagerman Horse Quarry is rich with remnants of its namesake. So much so that it is considered one of the six most important sites in the history of the horse. Outsiders, such as scientists from the Smithsonian Institute for years quarried the site and took what they needed for science. Now the Hagerman Fossil Beds NM boasts two paleontologists of their own and are trying to regain many of the world-class fossils to display at the site.
The Oregon Trail passes through a portion of the Monument.
CROWDS (6/10)
There was no one at the Visitor Center during our stay. It is a good thing because we talked to the lone Ranger on duty for about an hour and a half.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (2/5)
The Hagerman Fossil Beds NM Visitor Center is located along U.S. Route 30 in downtown Hagerman a few miles south of Interstate Exit 137. The makeshift building is located across from Hagerman High School. Follow the directions carefully because there are no signs on the Interstate and none along Route 30.
The fossil bed sites are off-limits to the public. After hearing stories of widespread public theft at dig sites in the Badlands NP and Agate Fossil Beds NM we understand why. You can see an example of the rich fossil bluffs at the Snake River overlook eight miles from the Visitor Center.
CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (3/5)
The Bookstore had two selections with Hagerman Horse in the title. Amazon.com searches yielded none that was in print, so it is hard to criticize the otherwise small assortment. The Fossil Beds are also one of our least visited National Parks, so the lack of a large bookstore is understandable. We purchased a nice magnet but had they had one, a stuffed Hagerman Horse might have tempted us.
COSTS (4/5)The Site is free.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (5/5)
By the time we reached the small town of Hagerman, found the high school and subsequently, the small Visitor Center, there was less than an hour remaining to the Site's regular hours. The lone Ranger at the Site said, “Don’t worry. Take your time. Watch the film. I’ve got stuff I need to prepare for a presentation tonight. I’ll be here.”
Her easygoing nature did more than put our minds at ease; it probably saved us days of backtracking. After Labor Day, the Visitor Center is only open Thursday to Monday. This was a Monday.
The Ranger not only ably answered all of our questions about the Hagerman site; she also shared everything she knew about the Minidoka Internment NM. Absent a Visitor Center of its own, the Minidoka site occupies a small corner of the Hagerman building. Both sites have big plans for larger Interpretive Centers in the future. For now, they are unlikely roommates.
We can’t say enough about this friendly Ranger. Although the site was officially closed, she stayed with us, shared photographs and documents from the back room, and shared anecdotes about some visitors who vehemently argue that the fossils, and all fossils, are frauds. She never hurried us and made sure we had all the information we wanted. If there were a coffee shop nearby, we would have invited her out for more conversation.
TOURS/CLASSES (8/10)
The Hagerman Fossil Beds staff has done a tremendous job with the small amount of space they have to work with. The Visitor Center Museum is educational, fun, interesting and quirky. The centerpiece, a fossilized Hagerman Horse construction, immediately greets the visitor. Superb displays show the layers of sandstone, shale, silt, and dirt that cover and encase the fossils. Other displays show the bones of the over 100 animal species found at the Site. Yet another display shows the tool and methods of the paleontologists. There is so much information, impeccably presented in a space the size of a Motel 6 room.
The staff personality shines through. Underneath the Hagerman Horse are stuffed animal beavers, ground squirrels and other small creatures that existed some 3.5 million years ago. Perched above a glass case is a leaked helium zebra, er Hagerman Horse, balloon. A poster on the wall introduces the tourist to the entire staff with a picture and a short bio. We love this touch.Our favorite staff trademark was the clever multi-colored cartoon drawings located in the film room. One set told the story of the drowned herd of Hagerman Horses, the reason the fossils have been so well preserved. The other described the journey of the Oregon Trail emigrants. They were drawn by a local summer hire and were used for the Site’s youth educational program. The drawings, like every Hagerman exhibit, teach and enrapture kids just as much as they do adults.
The Visitor Center also provided us with terrific self-guided auto tour pamphlet, a brochures explaining the types of fossils found at other National Park Sites and even a Hagerman newsletter, The Fossil Record.
FUN (7/10)
We must have been having a good time because we spent over two hours in a space the size of a hotel room. Displays were engaging, as was the Ranger on duty.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (6/10)
If you are expecting to get into the Hagerman Horse Quarry or see the fossil fields up close and personal, you may be disappointed. If you are looking to learn a lot in a little bit of time and in a small amount of space, Hagerman Fossil Beds will delight.
TOTAL 51/80
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