U-Dig Fossils Visitor Experiences at U-DIG Fossils Return to Home

June 9, 2004 by Cheryl Starr

You did a fine web page for the U-dig Fossil site.  We were undecided about visiting til I found your site.  It convinced us to check it out.

What fun we had!!  We drove from Delta, COLORADO this past May pulling our 5th wheel.  Stayed at the Antelope Valley RV Park--VERY nice and clean.  Were able to get to Sunstone Knoll and collect sunstones until the GNATS drove us away.

U-Dig Fossils was much more than we hoped. We found trilobite fossils just getting out of the truck-Right there in the driveway!  Since Gene was not in his 'office', we went right out to hunt.  The shale is not the easiest to climb around on, but taking it slow helps.  So does just sitting down and looking and reaching for everything within arms length.  Broke two hammers before Gene found us and showed us how to crack shale to expose the trilobites with an official rock hammer that he provided.  I think we spent maybe 1 1/2 hours there and found about 30-40.  Most were not complete but were saved anyways.   Bring a good rock hammer, rock bag/ back pack, sunscreen, insect repellent, etc.  We were so busy hunting that we did not miss not having water.  (Left it in truck) Great for kids as they can really find  good "stuff" which holds their attention.

Thanks for the great site!   Stay safe and have a great day.....CHERYL STARR

August 2004 by James Gilreath

Thanks for your help and advice on visiting U-Dig. Two friends and I made a same day round trip to the quarry from Los Angeles. We drove from SLC in a rented car and were able to dig for about 3 hours before our drive back to catch our flight home. I found 12 excellent specimens, including two with matching impression "casts." I really enjoyed our quick visit to the quarry. The staff person was helpful and came to check on our progress as we worked. We also brought lots of bubble wrap packing material and tape and filled a small suitcase for the flight home. Security had no issue with our checked bag of tools and fossils. We are already talking about a return trip or a try at finding some dugway geodes! I will try to send you a digital picture or two.

September 2004 by Celia Furukawa

We went to U-dig about 2 years ago. It was a wonderful experience. We went in September. The weather was nice. My child was 6 years old by the time, but he still remembers it and keeps using his collected fossils to show at school. He is now writing a report about it. That is why I found this website and this email address. I hope it is still up and running. We just wanted to share this great experience my kids had, so many others can enjoy this place as we did. Thank you so much.

July 21, 2004 by Richard Franklin

In 2002 I was researching dig sites, planning on doing a fossil dinosaur bone dig, possibly in Montana when I ran across the U-Dig website put up by John Foust.

I printed out the information from the website and not seeing an email address, sent an email to John inquiring if the U-Dig quarry was still in operation since the letters from people on the website were over a year old.

He promptly wrote me back saying why didn’t I email U-Dig and ask. I hadn’t seen the email address because it was at the top of the page I had printed out covered by a paper clip! I emailed U-Dig and got a prompt reply from Shane Crapo saying they were still in operation.

I was planning to be enroute from Washington to Arizona around the 20 th of July, the only question was would I be at the quarry on Monday the 21 st or on Tuesday the 22 nd ? As it turned out I made it as far as Nephi, Utah on the 20 th a trip of 990 miles in a little over 15 hours from Lacey, Washington (leaving Lacey at about 4:15 a.m. MDT and arriving in Nephi about 7:15 p.m. MDT).

I left the Motel 6 and got on I-15 southbound at about 6:45 a.m. estimating an ETA at the U-Dig quarry about 9 – 9:30 a.m.

I left I-15 south at exit 178 at about 7:20 a.m. about 45 miles south of Nephi exit 222. Taking a right I headed west to Delta, Utah on US 50, posted speed limit 65.

I entered the Delta city limits 31 miles later at about 5 minutes ‘till 8. Two miles and about 5 minutes later I left the western Delta city limits – westbound on US 6 / US 50 with the posted speed limit going back up to 65.

Just west of mile marker 57 (double-sided green with white letters on the south side of the road) at the bottom of a hill on the right (north) hand side I see a large sign which says U-Dig Fossils 20 miles to the north, it has been about 30 minutes and 32 miles since leaving Delta.

It is a dusty fairly smooth but with its ups and downs.

You have to watch out for the cows on the road as well as the large rocks on the edge.

The 15 mph road curves sign means what it says. A sharp curve after winding around. If you’re going 60 mph here you’ll more than likely wind up in the dry lake bed!

A road goes off to the left a U-Dig Fossil Trilobite Quarry sign directs you to stay straight. Then an intersection and just past it a small sign directing you to U-Dig – straight ahead. Another intersection with signage – old highway 506, just keep going straight. Now into a hilly area and I see a small sign on the right hand side of the road which says Welcome to U-Dig Fossils to the right. I must say the signage is good, as were the directions.

Going into the quarry the road was rather steep but nothing loose – I put my Nissan 2 WD shift lever down to 2, hoping I can get out when it is time to leave.

It is 9:02 a.m. and about 20 miles since I left the blacktop. Good timing, I am thinking, since the quarry opens at 9 a.m. I see no other cars or people around and nor is there anyone around the little building. I follow sounds of a radio, turns out it is a pickup truck radio. The truck is parked down in part of the quarry which looks newly excavated. I see a man there and call out. He introduces himself as the ‘quarry slave’ and fixes me up with a bucket and a rock hammer. Then he leads me around to the other side where there is lots of excavated material and shows me what to look for. The area looks almost like a talus slope.

It is hot and the shade from the little cedar tree is of little help. I have a great time looking for ‘bugs’ and even finding some out of the matrix. About 1 p.m. I am all dug out and tired. There were some biting flies, so I should have dug out my insect repellant, but was enjoying myself too much!

I didn’t have any trouble getting out of the quarry, taking the advice of the ‘quarry slave’ I put the automatic transmission in 2 and got a bit of a running start, hitting the exit road and hill at an angle instead of straight on, the tires slipped slightly once on a spot of bare rock, but I made it out OK.

Enroute to US 50 a vehicle was coming north as I was headed south – make sure you roll up your windows before their dust cloud envelopes you!

32 minutes later I am back on the blacktop and headed east to Delta and stopping another 30 minutes later in Delta for a 20 minute gas stop ( I saw 3 motels and 4 or 5 gas stations). Another 30 minutes finds me back on I-15. There is an intersection which allows you to either get back on the interstate either northbound or southbound long before you get to I-15.