I cracked around 30 Mazon Creek concretions today, and I still have many to go. The good thing is that a lot of them came cleanly open, and a freeze/thaw cycle wasn’t needed on any of them. The bad news is that, even though it was a clean split 90% of the time, nearly all […]
Mazon Creek Fossil Collecting March 1, 2020
A few weeks ago, in simpler times, I partook in my annual fossil collecting trip to the famous site of Mazon Creek’s Pit 11. I was joined by a couple old collecting friends and a few new ones as well. I also saw and met many people on the trails and in the parking lot […]
Mazon Creek Pit 11 Collecting Report 4/22/2018- South Unit
A Quick Trip To The Mazon Creek South Unit in Late April Like the past 3 years, it has so far been a very late spring here. While the rest of the U.S. is enjoying 60-degree plus weather, Chicagoland is still recovering from the last blanket of snow. This weekend though, was the first taste […]
Mazon Creek Opener 2018
The days are getting longer, and a bit warmer, slowly but surely. Spring is around the corner. Mazon Creek is now open for collecting from March 1-September 30. I’ve written a lot about the history, terrain, and collecting of this locale, so my next few trip reports will just be a reflection on the day’s […]
Mazon Creek Pit 11 Collecting Report- Islands and Braceville Hill Late 2017
Mazon Creek Collecting Report #4 Yesterday, on September 30, marks the last day of the Fossil Collecting season of the Mazonia State Fish and Wildlife area for 2017. I did not go collect then, the area is quite overgrown regardless. This post briefly highlights 2 end-of season hunts in the previous weekends. One of which […]
Mazon Creek Fossil Collecting Opener and Trip Report 3/5/17
Mazon Creek Fossil Collecting Trip #1 This is a field report from the first Mazon Creek trip of 2017. This will be the 3rd consecutive year of keeping record of productive fossil collecting areas across the vast wilderness of the Mazonia Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area. The work thus far is documented in an […]
